Recently, we reported that Sony was looking to filming the fourth and fifth instalments in the hyper-expensive Spider-man series back to back, which would help manage the costs a little, and also combat the three-year gap between the films. But it also has another problem: Spider-man 3 showed the first blips in the Spidey cinematic juggernaut, with a fairly frosty critical reception, and a box office haul that fell beneath that of Spider-man 2.

So when approaching Spider-man 4, a few interesting challenges have been posed. Director Sam Raimi, for instance, has completed his contract on the franchise, and while there’s the possibility that he could be tempted back to  the series that has eaten up nearly a decade of his working life, he’s recent been linked with reviving the Jack Ryan saga for Paramount, and the murmurings are that he’s not keen to climb back into the Spidey chair. The likelihood is that after the third film mashed together too many villains with not a great deal of success, Sony is keen to pursue other options anyway.

It’s not just Raimi whose time may be up on the series, though. Tobey Maguire was contracted to do three films as the webslinger, and while it’s still unclear as to whether he’d want to play the character again, it seems that Sony may be considering a ‘reboot’ of sorts by recasting the title role. That would also, of course, more than likely leave Kirsten Dunst looking for a fresh gig, too. You can see people weeping over that.

Of course, none of this has come anywhere close to being confirmed, but that hasn’t stopped the speculation from kicking off. Current names being kicked around the message boards are Michael Angarano (Will & Grace) and Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous), although we wonder if Jake Gyllenhaal is the man they should plump for…

Expect more news soon, but don't expect another Spider-man film until at least 2010...