"It really was the most amicable and undramatic of breakups," said Raimi during an interview with Vulture to promote his latest film Oz the Great and Powerful. "It was simply that we had a deadline and I couldn't get the story to work on a level that I wanted it to work. I was very unhappy with Spider-Man 3, and I wanted to make Spider-Man 4 to end on a very high note, the bestSpider-Man of them all. But I couldn't get the script together in time, due to my own failings, and I said to Sony, 'I don't want to make a movie that is less than great, so I think we shouldn't make this picture. Go ahead with your reboot, which you've been planning anyway.' And [Sony co-chairman] Amy Pascal said, 'Thank you. Thank you for not wasting the studio's money, and I appreciate your candor.' So we left on the best of terms, both of us trying to do the best thing for fans, the good name of Spider-Man, and Sony Studios."
Raimi also went on to confirm that Anne Hathaway would have appeared in the sequel as Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat, although he also said he's yet to see her turn as DC's feline femme fatale Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises: "I didn't get to see Batman yet, because I've been working nonstop on Oz, but I hear she's great in it. I'm not surprised, because I loved what she was doing with the auditions for Spider-Man 4."
Cameras are currently rolling on the latest instalment of the Spider-Man franchise, with Andrew Garfield (Peter Parker), Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy) and Sally Field (Aunt May) reprising their roles alongside the likes of Shailene Woodley (The Descendants), Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained), Dane DeHaan (Chronicle), Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Chris Cooper (American Beauty), Colm Feore (Thor) and Felicity Jones (Like Crazy) in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.