Spider-Man 4 is set to start shooting in February of next year and somewhere out there, Gary Ross is hard at work on the script. So that must mean they have some idea of where the web-head’s franchise is going next, but if they do Sam Raimi’s not talking… except in vague, hint-filled terminology.

When asked who the bad guy in Spider-Man 4 would be by MTV, Raimi had this to sasy: “What we're trying to do right now is really understand the journey Peter is going to go on this time and have the villain maybe be a counter to that growth, something that he has to overcome.” Well we’ve already covered most of Spidey’s most personal bad guys so that really leaves this thing pretty wide open. Still it’s nice to know that they’re approaching Spidey’s next arch-nemesis from the right angle, rather than the “squeeze as many villains in as possible” approach Sony forced on them for the last one.

Raimi continues, “Or maybe he has to grow in a way to overcome the villain, because there always seem to be stories of coming of age, of a young man growing up and learning things about life, so once we are identifying the exact movement that Peter has to grow to, I think the villain - and we're trying this right now…. we're trying to choose a villain based on who would be the proper counter to that growth, so we really have dramatic conflict"

Spider-Man 4 should be in theaters on May 5, 2011. Admit it, even if you hated Spider-Man 3, you’re already excited.