For the three of you that haven’t seen Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man flicks, I know you’re probably wondering who would want to kill a sweet old, rice company mascot. For the rest of you, you’re probably wondering the infinitely more troubling conundrum of how the hell they are going to bring back the original killer back into Spider-Man 4 after muddling the story up in Spider-Man 3.

SuperHeroHype is reporting that Michael Papajohn, the actor who played the thug who kills Uncle Ben (at least until we find out that it’s Flint Marko that really kills Ben?), spoke at Wizard World Philadelphia and said that his character would be returning for the next film.

There’s obviously a few possibilities:

• He’s coming back to shoot more flashback sequences that will further illuminate his and Marko’s role in Ben’s death
• He’s coming back to reveal that Flint Marko wasn’t actually the killer (aka to restore the original storyline)
• He’s coming back to play a much bigger role, perhaps as a villain
• He’s coming back to look remorseful after the killing, turn completely emo and dance in a jazz club

Of course, in the comic book, a robber named Carradine breaks into the Parker home looking for loot that was left there long ago (and long ago eaten by vicious, literally money-hungry silverfish) when Uncle Ben confronts him.

I don’t want to believe that Sam Raimi would be daft enough to re-change the story again. Getting more convoluted does not undo the damage from the original confusing switch. But, hey, it could happen right?

And is there any chance they’d really develop that thug into a true villain like Scorpion or Chameleon?

What do you think?