Villains derail 'Spider-Man 4' start

By Carl DiOrio and Borys Kit

The latest Spidey sequel is proving villainously difficult to plot out.

Sony and director Sam Raimi are at loggerheads over which direction to go with the villains for the latest installment — an impasse which has prompted the studio to delay its scheduled spring production start and potentially to bump the pic from its May 11, 2011 release slot.

Raimi wants to have a criminal known as the Vulture act as the primary antagonist in the film while the studio, which dislikes the idea of the winged wrongdoer, is pushing for a romantic sub-plot involving a burglar named the Black Cat in addition to another villain.

A succession of writers has tried to marry the two parties’ differing visions to no effect. 

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire (“Rabbit Hole”) was hired in October 2008 to pen a key version of the screenplay, on top of the earlier version penned by James Vanderbilt (“Zodiac”). Last year, Sony brought in Gary Ross — Oscar-nominated for his adapted script on 2003’s “Seabiscuit” — which he also helmed.

Alvin Sargent is penning the latest iteration.

Word of the Sony-Raimi conflict first surfaced mid-December on genre Web site IESB, but at the time Sony denied the report, saying tweaking of the script was “nothing unusual.”

The differing views about the villain have their origins in the making of “Spider-Man 3.”

Raimi, a fan of the wall-crawling super-hero since the character’s 1960s debut, wanted to use classic villain Vulture in addition to Sandman, another classic creation, for that movie. The studio pushed him to use Venom, a character that was introduced in the late 1980s, because it thought that character, with its slick alien-symbiote origin, would lend itself to more effective marketing material and a way to attract “the kids.”  

“Spider-Man 3,” while ensnaring $890 million in its worldwide web, turned out to be reviled by both the fanboy community and by many critics. In addition to a hefty paycheck, Raimi purportedly returned to helm the fourth installment in order to leave the series on a high note.

Production still could begin by this summer. While Sony insiders maintain the pic still could remain in its current release date, a shift to a date later in summer 2011 may be more likely considering the lack of a final script for the visual effects-driven project.

Comments

[valentines day presents]

Vulture was slated to be in Spiderman 3 and they even did some costume tests with him, before pushing him out of the film for Venom. Could have been interesting, maybe they will use him in 4...

[ju2tin]

They should have all the villains in this one in a big team-up against Spider-man. Electro, Mysterio, Vulture, Lizard man, Kraven, Rhino, Scorpion... get 'em all in there!

[Matinik]

Sony should back the hell off. They pushed their choice for Spider-man 3 and look how that turned out.

[Arthur D/Hellstormer1]

The Sinister Six is not a bad idea. But those villains need to be seen beforehand, developed and fleshed out a bit first, to pull the audience in, then unleash them together. Kind of like what they're doing with The Avengers and it's seperate heroes.
The Sony studio really should back off of the project, but, for them it never works that way. While they did very obviously make a bad call with Venom, they see it as "protecting their investment" *rolls eyes* by choosing a villain they thought would sell.
What they neglected to think about, was that Sam Raimi, when left to his own devices, he sells movies. He can take any bad guy he wants and make them into something, someONE, very interesting that the audience will watch and "OOOHH" and "AAAHH" about. More than that, he's obviously building a saga, a greater story that comprises all the movies together, and the studio's interjections are a large part of why that saga now feels off key, where it would have otherwise gotten better with each film.
While I'm sure other writers and directors, other creative individuals, could make a good spiderman film, most of the would choose material from later on, while Raimi is pitting right at the beginning of it all, and making the ride worth it all the way.
I want spidey movies about Venom. And Carnage. And the Clone Saga. And all the bloody stuff that should come with it. But I want it from a different director who will do it AFTER Sam Raimi finishes doing what he wants to do, so that whoever takes his place can focus on what THEY want to do, and if that's Venom, Carnage and Clone Saga, then that means it would make fir an awsome movie, because that director gets to do what they're wanting to do. Not forced by the guys fitting the bill.

[Danny boy]

they probably should have waited to introduce venom, and let another director helm that movie, since Raimi has admitted he wasn't a fan of the character ( even though all we ever wanted was him in it, Raimi apparently didn't care what we wanted, so in this situation, everybody was the badguy). but lets be honest, this movies' villain needs to be lizard, and only lizard, because we have had the set up for three movies now. however adding the black cat character for romantic tension is a good idea in my opinion, she's an 80's character though which is probably why Raimi is against it

[best sdhc cards]

"Spider-Man 3" is to check out the special effects again. If there are more Spider-Man films made, and there is no reason to believe there won't be given the money involved in releasing another film, then I would hope that the makers would simplify the story once again and do what made the first two films so enjoyable to watch.

[8gb usb flash drive]

Hi Guy's,
we have had the set up for three movies now. however adding the black cat character for romantic tension is a good idea in my opinion,

[Dean W]

I love the Vulture, would have been better than Venom, that's just my opinion. And in this one cut back on the cheezy melodrama the one in spiderman 3 was wayyy too sappy

[Raleigh]

Spider-Man 3 was a train wreck, and 4 looks to be the same. The only black guy I could imagine playing Spidey might be Don Cheadle, and that's because he can do anything. The studio did nothing to exploit Venom's appeal as a villain.

All in all, it's tough to trim the goof-factor from Spidey villains, because their all a product of 60's camp. Then again, Dark Knight managed to do it. A darkly themed Spidey flick following Todd McFarland's first run on his "Spider-Man" title would be awesome. Also, the Lizard is already established, and has a fairly cool background. Vulture . . . gag. As for establishing the Sinister Six, I don't think you need much. Electro? Guy who shoots electricity. Mysterio? Disgruntled FX guy (also lame). The only one who needs an introduction is Kraven, who could stand alone on his own.

Then again, what about Morbius? Then Mary Jane could fall in love with the vampire . . .

P.S. Art, after Spidey 3 I don't want to see Sam Raimi direct anything.