The overblown SPIDER-MAN franchise needs a new direction entirely if you ask me and whether that means a new director, a new set of talent or a completely different tone to the narrative I don't know. All I can say is that I really don't wanna sit through another crap-fest like SPIDER-MAN 3.
The status of the fourth movie in the series has come clear today. As expected Sam Raimi, Avi Arad and the new writer James Vanderbilt (ZODIAC, DARKNESS FALLS) have sat down and discussed where the story for the next movie should go. I'm guessing that meeting went well as
Comics 2 Film report that Vanderbilt said this on
BlogTalkRadio...
"It's sort of an odd process because you're sitting down with the people who made the first three and going, 'Well let me tell you what to do... But I was lucky enough that they were interested in me and I'm a huge fan of those movies, so we closed that up right before the strike. Once the strike's over I get to go to work."
So a direction has no doubt already been agreed upon, and a new villain chosen. Now Vanderbilt just has to write the script and Raimi needs to decide upon his future which we now know won't involve THE HOBBIT. So who could the villain of SPIDER-MAN 4 be? Click after the jump as we take a look at the contenders and have a brand new poll over who could be facing Spider-Man in the next movie... The obvious choice because of how this character is slowly being built up in the franchise is Dr. Curt Connors, ak.a. The Lizard, played in small cameo's by Dylan Baker in the previous films. In the last movie he was the one who got in touch of the Symbiote which could be the setup for him as a future villain. In the comics of course, Dr. Curt Connors gets transformed into a Lizard when an experiment goes wrong (yeah that again) while he tries to grow himself a new arm. Could the plot of the next film use the Symbiote as the catalyst for this transformation?
The only problem with that though is that The Lizard tale (a good family man and friend to Peter Parker, turns evil out of trying to do good) has pretty much been done already with Dr. Octopus in SPIDER-MAN 2. Of course another direction they could take with the Symbiote is to create Carnage, a serial killer and friend of Eddie Brock (Venom) who takes up a personal vendetta against Spider-Man... But isn't that almost the same as seeing another Venom movie on the big screen? Another tale I would love to see on screen is Kraven's Last Hunt, one of the more adult SPIDER-MAN stories in history. That narrative would also allow for a secondary villain (played in the comics by little known villain Vermin) but could be played by anyone ranging from The Vulture, Electro and even Mysterio. Kraven the Hunter is kinda like a bounty hunter who is intent on capturing SPIDER-MAN as his prize, but he does it for the ego than the cash.
Of course a human villain might be too much for the executives behind the movie to greenlight. So then we turn to Electro, one of the more popular villains from the pool of who is left, he is Maxwell Dillon... a villain born out of a freak accident whilst repairing a power line. He basically uses electricity as his weapon, allowing he to become superhuman and more powerful than SPIDER-MAN. He's a bit of a fantastical villain but I see no reason why he couldn't be used, his origins don't feel as implausible as a villain like Venom. An outsiders choice and someone that was rumored for a cameo in the last movie was Mysterio, a villain I would love to see played by Bruce Campbell either in a secondary role, or as a lead villain. In the comics he is a disgraced stunt man and special effects artist Quentin Beck who takes on a fantastical and theatrical costume to setup SPIDER-MAN using illusions. His biggest power is the myths he can create... and for SPIDER-MAN 4 they could easily use Campbell's character for this... after being sick of the low paid jobs he has acquired.
I've always thought Mysterio could only work as a secondary villain though, maybe not as interesting as a lead. And certainly I think Sony would think twice about using Campbell so prominently. Surprisingly, with Sam Raimi's love for the original villains... one character who hasn't turned up yet is The Chameleon, a villain who made his appearance in Spider-Man #1. He is Dmitri Smerdyakov, a former Russian spy who is biologically enhanced and is able to transform himself into the appearance of anyone else. He is also brother to Kraven the Hunter and would make for an interesting villain if used as cleverly as Mystique is in the X-MEN movies. Ghosts of Peter's past could certainly make appearances then... Total outsiders for me are... Shocker - a villain named Herman Schultz who can create earthquake like eruptions but is immune himself because of his unique costume. He also reminded be a little of the Batman villain Bane, and could only probably be used as a side villain only.
The Vulture - A villain I've heard time and time again was in Sam Raimi's original draft for SPIDER-MAN 3. He is Adrian Toomes, a former electronics guy who builds himself some wings but the idea of an old actor in wings is just never going to cut it. I heard Raimi wanted Ben Kingsley for the part at one stage but I think this villain would look extremely dumb on screen... And last and probably least, there is Rhino... a villain who I remember more from the animated series than the comics. He's basically just a dumb ass, big super strong villain and he is usually a second string villain. I can see no future for this character on our screens, I just don't think it would ever work...
So who do you want to see as the main villain in the next movie and indeed who do you think the producers behind the film have setup to focus on? Let your voice be heard below...