A few things in the comic book movie department. First, the news that Thomas Haden Church, whose career has received the Lazarus treatment courtesy of Sideways, is set to be the bad guy in the next Spider-Man movie:
Thomas Haden Church, who was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor in "Sideways," has been cast as Spidey's new archenemy in the next chapter of the "Spider-Man" franchise reports Reuters.
Director Sam Raimi made the announcement Monday along with producers Laura Ziskin and Marvel Studios' Avi Arad. Who that villain is exactly remains a close secret for now.
There's a pretty short list of Spidey bad guys remaining, now that the Green Goblin and Doc Ock are out of the way. Let's look at the contenders:
Sandman - Gritty, to be sure, but just not very impressive when you get right down to it. I think Raimi would have a hard time making this dude something the audience wouldn't laugh at. And his superdensity powers are limited when not fighting on a beach.
Odds - 25:1
Vulture - Nah, the Vulture's an old guy, and his only power is flight, courtesy of an electromagnetic harness. Spidey'd beat the hell out of him, then hook him up with Aunt May.
Oh wait, Dr. Octopus already did that.
Odds - 50:1
The Lizard - Could be. The Lizard's pretty popular, even if all he can really do is tear shit up real impressive like. Didn't Dylan Baker play Dr. Connors in Spider-Man 2, though?
Odds - 25:1 (of Church playing him), 5:1 (of Baker)
Mysterio - Oh please. Creepy guys in big glass helmets are so 1974.
Odds - 75:1
Rhino - I can see the Rhino as the guy Spidey beats in the opening credits, but he's not compelling enough to build a whole movie around.
Odds - 25:1
Man-Wolf - Even if another actor hadn't already played John Jameson in Spider-Man 2, Church is too old fort he role. Besides, audiences aren't likely to be too receptive to a werewolf story in what will most likely be the final film in the series.
Odds - 50:1
Electro - A wide variety of powers would, as Lair said, make for a special effects bonanza. They'd definitely have to do something about that costume, however.
Odds - 7:1
Venom - This is who I'm putting my money on, however. Once you get past the Goblin and the Doc, Venom is probably the Spidey fanboy favorite. His ability to morph and camouflage himself would also be nifty from an F/X perspective. Venom's appearance would also give Raimi a chance to do the horror thing again. And I think Church looks a bit like Eddie Brock.
Odds - 3:1
My Dark Horse pick: The Fabulous Frog-Man
Odds presented for amusement purposes only. APCB assumes no responsibility for lost wages or relationship difficulties brought on by gambling.
You're exactly right. Gotta be Venom.
I think Church is a good choice, and to me he's already demonstrated his villain 'acting chops' in the movie Tombstone as one of the underling evil Cowboys. To see nice old Lowell behaving so anti-socially was pretty shocking and effective, and I'd be glad to see him get a plum role like the next Spidey villain.
Bruce Campbell should have a bigger role in the next film, too!
The Frogman was the role Philip Seymour Hoffman was born to play.
My dark horse candidate: He plays Ned, his old character from that sitcom, and defeats Spidey's weak little witticisms with withering sarcasm.
I think we need to look father afield.
Church as Dazzler.
Yeah, it would really have to be Venom, unless they are planning to do Hobgoblin or a return of the Green Goblin
There's an article about one of the special effects artists for the spider-man franchise. It had this to say:
"He's under contract not to talk much about Spider-Man 3, but Phoenix did say that the crew is in the conceptual design process for the villains, who are Man-Wolf and Venom."
It should have been Kraven the Hunter.
I completely forgot about HobGoblin. And they did set that up. Maybe they'll spring two villians on us this time around.
"Maybe they'll spring two villians on us this time around."
...because that worked so well in the later Batman movies.
I want to see Infinata from Dementia Five as a villian. I think I saw that episode of the animated series one time when I was a kid... and it freaked me out enough that I still remembered it enough to be able to Google it this morning.
I was originally thinking Kraven the Hunter, too. Though that probably wouldn't make a very interesting film.
Man-Thing?
Wait, I got it. Pull a switcheroo and have him fight the Daredevil arch-villian STILT MAN.
Via Pete's Perfectly Cromulent Blog one can learn about which X-Men characters will be joining the cast in the next film, and the actor that will be playing the villain in Spider-Man III.......
| --Posted to Bloodless Coup on Mar 24, 2005 10:29 AM:. |
On Pete's Perfectly Cromulent Blog one can learn about which X-Men characters will be joining the cast in the next film, and the actor that will be playing the villain in Spider-Man III.......
| --Posted to Bloodless Coup on Mar 24, 2005 10:36 AM:. |
"Odds presented for amusement purposes only. APCB assumes no responsibility for lost wages or relationship difficulties brought on by gambling."
Oh yeah! Tell THAT to Marge Simpson.
I notice a distinctly honky bias in your villain picks. What, you think that Church can't play the Hypno-Hustler or Rocket Racer just because he's white?
Hey, if Daredevil can make the Kingpin a brother, then I'm sayin' it should work both ways.