Fast & Furious and Star Trek: Beyond director Justin Lin is reportedly among the names sought by Marvel and Sony to direct Spider-Man 4.
Director Justin Lin has plenty of experience when it comes to action and special effects-filled franchises, given he’s made several entries in the Fast & Furious franchise. But he also has form when it comes to taking up the reigns of a film series from a departing director; in 2016, he took took over from JJ Abrams to direct Star Trek: Beyond.
We bring this up because, according to a report from Hollywood industry gossip wizard Jeff Sneider (via The Playlist), Lin is among the directors said to be ‘in contention’ to take over the Spider-Man franchise. The rumour goes that Lin has joined Drew Goddard, who made the cult horror Cabin In The Woods, as a potential director for what we’ll call Spider-Man 4 for now.
It’s also said that Marvel and Sony are hoping to have the film in production this autumn – either in September or October, with a view to have the finished Spidey film in cinemas by late 2025.
The previous three live-action Spider-Man movies, jointly produced by Sony and Marvel, were directed by Jon Watts – those being Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). After that, Jon Watts bowed out of the series, and has since gone on to co-create Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, a series due to stream on Disney+ this year.
Read more: Spider-Man: No Way Home review | Exhilarating, messy, crowd-pleasing
Amid a shaky period for superhero movies, the Spider-Man franchise has remained a reliably lucrative one for its respective corporate behemoths. Even with the cobwebs of a pandemic hanging over it, Spider-Man: No Way Home managed to make just a shade under $2bn – an extraordinary sum that neither Sony not Marvel have come close to matching with their subsequent superhero offerings.
As such, there’ll no doubt be a lot of plotting and planning behind the scenes to maximise the chances of making another Spider-Man film as pleasing as Now Way Home. There’ll also be some particularly sharp minds trying to work out how they can work the word ‘Home’ into the sequel’s title.
Our suggestions include Spider-Man: Home Alone (in which he fights burglars) Spider-Man: Home And Away (takes place entirely on a beach in Australia) and Spider-Man: Homebase (Peter Parker gets a job in a DIY store). No need to thank us, Sony/Marvel.
