Kirsten Dunst Wishes Spider-Man 4 Happened, Hasn’t Watched Reboots

Spider-Man fans aren’t alone, Kirsten Dunst really wanted to do a fourth film with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire too. Of course, there were plans for the director to make Spider-Man 4 for several years following the release of the not-so-beloved Spider-Man 3 in 2007. The idea was to have everyone involved, for the most part, return for the fourth film as Maguire’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man faced off with some more infamous villains from the comics. But then, suddenly, in 2010 it was announced that Spider-Man 4 would not be moving forwards after all, and that Sony would instead be rebooting the franchise.

As fans already know, that reboot went on to become the Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone-led Amazing Spider-Man films, which went on to receive reviews that weren’t nearly as successful or positive as what Raimi’s first two Spider-Man films had. Since then, Raimi has gone on to focus on several different TV and film projects, while Maguire and Dunst have focused more on participating in and signing on for projects in the independent film world.

But just because Dunst has gone on to have a successful career still post-Spider-Man, doesn’t mean she doesn’t regret her run as Mary Jane Watson being cut short. In fact, while recently speaking with Variety, Dunst revealed that she still wishes that Spider-Man 4 had happened, taking the chance to express how much she genuinely enjoyed working with Raimi and Maguire on the films:

“I wanted to be in that movie so badly. I loved it, and I wish we could have made a fourth.”

When asked about Sony’s reboots of the franchise, Dunst said:

“I don’t care. Everyone likes our ‘Spider-Man.’ C’mon, am I right or what? Listen, I’d rather be in the first ones than the new ones.”

Dunst certainly isn’t wrong with her comments here, since most comic book fans still consider Spider-Man 2 to be one of the best films in the history of the genre on the big screen, even if the follow-up wound up being a disappointment. After struggling to really find the right tone and story for the Amazing Spider-Man films too, Sony went ahead and rebooted the property for the third time in six years when they agreed to let the character be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That resulted in Tom Holland making his debut as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War last year, and in just a few short months, he’ll be appearing in his first standalone film as the character with Spider-Man: Homecoming.

The hype surrounding that film is noticeably high right now, and for the most part, optimism surrounding the future of the Spider-Man character onscreen is better than it has been since, really, Spider-Man 3 hit theaters in 2007. Meanwhile, for her part, Dunst is going to be participating in the Cannes International Film Festival this week in support of Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled. After a string of critically-acclaimed performances and roles, she’s in the midst of another career renaissance, one that only makes her work in the Spider-Man franchise that much more admirable.

NEXT: In Defense of Spider-Man 3, Ten Years Later