Oh, what a tangled web.

On the eve of its global premiere, Spider-Man 3 is bracing to do battle with a summer of high-profile sequels, while Spider-Man 4, at least according to one of its would-be stars, is primed to be the biggest box-office flop since Gigli. And then there's Spider-Man: The Musical.

Yes, a song-and-dance spin on the Marvel icon is coming to Broadway this summer, according to Playbill.com, and what the production may lack in movie stars, it more than makes up for in the music department.

U2's Bono and the Edge have signed on to score the stage endeavor, penning "pop/rock" music and lyrics for the show. The musical will initially be presented in New York on July 12 and 13 in a two-day rehearsed Equity reading with The Lion King's Tony Award-winning Julie Taymor at the helm.

While plot points of the production have yet to be revealed, casting notices suggest a slightly skewed take on the classic storylines. For example, the character of Arachne, née Spider-Woman, doesn't get her powers from a botched science experiment as in the comic books, but rather will be depicted in the musical as "a beautiful, boastful young woman turned into a spider for her hubris and lack of respect for the gods."

The character, whom the casting directors envision as "a Sinéad O'Connor type" will appear before Peter Parker in, among many incarnations, "a powerful spider-woman who comes from another time," "a bride," "a dark goddess of vengeance," "a fragile woman" and "a dance partner in...a violent spider's dance of death."

The production is also seeking to fill slots in a geek, not Greek, chorus, of three teen boys who will meet and obsess over their favorite Spidey tales.

Notices for the requisite characters also abound, with calls for actors to portray: Peter Parker and his web-slinging alter ego; Mary Jane Watson; Norman Osborne and his emerald-tinged alter ego, the Green Goblin; and Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson, all of whom must have a "great pop/rock voice."

Of course, if any of them have a big-screen presence, that could come in handy in the future as well.

While the musical is bolstering its ranks, the already greenlighted Spider-Man 4 seems to be bleeding them.

Sam Raimi, who helmed installments 1-3 of the box office smash, tells Entertainment Weekly that, should Lord of the Rings master Peter Jackson not direct the long-gestating version of J.R.R. Tolkein's The Hobbit, that he would gladly fill the pointy-toed shoes.

However, such a commitment would inevitably prevent him from helming a fourth installment of the Spidey series, or at the very least, push it into indefinite postponement.

Web slinger extraordinaire Tobey Maguire also recently voiced the opinion that stopping the franchise at three films wouldn't be the biggest blow in the world.

"I appreciate movies from a standpoint of entertainment and distraction, and I also love when people make movies that help raise awareness," he says in the current issue of Men's Journal. "I might do another Spider-Man movie—I don't know."

Maguire went on to put what may be the final nail in the Spidey 4 coffin this week, telling the Associated Press that the franchise "kind of feels like a natural trilogy."

Even Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer played coy when asked whether the stars—and budget—would align for a fourth go round, telling the Los Angeles Times, "Who knows...it's so expensive."

While the men may be wishy-washy about their future commitment to the franchise, star Kirsten Dunst didn't bother beating around the bush, throwing down the gauntlet for her would-be costar, director and producer.

"It's disrespectful to the whole team, I think, to do that," she tells Entertainment Weekly about the prospective of big-name cohorts dropping out. "And audiences aren't stupid. It'd be a big flop without me, Tobey or Sam. That would really not be the smartest move. But they know that already. [Sony chief] Amy Pascal would never do that."

Spider-Man 3 is set to make its global debut on May 4.