Spider-man4Villains Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The Internet loves casting rumors, but the gears of speculation are always at their highest when the topic is a superhero. Or, more accurately, who a superhero is going to be fighting in his/her's next trip to the big screen; and with Spider-Man 4 snowballing into production, the rumors have once again begun swirling around who Spidey is going to be web-punching this time around. First reports that Dylan Baker would finally be transforming into The Lizard seemed to confirm Sam Raimi's return to making a single-villain picture, but now a new name has been tossed into the ring.

Mania.com is reporting that their sources have cited Rachel McAdams as in talks with the film's producers to take on the role of Felicia Hardy, also known as Black Cat. If you're unfamiliar with the character, she is a sometimes good, sometimes bad cat burglar who, in addition to being a possible love interest of the web-crawler's, tries to use her less-than-legal prowess to break her father out of jail. It would be an interesting spin to have villainess for part four, but it's unclear at this point as to whether or not the film's Black Cat will ultimately be friend or foe.

A bigger shake-up to the film's line-up could come by way of the second bit of Mania's news, which stakes that the producers are also currently out casting a male villain. Assuming Raimi hasn't already broken with his desire to keep the baddies solo, this would mean that Dr. Curt Connors is not fulfilling his destiny as The Lizard after all, despite Dylan Baker confirming he'd be returning in the role. It's all very fluid and salty at this point, but if Mania's sources are indeed correct, Spider-Man 4 has either multiplied its villains once again or kept The Lizard caged until a later date.

I can't wait for the day when Spider-Man 4 leaves the world of speculation, and moves before the camera. Until that day, we can enjoy plenty of rumors and hints as to who or what Spidey will be battling in #4.

Sam Raimi recently gave a few more riddles to the MTV Splash Page, revealing that they still don't have a villain for Spider-Man 4. While Raimi "loves" the story of the Lizard, the Spider-Man team isn't exactly looking to tie up those little mentions of Dr. Curt Connors. Instead, look for a baddie who will toy with Peter's internal and external demons a little bit: "What we're trying to do right now is really understand the journey Peter is going to go on this time and have the villain maybe be a counter to that growth, something that he has to overcome. Or maybe he has to grow in a way to overcome the villain, because there always seem to be stories of coming of age, of a young man growing up and learning things about life, so once we are identifying the exact movement that Peter has to grow to, I think the villain-and we're trying this right now; we're trying to choose a villain based on who would be the proper counter to that growth, so we really have dramatic conflict."

With several drafts and screenwriters behind them, and Spider-Man 4 set to go before cameras in March or April, I'm honestly surprised they still don't have a villain in mind. Naturally, Raimi might be exaggerating and they are working with one (there's a coy "I can't say" at the beginning), but I find its sketchiness a bit troubling. What about you, Cinematical readers and Spidey fans?And does Raimi's latest riddle give you any indication of who the villain might be?

With all the talk revolving around the hottest new superhero franchises, it seems Spider-Man is starting to feel like an aging star. I half expect Peter Parker to come out with a line like, "When I was young, my film only had one villain and it took a whole two hours to defeat him." Yeah, well now your superhero movie ain't cool unless it boasts at least three villains, and the darker the music, the characters and the storyline, the better. So where does Spider-Man fit in to all of this?

MTV caught up with Sam Raimi recently, who seems to know very little about a Spider-Man 4 or 5, except that he's chatted with people about the film(s) and hopes to direct (Raimi also confirmed that he's talked about shooting both films back-to-back, which was a rumor that started right here on Cinematical). He does admit to not having a script yet, and says that production wouldn't begin until March, 2010. As far as villains go, Raimi thinks "one day The Lizard's story will be told," which makes sense -- and added that he's "hoping to work with Dylan [Baker] in the picture."

But is this the solution? Continue with the same storyline, bringing 2010 versions of both Tobey Maguire (who'll be in his mid-thirties) and Kirsten Dunst back to the big screen in an attempt to revive this almost forgotten-about franchise? In this new age of darker, more realistic superheroes, what needs to happen for Spider-Man to succeed? And who needs to star? After all, May 2011 is a far, far away.