'Spider-Man 3' Was 'Doomed': Sam Raimi Says He 'Messed It Up' As He Did Not Believe In The Characters

Sam Raimi, the director of the original "Spider-Man" trilogy, reportedly hated the third instalment of the series. The 55-year-old revealed to Chris Hardwick of Nerdist podcast that in wake to "top the bar" he ruined "Spider-Man 3."

"I think [raising the stakes after Spider-Man 2] was the thinking going into it and I think that's what doomed us. I should've just stuck with the characters and the relationships and progressed them to the next step," said the director according to the Nerdist podcast. He reportedly did not have faith in the film's characters. Raimi now feels that "Spider-Man 3" was an "awful" film and people hated him for "messing it up."

"Spider-Man 3" revolved around the story of Spiderman and his encounter with the Venom symbiote. The film also featured Green Goblin and Sandman. It was released in 2007 and received mixed critical reaction. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said that film lacks humour and is sluggishly paced. Meanwhile, David Edelstein of New York magazine said that too many villains didn't add up to the film's arc.

Despite of the lukewarm reviews, the film earned $890,871,626 worldwide and was one of the highest grossing films of 2007. It was also nominated for 35th Annie Awards and 61st British Academy Film Awards. It starred Kristen Dunst and Tobey Maguire in the lead roles. Both of them earned a National Movie award nomination for playing Mary Jane and Peter Parker, respectively. Post the release of "Spider-Man 3" there was buzz that Raimi will be returning for the fourth instalment; however, Sony cancelled the plan of going ahead with the franchise. Rather, five year after the release of "Spider-Man 3," Sony rebooted the series with "The Amazing Spider-Man." It starred Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in lead. Garfield played Peter Parker where as Stone played Gwen Stacey.

However, according to Cinemablend, just like "Spider-Man 3," the second film in the "The Amazing Spider-Man" franchise was also plagued by inclusion of too many characters. It featured a series of villains including Electro, Green Goblin, Rhino, Doc Ock and Black Cat and this reportedly worked against it. "More villains do not equal a hit. When fans first realized all these guys were joining in the fight, they immediately thought it'd be a repeat of Spider-Man 3," said the website in its report.

Contact: s.singh@ibtimes.com.au