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. Not only that, but Romola Garai has even auditioned for the role. Garai is a 27-year-old British actress who starred in Amazing Grace, The Other Man and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.
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.
In the latest issue of The Observer, Garai shared the details about what she was up to last week, which included a video audition for the latest Spidey:
"Love is at the root of everything good that has ever happened and will happen.” This phrase swam into focus as I moved up the escalator at Oxford Circus tube on Tuesday morning on my way to put myself “on tape” for a part in Spider-Man 4. This is the acting equivalent of the London Marathon in that it’s important to try your best as long as you understand that you aren’t going to win.
Garai is only a few years younger than McAdams, and certainly has the same look, which makes one believe there might actually be something to this Black Cat rumor after all.
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.
Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard, Black Cat first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194, published in July 1979. While the character is sometimes confused as a copy of DC Comics’ Catwoman, the character actually predates the look of the Batman villain by almost a decade. The daughter of a world-renowned cat burglar, Black Cat first met Spider-Man while trying to break her father out of prison. Felicia quickly fell in love with Spidey and looked for a way to earn his trust while continuing with the Black Cat persona as “a misguided attempt to attract his affection.”
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.
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"If you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
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