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IGN caught up with Spider-Man director Sam Raimi today at the SXSW Film Festival to discuss his new horror film Drag Me to Hell, and while chatting with the director they slipped in a couple of questions about Spider-Man 4.

According to Raimi, he has yet to decide on the villain for Spider-Man 4, though he has firmer plans for the film’s love interest.

“Right now, I’m working with the production team,” he explained. “I’m in the earliest stages of working with the writer, trying to work out a story.”

He added, “We’re closing in on Spider-Man’s adversary or adversaries… but I think Sony is going to want to release the Spider-Man announcements themselves.”

When asked if Mary Jane Watson or Gwen Stacy would take centre stage in terms of romance, Raimi was a little more forthcoming.

“I’m hoping that Kirsten [Dunst, who plays Mary-Jane] will be in it, but we’re still talking about that,” he revealed. “Definitely, she’s got to be in it. It wouldn’t be the Spider-Man series without her.”

Sony recently announced that we will be seeing Spider-Man 4 in May 2011, so Raimi has at least a year to get everything sorted. I got the feeling they introduced Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3 to spice things up a bit. Maybe they could makes things even more interesting by adding a character that could be both a love interest and a villain. *cough* Black Cat *cough*