(March 19) -- Fans may have to wait a while before their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man swings back onto the big screen.

Sam Raimi, who has directed all three "Spider-Man" films to date, is in negotiations with Paramount to lead a franchise revival of Jack Ryan, the CIA-analyst everyman hero of Tom Clancy novels and four lucrative films.

According to Variety, Raimi would develop and direct a series of movies featuring Ryan at a "younger, more formative point in his career" than depicted in previous film installments, not unlike the recent reboot of the James Bond franchise. Clancy is currently at work on another Ryan novel, but the studio has not yet read it and is thus uncertain whether the book will provide the basis for Raimi's first foray into the franchise.

With Paramount eyeing a summer 2010 release date for the first film, Raimi would have to make the Ryan movie his next after he finishes up the Universal horror flick "Drag Me to Hell." That would mean that a possible Raimi-directed "Spider-Man 4" wouldn't make it to theaters until 2011 or 2012 at the earliest.

Alec Baldwin originated the role of Jack Ryan in 1990's "The Hunt for Red October," but famously turned down the sequel to do "A Streetcar Named Desire" on Broadway. Harrison Ford took over the reins, appearing as Ryan in 1992's "Patriot Games" and 1994's "Clear and Present Danger."

In 2002, Paramount made its first attempt to reinvigorate the franchise with Ben Affleck cast as a neophyte Ryan in "The Sum of All Fears." Though the film grossed $118 million in the U.S., a follow-up was never made. Combined, the four films have grossed more than $781 million worldwide.