As a kid my favourite
Spider-Man villain was always The Lizard. The tragic downfall of Dr. Curt Connors - a good hearted family man thwarted by his own ambitious experiment to regrow back his arm that he lost in Vietnam which went wrong and turned him into a hideous reptilian creature, was one I connected with more than the backstories of the rest of the web-slinger's rogues gallery. Plus, the visuals in the Spider-Man comics of his great battles with The Lizard were always the most captivating. Ever since the first
Sam Raimi/Spider-Man movie was announced I've been anticipating a movie involving The Lizard, and the fourth film in the franchise was definitely the one to showcase Dr Curt Connors' turn to the dark side. Although, sadly, we should remember this isn't the fourth movie - it's really the first, a new reboot which has no place for the great character actor
Dylan Baker - cast aside when the series decided to go younger and in a new direction, but who I contend would have been terrific. Not only that but I'm a continuity man and damnit if Sony were building up and teasing Baker as Connors then that's who they should have damn well gone with! Still, the fact remains that in a little over a year's time I'm getting a new Spider-Man movie with the exciting prospect of
Rhys Ifans as Connors/The Lizard. That's truly not to be sniffed at and I truly believe director
Marc Webb pulled off a significant casting coup for his movie by obtaining that particular signature. Earlier today, amateur Peter Parker (aka
J Anthony Hall on twitter) uploaded an image from the New York set of
The Amazing Spider-Man showcasing our first good look at Ifans in the movie, sharing a scene with
Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker - which reminds me of a similar moment in
Spider-Man 2, where the two characters met outside the school. Presumably the green sock he is sporting is so post-production work can make it look mechanical, or just missing completely.
More images were also posted on his twitter, the second which is claimed offers our very first glimpse at
Martin Sheen as Ben Parker. I presume he is the grey haired man walking down the street...
Director Marc Webb...
Garfield possibly in-between takes listening to his iPod (or maybe in-character?)...
The Amazing Spider-Man is due on July 3, 2012. Images via
Coming Soon.