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John Malkovich to Play the Villain Vulture in Spider-Man 4?

by Alex Billington
December 8, 2009
Source: Movieline

I hate to run another Spider-Man 4 rumor, but this time Movieline came across something that actually seems legit. They're saying that they were informed by an insider that John Malkovich is being eyed for the role of the villain Vulture and also that, as we reported previously, Anne Hathaway is being eyed for a role as well. Interestingly, they say Hathaway will play a character named Felicia Hardy, who is the altar ego of a villain known as the Vulturess, not Black Cat (like in the comics). For once, this actually gels with what we know from our inside sources. It seems like these characters and this casting may finally be accurate.

Movieline doesn't say much else except that The Lizard, the villain that Dr. Connors becomes, won't be in the movie because apparently the Sony execs "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." For once, I actually believe that. It'd probably work if this were the Men in Black series, but a giant lizard might not be as easily accepted in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man universe. So if that's the case, the villains will be a combination of Vulture and his daughter(?), the Vulturess. Only two of them in this sequel because Sam Raimi wants to get "back to basics."

As for the casting, I'd absolutely love to see both of those actors join the Spider-Man universe. I really love Hathaway but she needs more diverse and interesting roles like this to keep up her persona. And if they get Malkovich, I think that would be as inspired casting as Alfred Molina was for Spider-Man 2. He'll definitely do a great job as Vulture, that's for sure. For those who don't know, Vulture is a villain who develops a flying harness that can also be used as a weapon. He's a pretty simple villain, but I'm sure screenwriter Gary Ross will spice him up with a good story and connection to Felicia Hardy. Your thoughts on these villains?

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Matt

Vulture is a crap villian. He was edgy in 1960. Fail.
mrmr

ew. the fuck is a vulturess??? seriously.... my nephew would be a better villain than the vulture.
JakeTheSnake

This would be a shock.
Six Three

One piece of shit (Vulture) plus another piece of shit (Vulturess) does not equal a good Spider-Man 4. I'd rather see Scorpion than any other villain. He's got a badass suit AND a human face (which is apparently important.)
http://twitter.com/gimmesumsuga Mathieu

Mixed feelings about this. Malkovich is either great - see Burn After Reading, Being John Malkovich - or truly, truly terrible - see pretty much everything else he's done in the past decade. Basically, if it's a low budget arthouse movie he puts a bit of effort in. If it's a Hollywood blockbuster he cashes the cheque and orders a big slice of ham. Given Raimi's fondness for stylisation, I don't know if he'd be able to reign him in...
Tra la la la la di da

This isn't an obvious choice......... But either way, even with a good actor like Malkovich, the characters are crap. They were some of the weakest villains in Spider-Man. Let's get some real bad guys! I'll take The Lizard or Morbius over these fools.
d1rEct

I don't know if that would be a good fit or not.
Tim

this is a horrible idea especially for a main villain. if he were to be on the side while the main concern was the lizard i would accept it. even though i believe Malkovich would do a great job, the character just isn't strong enough to hold a "main" villain position. to create an abstract story about him just to make it work is going to discourage all the comic book fans of Spider-Man to go to the theaters to watch it. it takes away from their traditional view of the Spider-Man universe. and to fabricate Felicia Hardy's cameo is on a level by itself. when people hear Felicia Hardy they think Black Cat, not a made up villain like the "Vulturess." that just sounds stupid. if they execs are too scared to create the Lizard then they shouldn't have put Doc Connors in the character list from the star, as sad as that is to say. from the moment of the realization of his character in the first movie, fans have been looking forward to at least some appearance of him as the Lizard.
Eddie

If they turn Black Cat into whatever the Vultress is supposed to be, Spiderman will officially be dead to me. I may have been able to look past jazz dancing, but not the vultress.
Victor

Sam Rami sucks!
Gill

I love Raimi, loved Spider-man 1 and 2, hated 3, and think that the Lizard would be a way better villain than the Vulture. I mean, they set up Kurt Connors two movies ago - when will his inclusion pay off?
Antioch

Should be Ben Kingsley if they insist on using Vulture. Scorpion would be a better all-around villain though.
tim

Could have lived with the Vulture if the Lizard appeared. This is horrible. Turning the Black Cat into the Vulturess? WTF! Also, why can they not do the Lizard? Does not make sense, he is just a genetic experiment gone wrong. Anyway, I thought Raimi was given full control? F------ for me.
Dan W

Right...... So a man with scales and a tail is too unbelievable, but some black goo that can attach to someone and give them super powers is more believable? Come on now.
http://www.internapse.com Internapse

It appears the HeyUGuys story from November 10th was true! http://www.internapse.com/marvel/news.php?id=2453 "We were also given a rough outline of the character's story arc. Apparently she is the daughter of the new editor of The Daily Bugle, a man who is also referred to as "a viper" (more on this in a second). She falls in love with Peter Parker, and uncovers his true identity. Her father then dies, and Hardy becomes a threat to Peter Parker (presumably as The Black Cat)." It appears that the "Viper" really is the Vulture and that his daughter, Felicia Hardy, becomes the Vulturess. If true, then the Vulture (aka the new Daily Bugle Editor and Mr. Hardy) dies in the film which spurs Felicia to don the tights. Originally we thought Felicia Hardy would become the Black Cat, but it appears Sam Raimi has something else in mind.
http://terenced.tumblr.com terenced

Horrible!! I could have accept Vulture as the villain, but the vulturess? Come on! That is ridiculous! If they are going head with this, please, for the love of Spider-man, do not call her Felicia Hardy! My spider-sense is tingly...this movie is going to be worse than Spider-man 3 :'(
Garrett

Back to fucking basics my ass. Vulturess?
nelson

rumor guys rumor lol please read the fucking article
Spider

John Malkovich kicks ass. He's a great actor! If Raimi insists on having the Vulture in the next "Spider-Man" flick, then surely he must have a good concept on his hands. I'm sure they will spice up the character to greater effect. Yes, I have faith in Raimi, contrary to popular belief. I still think that the Lizard should get his closeup..... and even the Scorpion or Chameleon would work too. The main question I have is: If "Spider-Man 3" had Venom and Sandman-- 2 pretty far-fetched characters in Raimi's "Spider-Man" universe, why couldn't Sony just green light the Lizard as the villain? Sony needs to remember that this is a COMIC BOOK universe!!!!
Hedgehog

I would prefer to see the Lizard or Morbius or Carnage or Rhino or Scorpion or or.. anybody else. BUT! my hopes are that they are saving the good villians (really good villians at least, I always liked vulture) for Spider-Man 5 where they could possibly reboot the series with a whole new cast and be on their merry little way for an amazing film with some amazing villians. Yup.
Voice of Reason

cheers to the franchise for bringing in quality actors for their villains....now if only they could do something about the shitty director they keep bringing back to make these movies.....
hale

Sooooo an alien that doesnt have a human face and a 20 story tall sand monster is ok but not a lizard man??? They pretty much ruined Venom for me which was my favorite character in the comic and if they use falicia to become the vultress i am done with these movies. Raimi stop making them. Seriously name the chick stephanie or something dont use a name that will piss people off that doesnt go with the character...Dont turn yourself into FOX wit the x-men franchise
Jack n Jill

at least its not Ryan Reynolds, I'm so sick of that douche
tobi,leader of the akatsuki

fucking get rid of everyone involved in this film & give it back to marvel studios at least they won't fuck up this franchise, they did a great job on ironman & a much improved hulk movie,ironman 2 & thor both look & sound promising.PLEASE MARVEL TAKE BACK ALL YOUR FRANCHISES, SPIDER-MAN FROM SONY,THE X-MEN,DAREDEVIL & FANTASTIC FOUR FROM FOX & LETS MAKE SOME DECENT MARVEL FILMS THAT THE FANS WANT TO SEE.let's see the likes of venom,the kingpin,galactus & DEADPOOL done properly.
PJ H

if they think lizard is too strange looking what makes them think that an old man in a bird suit is a good idea Kraven the Hunter ftw.
wideguy

well... if they hadn't for the most part killed off Doc Oc, I would say that the vulture is included specifically to usher in the sinister six in a potential later film. They would need Doc Oc alive, sandman back, vulture, mysterio, shocker, and Kraven the hunter in order to pull the original six off, but I could still see them substituting the hobgoblin for kraven. That is the only way I could forgive Vulture as a super villain in Spiderman 4.
guh

i love malkovich and i'm sure he would play a great "vulture" (seeing that he looks almost exactly like him and the fact that he's a great actor), but idk if this role is right for him...
selrahc

i think ben kingsley would make a good vulture at least he looks the part.
Xerxex

no carnage! what the hell man.
Hien

This is absolutely absurd. Malkovich should be ashamed of himself if he is actually going to allow Sam Raimi to attach wings to him and have him fly around a green screen for 6 months or however long the shooting schedule is. What they need to do is make up for that piece of crap movie Spider-man 3 was and bring in Carnage. Dark seems to be the in-thing now with comic movie and nothing is darker than Carnage. He's right up Raimi's alley and there are so many possibilities with for Raimi to do something amazing with it. Raimi, the best apology you can give to us Spider-man fans who got screwed over with the dude from That 70's Show being Venom and having Venom on screen for like 5 total minutes would be to scrap this idea of two bird-people as villian and have Carnage go on a killing spree. It'd be like a Dark Knight-esque kinda film.
simon

*yawn* this franchise is toast. REBOOT!!!1
Fisherr

Interesting.
leon

OH FUCK THIS
movie mike

Bad character, GREAT CASTING (vulture). I was really hoping that Anne Hathaway was gonna be black cat, because frankly, Parker's relationship is sooooo 1950s lovey dovey. Black Cat would have been a perfect way to make him doubt MJ and start to want a more freedom oriented relationship. But, it sounds like they r going for a kinda Joker/Quinn thing here and that hasen't really been done before. Also the age difference could be interesting. Not saying it will work, but it has potential.
"David Webb"

Chameleon, Lizard, Mysterio, Kraven... So many better villains to choose from than a senior in green feathers. And messing up Black Cat. Raimi has been poison to this franchise almost from the beginning (Maguire and Dunst too). Spider-Man needs a reboot.
KG

Gerard Butler as Kraven and, I am going to throw a wild one out there, but i would love to see Johnny Depp as The Chameleon
Madnezz344

I am going to start a massive boycott if this is seen through. Seriously? the Vulture and the Vulturess, what kinda weak shit is this? Might as well throw in Aquaman into this bullshit. The lizard has a "human face" its doctor Coners.
GG

There can be no way that this rumor is true. It makes now sense at all.
DRM

On one hand I think it makes perfect sense to replace Felicia Hardy's actual comic book-father with the Vulture, since the Vulture is both the right age, and a much more recognizable and marketable character. Also, it makes some sense for her to NOT be "the Black Cat" so as to avoid similarities between both "Black Widow" in Iron Man 2, and the Batman villain Catwoman; who is a much more recognizable character. On the other hand, her being named "Vulturess", and presumably being Vulture-inspired, is completely idiotic. For one thing, there's nothing sexual or attractive about vultures, and Felicia Hardy even if not the Black Cat, should still be a femme-fetal type of character. If they HAD to name her something else, they should have come up with something more feminine or sensual. Secondly, a child taking on the same/similar criminal motif of their villain father is EXACTLY WHAT THEY DID IN SPIDER-MAN 3!!
NadaNuff

If Felicia Hardy becomes the Vulturess, it would be tragic. If Felicia Hardy becomes Black Cat, I would be ecstatic. If Felicia Hardy doesn't become a supervillain, why is she in the movie? You think Felicia, you think Black Cat. Please don't retread the love triangle (Peter Parker/MJ Watson/Gwen Stacy) from the third movie without spicing it up. Black Cat would be perfect in this.
http://www.daequitas.deviantart.com burak "Daequitas"

darn sony execs.... in this recent accurate info there are two wrong and one right and one great choice... villain Vulture ok Mr Malkovich as Vulture great casting one "ok" one "great" is off the list, now to come to the wrongs; Anne Hathaway a definetely wrong choice for the B.Cat. where as Anne looks so fragile and slim, we all know that Felicia Hardy is one tough cookie and a lot sexier than Anne could deliver the last but the biggest wrong is not having LIZARD... come onnnn guysss what are you thinking???? you build up the character for three movies and then cast him off as the villain most of us were waiting to see all along...he is fast he is ferocious he is almost more than webhead could handle. why cast him off the villains list and i really agree with #36 KG, kraven shoul at least make a cameo if not as the main villain and his cast suggestion looks solid butler turned hunter to sum up... SONY and RAIMI please step down and let someone who really knows spidey and loves him do a real spidey flick where no organic/biowebs exist, where great villains are not portrayed as lame bullies, and actually deserving villains match spideys wits, speed and mouth we want kingpin, Kraven the Hunter, Chameleon, Green Goblin, Mysterio, may even Spider Slayers, and if done right Venom but definetely a Carnage Doc Ock may even return. until those are met no real spidey flick is done giving our friendly neighboor his actual due.
http://www.daequitas.deviantart.com burak "Daequitas"

oopps i forgot the fact that having felicia in the movie but as Vultress (??) is insane??? who is Vulturess?? Vulture is not a great villain but it has alwasy been a thorn in spideys sides so i can live with him being a side villain but Vulturesss????? sometimes i wish i was a stamp collector and not comics and my favorite character wouldnt be spidey PS: i also forgot to mention JJ Jameson's anti spider pwan Scorpion even he would make a better villain than Vulture...
Metatasian

Sony Execs/Sam Raimi had the choice of: Mysterio Shocker Morbius Lizard Scorpion Black Cat Carnage Chameleon Electro Hammerhead Kraven the hunter Rhino Tombstone etc. ... and they chose an old man in a bird suit and a erm.. vulturess??!! WTF???!! EPIC FAIL!!!! REBOOT PLEASE!
Da Man

What the hell is a vulturess? I don't think Black Cat is that great. But her and Spidey have some of the best interactions together. And she's way hot. Hollywood should know not to use a real character's name as something else, it just removes all hope of seeing that character in the future. Also, Vulture is lame. Everybody knows that. They better bastardize that mofo. i've been trusting Sam Raimi on this one but i'm starting to think he's gonna let me down. Where's lizard? Where's Mysterio? Rhino even. Whatever, maybe it'll be more about Spidey's personal life and he'll just make fun of Vulture a lot.
Big Vinny Diesel

Clearly if Vulture is in then they're making the movie far more for mainstream audiences than for Marvel fans. Which lets face it is how to make more money anyway. As a fan, probably gonna be very, very disappointed if Vulture is the 'bad guy'
Phew

Vulture is so fucking lame. How about: 1) Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as Kraven The Hunter or 2) Bring Dafoe back as a clone of Norman Osborne, along with Ben Rielly and get the whole clone saga going. Or both. And please PLEASE don't screw up the Black Cat, who is ridiculously hot with the white hair and blue-black leather body suit. Vulturess? Fuck off! :<
hhhfan4life

...seriously? VULTRESS!? EPIC FAIL. they should cast carnage, kraven, and lizard. why you ask? 1: they have mentioned dr. conners about 3 or 4 times. HE IS MOST FAMOUS 4 THE LIZARD!!!! Like obama said, CHANGE WE NEED!! 2: it has a plot with it. Dr. Conners still has that piece of the symbiote, right? well when conners goes lizard, he will destroy EVERYTHING in his lab, thus letting the symbiote free. the symbiote will find a local prison and bond with cleatus kassady, thus making carnage. Meanwhile, lizard is roming the streets and doing bad guy stuff when a certain kraven the hunter pops up and they fight violently. kraven shoots lizard with a dart of poizon which ko's lizard. Spidey hears of this and searches for him. Spiderman finds him in kravens lair so they become enemys and fight. Spidey revives lizard and he goes back to conners. Kraven is pissed so he leaves and gets killed by carnage or at least put in serious state of injury. Carnage finds dr. conners and remembers that he let him free to find kassady. So carnage and dr. conners have a staredown and carnage claims that he will repay him for his grattitude. conners asks for kraven's poizon which he would modify to regenerate his arm. he tries and it makes him an even more dangerous lizard. Spiderman is forced to come into contact with kraven and get the antidote. When he gets it, he finds lizard with carnage, who sees flashbacks of how peter treated the black costume so they fight. in the midst of the battle, kraven pops up ready to kill lizard once and for all. carnage, in the distraction by kraven, takes one of kravens RPG'S and coveres it with symbiote. Spiderman is then forced to make a choice: save conners by killing kraven, or save new york by killing carnage. Take that, and modify it ( it isnt the best story ever) and you have one bad*** spidey flick. 3: i like those vilains. by the way, whoever sam rami makes spidey kill, the other guy will have a rollin spidey5. reply on this please.
Bryan Mastrangelo

Seriously? Are they trying to ruin the spider man movie franchise? Of all villians they pick Vulture!!!?? Are you kidding me? Please tell me if i'm wrong but wouldn't you guys rather see Carnage and the lizard? Why are they thinking? Must be the millions of dollars of psycodelic drugs they are abusing. Fuck Spider man 4
Bryan Mastrangelo

And I agree 120% with hhhfan4life. Honestly, hhhfan4life for director of the rest of the spider man movies
hhhfan4life

thanks for the nice comment bryan! I wouldn't mind, accually, directing the other SPIDERMAN movies. It would be really fun and UNLIKE Sam Rami, I wouldnt ruin the franchise! LOL I mean i would love to work with the talent on the earth and create a good spidey flick. It would be a good challenge and I'd smile if i heard i ran sam rami out of the saga! PS: Oh, i forgot to mention that i also think that there shouldnt be a Black Cat in 4. save it for number 5 or 6. And since she loves spidey, goblin's dead, and it sort of relates to the comics, make her kill gwen! She is a bad guy anyways!
Tana

NEED TO PUT CARNAGE IN IT! FUCK BACK TO BASICS, SPIDER-MAN 4 GONNA SUCK IF HE PUT VULTURE IN IT! IF THEY WANNA MAKE ALOT OF MONEY, PUT CARNAGE AND VENOM IN IT INSTEAD, VENOM DIDNT HAVE MUCH SCREEN TIME IN SPIDER-MAN 3 I DONT GET HOW IT TAKES MICHAEL BAY 2 YEARS TO MAKE TRANFORMERS WITH ALL THAT CGI BUT IT TAKE 4 YEARS TO MAKE A SPIDER MAN MOVIE I HOPE THEY CHANGE THE VILLAIN TO CARNAGE & VENOM OR ATLEAST SHOCKER OR SCORPION