John Malkovich rumored to play The Vulture in SPIDER-MAN 4
Movieline is reporting that “sources close to the film” have stated that director Sam Raimi & Co. are perched on none other than John Malkovich to spread his acting wings as Spidey’s nemesis, The Vulture, for the fourth installment of the series. These “sources” also supported the rumor that Anne Hathaway has been in talks to star in the film as Felicia Hardy, yet not as the friend Black Cat, but instead as a new foe called The Vulturess. I cannot comment for certain, but my Spidey sense is tingling on the idea that these two villains may be connected somehow.
If this turns out to be true, it raises a few concerns with this friendly neighborhood Gordon and the Whale writer. The first being the idea of creating a whole new villain for the film. Do not misunderstand, I am all for taking an old story into new territory. However, I don’t think any of us have forgotten what happened the last time Mr. Raimi used an existing Spidey villain and took extreme liberties with the character (COUGH COUGH) James Franco’s “New Goblin.” The second being that one of the major faults of SPIDER-MAN 3, to which Raimi himself has admitted, was that it tried to pack in too many villains and their subsequent back stories. With both The Vulture and The Vulturess, we may be privy to this same flood of baddies.
The third of course being…what about poor Dylan Baker? Has Raimi not been setting his character, Dr. Curt Connors, up since SPIDER-MAN 2 to eventually become The Lizard? While I do feel that Malkovich does make a fantastic villain and would duly make a fantastic Vulture, we can’t just throw Baker out into the gutter (pun intended). Those “sources” I’ve been telling you about apparently think the “suits simply can’t bring themselves to sign off on such an odd-looking enemy — instead, they’d rather hew closer to villains with a human face.” Sounds a little slimy, if you ask me.
With all that said, this is of course still just rumors and speculation that only add to the ever growing pile surrounding SPIDER-MAN 4. It is a tangled web we weave, isn’t it?
Still fun though! And on that note, comment back with your thoughts!
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