John Malkovich possibly in Spider-Man 4

News on the Spider-Man 4 front has been relatively quiet as of late. Movieline is aiming to smash that silence by proposing two major actors being considered for the fourth installment: John Malkovich and Anne Hathaway. According to Movieline, Malkovich is in talks to play the Vulture. That makes pretty good sense, as Malkovich could play the role particularly well (he'll at least add a sense of sophistication to the part). The character started as an inventor who, upon learning that his partner was embezzling company funds, decided to wreck everything. Turning to a life of crime he successfully utilized a flight harness that gave him superhuman strength and razor-sharp wings. That makes sense. Hathaway, however, is a whole other story. Rumors have been flying that Rachel McAdams, Julia Stiles and Romola Garai have all tried out for the role of Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat. So Hathaway being involved in the talks would make sense, as I could see her playing the role of Black Cat. Movieline seems to think that Sam Raimi and co. have a different role in mind for her, the role of the Vultress. I know...I've got nothing as well. Apparently she'll still be Felicia Hardy, but instead of turning into Black Cat she will turn into the Vultress. I have an idea that this is going the route of father-daughter between Malkovich and Hathaway. But why the Vultress? What's wrong with Black Cat? My theory is that the brass at Sony and Marvel don't want to get into some weird lawsuit with DC about Catwoman similarities. That could be completely off base but it's really the only thing I can come up with right now. I'm not too keen on this idea as I foresee story difficulties akin to Sandman/Venom in Spider-Man 3. Another reason I could see is that the Spider-Man films so far have been pretty kid friendly (aside from the cartoonish violence). Adding Black Cat to the mix might "oversex" the movie and may not be the path Marvel/Sony are going for. I can't really say that I buy that argument considering Scarlett Johansson is freaking dynamite in her Black Widow outfit for Iron Man 2. So I don't really believe that's the reason, but those two are really the best I can come up with right now. These are just rumors at this point and may not pan out, so stay tuned. John Malkovich possibly in Spider-Man 4

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