Sam Raimi Reflects on Tobey Maguire's Infamous Dance Scene in 'Spider-Man 3'

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has now achieved one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s biggest opening weekends ever, but aside from celebrating the film’s success, director Sam Raimi has also spent some time reflecting on his past Marvel-related project, looking back at why 2007’s Spider-Man 3 received more mixed reviews than the previous two installments of his trilogy.

Speaking to Fandom in a recent interview, Raimi was asked about Tobey Maguire‘s now-infamous dance sequence after he was infected by Venom and began transitioning into a darker version of Peter Parker. “Well, we meant it to be funny, actually. It was Peter Parker’s version — this lame kid — of what it must be like to be his evil self. But he’s so whipped,” the director explained. “He’s so out of it that that’s his take on it. And that didn’t go over well with the audience. But that’s what we were trying to do. So I’m not surprised that people… I’m glad people find it funny! We wanted it to be fun.”

The new comments also come shortly after Raimi expressed interest in making a fourth Spider-Man film following Maguire’s reprisal of the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home alongside fellow Peter Parkers, Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield. “My love for the characters hasn’t diminished one iota,” he remarked. “It would be the same things that would stop me now that stopped me then: ‘Does Tobey want to do it? Is there an emotional arc for him? Is there a great conflict for this character? And is there a worthy villain that fits into the theme of the piece?’ There’s a lot of questions that would have to be answered. If those could be answered, then I’d love to.”

In other related news, Patrick Stewart has opened up about joining the new Marvel film and reprising his role from X-Men.