The Black Cat in Spider-Man 4: The Web’s Mystery of the Week

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on November 11, 2009

Someone on the inside is talking, and they’re talking about Spider-Man 4. Perhaps on purpose, the folks inside Sony Pictures are drumming up some chatter this week here on the movie blogosphere with news from the development of their next web-slinging adventure. And leave it to us to be last on the block to hear this ice cream truck ‘o fun as it rounds the corner.

Allow me to break this down for you:

- On November 9, the folks at Mania.com reported that the villain for Spider-Man 4 would be Felicia Hardy, known as the sexy cat-burglar The Black Cat. They even go one step further to say that The Notebook star Rachel McAdams is at the top of the studio’s list, and is about to be cast.

- A day before that, The Observer published a guest article by actress Romola Garai, who had to put herself “on tape” for a role in the pic, but did not specify the part for which she’s auditioning. Several other bloggers have connected the dots, saying that Garai could be testing for Black Cat, but nothing is certain. I would almost mark this item as irrelevant for the time being.

- Yesteday (November 10), the gents at Hey You Guys wrote their own “huge exclusive” on the matter, spurring further speculation about the McAdams rumor. According to their report, McAdams isn’t the only actress in the running. There are others, but they don’t know who. They do know however, that her story goes like so: “she is the daughter of the new editor of The Daily Bugle, a man who is also referred to as ‘a viper’. She falls in love with Peter Parker, and uncovers his true identity. Her father then dies, and Hardy becomes a threat to Peter Parker (presumably as The Black Cat).”

The storyline proposed in the Hey You Guys article seems to fit with the general feel of Raimi’s Spider-Man series, with one exception. Their scoop says that The Black Cat’s father is the new editor of The Daily Bugle — which would mean that Raimi is throwing out J. Jonah Jameson, and as such, tossing out the lifeblood of the first three films — J.K. Simmons. That, I don’t support.

Beyond that, none of this is official. It is all speculative, and should be treated as such. There’s a reasonable chance that The Black Cat’s storyline is in Spider-Man 4 and that Rachel McAdams is on a list of names somewhere at Sony, but no i’s have been dotted, and no t’s have been crossed on the contracts yet. And until then, we’re in wait and see mode.

That said, I support the inclusion of The Black Cat based on costume design above. For those not following, please consult the image above.

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