Series: Spider-Man 3, Spider-Man 4, Spider-Man 5, Spider-Man 6

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Tobey Maguire: Action Figure

When Tobey Maguire was a kid he never thought he would grow up to be an action figure, but tell that to the children clamoring to take their picture with Spider-Man right before this interview. In the latest and quite possibly the greatest Spider-Man film of the trilogy, Tobey Maguire returns as everyman Peter Parker to uphold justice and battle villains including some internal ones. "I had the most fun playing the darker side of Peter. It was different and fun and unexpected for the character, which is why I had the most fun." There is one scene in particular that Maguire undoubtedly had fun with, which entailed a few new slick dance moves we haven't seen the character of Peter Parker pull off before. "I had a couple people I worked with and a choreographer. Sam would say throw this out, do this and then I would throw in some thoughts and ideas and kind of messed around with it."

The process of developing the story was very much a collaborative effort, with Maguire having input into his character the third time around. "The basic storyline was laid out and for me it had to do with I'd like to see him (Peter) go further in this direction. I'm not interested in this as much, getting into the specifics of it and adjusting the tone, but the basic story was there."

For this story Spider-Man becomes quite the celebrity and Peter Parker begins to take that fame in. Does Maguire ever take time to reflect on his own celebrity? "Peter reacts very differently than I do. He is much more reflective and soaking it in, in a different way. He loves it; he's bathing in it and swimming in it. He's like they love me, and he loves it. It gets to his head and he's becoming arrogant, believing his own hype. I love the scenes with Kirstin when Peter Parker is giving her advice. It's hilarious to me. Our experiences are different; we react differently."

With this film like the last two the action sequences are pretty spectacular. There are pretty intense action scenes, which provided some challenges. "It's a lot of work. The results are great. So there is a means to an end, which helps to stay motivated with this stuff. You shoot something and it's one to six seconds of film. It takes a month to shoot an action sequence. There are different elements in creating it. In terms of upping the ante and raising the bar; that's more the people who are conceiving it. So Sam who is a great visualist and does it with humor and has a great style with that stuff is largely in his hands. The other thing that is interesting about our action sequences is we try to give them character where they have meaning so you aren't taking a break from the story to go watch an action sequence."

The rumor mill has been running rampant in the media as of late declaring that Maguire is adamantly against doing another Spider-Man. So are the rumors true and what would it take for Maguire to sign on board to a 4th film? Sam Raimi has said that he would have to see a defect in the character of Peter Parker that would need to be addressed in order to continue on. Maguire says, "That's a good answer. Mine won't be as interesting or as well thought. For me there would have to be a great screenplay, a great story, something really worth telling and some new territory for us to go on with Peter Parker. Sam (Raimi) would have to be involved, the right cast would have to be in place and then I would consider it. There are no absolutes for me."

The Producers have said the door is opening a bit wider for another Spider-Man film. "The studio will make more Spider-Man movies one way or another. You never know until you're there. Today it could be one thing and there is a lot that has to happen, but they'll figure out how to make them one way or another. They can recast, they can bring in new people, and they can reconceive things and have a different take. Who knows whether we continue this story with this cast of people or not we'll see. You don't know until there is something in front of you."

What's up next for Tobey Maguire, besides promoting 'Spider-Man 3'? He is looking forward to spending time with his family, but also ready to dive back into acting. He has a project in development with his company called Tokyo Suckerpunch based on a novel by Isaac Adamson about a writer named Billy Chaka who has to go to Japan to help promote a film based on an exaggerated version of his life. Maguire is Producing with Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher's Red Wagon Productions and it is his intent to hopefully also star in the project.

Check out Tobey Maguire when 'Spider-Man 3' opens nationwide on May 4th.