With the film set to go before the cameras early next year, the casting speculation for Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 has been going into overdrive. We already had debunked the idea that Rachel McAdams would be lining up to play The Black Cat, but now we're finally getting some idea who may be fighting Tobey Maguire's webslinger.

Name one is John Malkovich, whose finest villainous role for us will always be as Cyrus The Virus in Con Air, no matter what else he does with his career. Malkovich is being linked with the role of The Vulture, according to Movieline, a man who can fly and attack people with his wings.

Meanwhile, there's Anne Hathaway, who is being linked with the role of Felicia Hardy. Comic book fans will know that Hardy turns into The Black Cat, but that may not be happening with the film. Instead, it seems the intention is to turn her into a new villain called The Vulturess.

None of this has been officially confirmed at this stage, but sooner or later, one of these stories is going to strike gold. And the idea of Mr Malkovich at least is an enticing one. We'll see how it pans out, although the Felicia Hardy idea doesn't quite tally with Raimi's preferred idea of keeping things within the world of the comic book. Nonetheless, expect news soon....

Movieline