'Spider-Man 4' Update: John Malkovich to Play The Vulture!?
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, RumorMonger, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
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With all the awards campaigning and holiday shopping, I bet you almost forgot that Sam Raimi and Co. were still trying to cast Spider-Man 4. Well things are beginning to heat up today as Movieline reports that the studio "is circling" John Malkovich and Anne Hathaway for roles in the fourth installment. But before we get to Hathaway (whose name has already been tossed around in relation to this film), if he signs on Malkovich (who'd make a terrific villain by the way) would play The Vulture, aka Adrian Toomes, a businessman who creates a special harness that not only allows him to fly, but also gives him enhanced strength. He's been described as a strong fighter and a remorseless killer.
Meanwhile, Hathaway is a whole different can of worms. While she'd definitely be playing Felicia Hardy (as previously rumored), this particular version of Hardy wouldn't be Black Cat. Instead, according to Movieline, they've created an entirely different character for her called The Vulturess, perhaps to get away from all the Catwoman comparisons. We have no idea what The Vultress does, but we imagine she'd team up and help out The Vulture in some capacity.
As far as Dylan Baker's Lizard goes, sadly producers don't seem to want to go that route -- either because the villain is too "odd-looking" for the studio (as Movieline reports) or because Baker isn't a big enough name to throw on the marquee (which is what some have suggested in the past) ... or both. It's important to note that all of this is speculation and rumor until it's officially confirmed. Spider-Man 4 hits theaters on May 6, 2011.
So what do you think?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-08-2009 @ 10:02AM
DAVID F said...
I think it sucks that they won't give it to Baker and it sounds like there are too many villians/antogonists involved.
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12-08-2009 @ 10:17AM
Eric said...
I'm a big Malkovich fan and he'd be right for the part, but... not to be indelicate, but he has gained quite a bit of weight in the last few years. Between his Kubrick movie and "Burn After Reading" I don't think he's in any kind of physical shape to play the Vulture. "Con Air" Malkovich would have been ideal, but unless they devote some serious work in post to digitally slimming him, he's a no-go.
I'm still pulling for Baker and the Lizard. "Too odd-looking"? He's a 6' lizard-faced dude in a lab coat with werewolf-style transformation scenes from man to monster! That's not odd, it's AWESOME.
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12-08-2009 @ 7:48PM
Bubbameister33 (Confused by Fanboyism) said...
I wish someone would invent exercise.
12-08-2009 @ 7:52PM
Common sense fanboyism said...
Yeah, special exercise that erased 80 lbs of lard off of the midsection of a guy in his late 50s. That would be some exercise, wouldn't it Bubba?
12-08-2009 @ 12:33PM
Jonathan said...
They had me at Malkovich... but lost me with the 'Vultress".
Somebody PLEASE stop them before they really make me hate Spiderman. He deserves better treatment than this.
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12-08-2009 @ 11:12AM
Bryan said...
Malkovich would be an excellent Vulture but please, please, please let Anne Hathoway be Felicia Hardy as the Vulturess. I don't know what that means and I don't want to know what that means, if we're going to have Felicia Hardy,
A. Of course Black Cat is a Catwoman knock-off, half the comic book characters in Marvel and D.C. are in direct reaction to something the other company did
B. Felicia Hardy IS frigging Black Cat, not the Vulturess
C. Anne Hathoway is totally wrong for the Black Cat. She's beautiful, certainly, but she isn't an insanely hot constant flirt/temptress who just sizzles trouble, which is what Black Cat is.
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12-08-2009 @ 4:52PM
Eric H said...
Actually Black Cat isn't a Catwoman knock off, its the other way around, while it is true that the Catwoman character existed before Black Cat, at the time of Black Cat's creation Catwoman was only a generic cat themed villain. Catwoman and Black Cat became similar when Frank Miller wrote Batman: Year one was she depicted as a Cat Burglar, drawing from Miller's experience writing Black Cat for Marvel.
12-08-2009 @ 11:29AM
Corey Bean said...
The only problem with having the Lizard as the bad guy is they've done the scientist-driven-mad-by-his-experiment twice already with the Green Goblin & Dr. Octopus. Plus, for whatever reason, they decided to make Dr. Octopus, the Sandman, & the second Green Goblin (& the Green Goblin, to a degree) tragic villians, so it would be kind of repetitive to have another bad guy to pity. I think that's what I've liked least about the Spider-Man movies: they took all of the fun out of the villians for the sake of drama. I hope whoever the go with, they let him or her just be an evil asshole.
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12-08-2009 @ 12:37PM
Juan Carlo said...
Dude, look up HAVOC (2005, I think). THEN tell me if she can't play "an insanely hot constant flirt/temptress who just sizzles trouble". And by the way, you're welcome. :)
As for the Vulture... no. No. No. NO, NO, NO, NO. I love John Malkovich, he's creepy, he's a great actor, but the Vulture will push him to lameness, as I believe the Vulture is a LAME character. LAME. We NEED Dylan Baker as The Lizard. We MUST HAVE Dylan Baker as The Lizard. Please, pretty please with effin' sugar and Sweet 'n' Low on it, do NOT use the Vulture in this one. I Do hope this is just rumors.
12-08-2009 @ 12:08PM
Ben Collins said...
The important question is how will they make the plot work where the Malkovich is Peter's mentor during the day and then unwittingly fights him as Spiderman at night which they've done with all of the other villians which I thought was the Lizard's plot to begin with.
When the first two Spiderman movies came out they seemed so good but quality of the writing throughout the series is so unimaginative that it makes any casting not really matter to me.
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12-08-2009 @ 11:54AM
Oblique said...
Sounds like garbage to me, the Malkovich part being the vulture not so much. But Anne Hathway's name has to leave all these spiderman rumors. One because she doesnt fit the role and second the whole part about Felicia not being the black cat is ridicuuuulous!!!! Thats like going to to see a so called batman movie where Bruce Wayne is a completely different character.
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12-08-2009 @ 11:58AM
DAVID F said...
Hathaway isn't right for the role, she's too tall. They really need to appeal to Raimi's horror qualities and go with The Lizard, especially coming off of "Drag Me to Hell".
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12-08-2009 @ 12:40PM
Christian M. Howell said...
I think Marvel should consider more new villains. They would then have the choice of continuing them in the comics or not.
Though I guess this is just a cry for a Superman villain other than Luthor.
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12-08-2009 @ 12:54PM
Joshua said...
I don't like this Malkovich casting I always saw Ben Kingsley as the vulture and the vulture has no place in this movie i was hoping it would be either Kraven the hunter or possibly morbius both have good stories involving the lizard.
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12-08-2009 @ 1:58PM
David said...
I don't buy the "Dylan Baker Isn't Famous Enough" argument -- after all, Thomas Haden Church and Topher Grace weren't exactly marquee names and box office sure-things.
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12-08-2009 @ 3:35PM
Wexler said...
Great! I would say the producers are right on track to ruin another Spiderman movie!
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12-08-2009 @ 4:59PM
vegimorph said...
Nobody should get their shorts in a bunch yet. The film is still in the casting stage and we won't know anything definitie until shooting or post-production. A lot of these stories are most likely rumors and some of them really don't make any sense if you think about it. Sam Raimi may have goofed up with the third movie but I'm pretty sure he knows what he's doing this time around. He;s learned from his mistakes.
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12-08-2009 @ 5:23PM
JackGonzo said...
I can see Malkovich working BEAUTIFULLY. You'd have to make him a much darker version than the comic version, but he could completely be bad ass in this flick and make for some great scenes. Think Malkovich in In The Line Of Fire.
I don't see The Vultress actually happening...then again I never thought I'd see the Snowboard Green Goblin either. That being said, I think Anne Hathaway would be smoking as Felicia Hardy. Easiest way for there to be no Catwoman comparisons? Don't have her act like a cat, simple as that.
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12-08-2009 @ 7:50PM
Bubbameister33 (Confused by Fanboyism) said...
Roll the dice but you better hope it isn't a six.
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12-09-2009 @ 4:08PM
IanP said...
Malkovich as The Vulture = Good
Hathaway as some random, made-up henchwoman instead of Black Cat? = Bad
The Lizard "too 'odd-looking' for the studio"? This supposedly coming from the studio that gave us Venom in the last movie? And the Green Goblin mask in the first? They don't have a leg to stand on with that argument, since the look of the villians in this series has been hit-and-miss so far.
"Baker isn't a big enough name to throw on the marquee"? Absurd. The general public did not come to the previous films because Dafoe, Molina, Church or Grace were cast as the antagonists. For that matter, they did't come for Maguire & Dunst either. They came to see Spider-Man. If Raimi can't make that case and caves in to this type of illogical thinking after planting the seeds for the storyline, I may lose my remaining respect for the man. He did, after all let them foist Venom on him last time around.
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