At an appearance at the Los Angeles Film Festival, director Sam Raimi spoke candidly about the future of the Spider-Man franchise and his role in it.  “Sony Pictures is going to be making many more Spider-Man pictures,” said Raimi.  “I just don’t know what [my] future holds yet.”

One major factor in his decision to helm a fourth Spider-Man would be finding the right story.  “If I can’t find the right story that would work for me and that I could tell really well, I would like someone else to tell that story,” explained Raimi.  ”But if it’s a great story and Sony will bring me back to the screen, I would love to.”

Whether or not Sony will offer Raimi to direct a fourth film is yet to be seen.  Raimi had previously stated that he would only direct a fourth film if stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst returned as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson.  “It would be really hard for me to make a movie without Tobey and Kirsten playing the two leads,” said Raimi.  ”I would seriously think about James [Franco] too, but he bit the dust in this last one.”  The question remains if Sony will want to pay to have their lead actors return for a fourth film or if they prefer to start fresh with a new cast and possibly new director.

“I would still hope that Sony would offer it to me [to direct] first,” Raimi explained.  ”But that is not my place to say; it would be more about if Sony decided not to go with me.  If not, it would be really up to them to come to a solution [for me to still be involved as a producer].”

And if Sony does decide to bring Raimi back for a fourth film, what villains would the director like to see in the film?  “I would love to see Electro, Vulture, maybe the Sinister Six as a team,” he said.  And what of Dylan Baker, the actor who has portrays Dr. Curt Conners, Peter Parker’s professor who eventually becomes Lizard?  “I love Dylan Baker as a person, and I really like the character he is developing,” expained Raimi.  “The Lizard is probably one of my favorite characters.  But [Spider-Man 4] will probably have to start with the central journey of the main character to arrive at the proper villain.”