Surprisingly, Sam Raimi has told Coming Soon and Superhero Hype! that he plans to read the Spider-Man 4 script currently being written by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) before he decides if he wants to take the helm for a fourth Spider-Man flick.

Which is news to us, because we assumed that Raimi was out, taking Dunst and Tobey Maguire with him. All three seemed to have a slight hint of Spider-Man fatigue during the press junket for Spider-Man 3 and most of the stars have said they will have to re-consider returning if Raimi isn’t the man behind the camera. Raimi has said recently that he wouldn’t re-cast any roles unless the actors decided to step away from the series.

But, it seems like Sam is excited…

“Right now James Vanderbilt is writing the script, and he’s working on it, and I’m excited to read it,” Raimi said in a group interview in Century City, Calif., on June 5. “I think it’s going to be done in a few months. I’m hoping it’s as great as our discussions were about it and hoping it feels right for me, because I love Spider-Man, and I’m hoping I’m well-enough rested to, like, really embrace it and hoping that Sony wants me at that time to direct it. So if all those things come together, I would love, love to do it. But this is a lot of unknowns about the future.”

What if the rumors are true and Spider-Man 4 links into Spider-Man 5? If the suits decide it would be cheaper to shoot both at the same time, would Raimi step up and do two more Spider-Man flicks?

Also, where is Marvel on this? Do they want to expand their cinematic Marvel Universe to include their flagship property, or are they going to let Hulk and Iron Man throw that party on their own?

We’re just full of questions this morning.