Thomas Haden Church to be villain in Spidey 3

Marksist · Post by **Marksist** » 2005-03-22 07:55pm

Church will try to squash hero in 'Spider-Man 3'

By Liza Foreman
Thomas Haden Church, who was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor in "Sideways," has been cast as Spidey's new archenemy in the next chapter of the "Spider-Man" franchise. Director Sam Raimi made the annoncement Monday along with producers Laura Ziskin and Marvel Studios' Avi Arad.

"Spider-Man 3," which is scheduled for release May 4, 2007, will reunite the team that was responsible for the first two blockbuster films, which combined to gross more than $1.5 billion in worldwide ticket sales. The new film will again star Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and Kirsten Dunst is expected to reprise her role as Mary Jane Watson. Production on "Spider-Man 3" is scheduled to begin early next year.

"In addition to the ongoing relationship between Peter Parker and M.J., these films are driven by the great actors who have brought our villains to life," Raimi said. "Thomas Haden Church will be a fantastic and challenging new nemesis, and we all look forward to working with him."

The filmmakers are not revealing the identity of the new villain.

Anyways found this link at AICN, seems interesting, he is a pretty good actor. Also on AICN they are speculating that the villain Church will be playing is Sandman, which would make some sense. Who do you guys think the villain will end up being?

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2005-03-22 08:08pm

Honestly I have some serious wonderings, since this would mean a bizarre dual villain with Harry.

And if they aren't doing Harry next, then they've wasted a whole host of potential build up.

Old Plympto · Post by **Old Plympto** » 2005-03-22 08:10pm

Interesting. A lot of Venom-lovers were hoping that Venom was going to be the next villian. I don't see Thomas Haden Church being Eddie Brock. Sandman would be cool, with our current CG technology I'm not sure if it'll look jaw-droppingly spectacular, but it'll look reasonably good.

DarkSilver · Post by **DarkSilver** » 2005-03-22 08:14pm

Rumors after the release of Spidy 2 put the HobGoblin (played by Harry's actor) and the Wolf-Man/John Jameson as the next villans for Spidy 3.

But...Loel from Wings staring as a villan in Spidy 3? Maybe he can be Venom....or Sandman. He'd probably make a better Sandman than Eddie Brock though...

or maybe even Mysterio

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2005-03-22 08:14pm

Sandman would be a decent choice and is probably the most likely candidate...I remember Raimi saying that the Spidey 3 villain would be CG-intensive, and Sandman would definitely fit that description. This would make for some truly kickass battles, but I don't know what the character itself would bring to the movie. He was always a pretty cool villain but was never as well fleshed-out as a character as some of Spidey's other villains were.

Hobgoblin is another possibility...Church could probably pass for Ned Leeds. Have Harry kidnap and brainwash him, like Roderick Kingsley did to Leeds (Stern retcon), and give him the Goblin formula. That would make Harry still villainous without having to rehash the Green Goblin.

Though my personal choice would be Kraven...oh, to see Kraven's Last Hunt transferred to film...

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2005-03-22 08:18pm

And Felicia Hardy might show up, too, if this article is to be believed:

"I'd love to be in 'Spider-Man 3!'" Sevigny says. "There's a villain in it who's a blond, buxom girl, and I'm trying to get it!

Sound like anyone you might know?

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2005-03-22 08:34pm

I could well imagine it being Mysterio, you know. Sandman would be insteresting as hell, though. They could probably fit him in with Oscorp's military contractors or something.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2005-03-22 08:39pm

Joe wrote:And Felicia Hardy might show up, too, if this article is to be believed:

"I'd love to be in 'Spider-Man 3!'" Sevigny says. "There's a villain in it who's a blond, buxom girl, and I'm trying to get it!
Sound like anyone you might know?

Maybe they're doing a take on Black Cat? Hmm...

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2005-03-22 08:42pm

Maybe they're doing a take on Black Cat? Hmm...

Felicia Hardy is Black Cat, in case you didn't know.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2005-03-22 10:23pm

What happened to the Lizard? They even had a scene with Dr. Connors missing his arm and everything.

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2005-03-22 10:34pm

I seem to recall Sam saying he wasn't interested in doing a Spider-Man film featuring Venom.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2005-03-22 10:50pm

Sandman was cool in Ultimate Spider-man I thought. Military program and all that.

Meest · Post by **Meest** » 2005-03-22 11:11pm

Bleh, well I hope they plan on 4 if this one does well, really want to see Venom/Carnage on screen. Though having a villian that knows and goes after MJ could get redundant. Still get funny thoughts of Ben Kingsley as the Vulture

.

Marksist · Post by **Marksist** » 2005-03-22 11:41pm

Bleh, well I hope they plan on 4 if this one does well

I believe all the main characters and Raimi's contract expire after three movies. Also I seem to recall Raimi saying he didn't want to make more than a trilogy, but that wouldn't stop the studio from pumping out the sequels with other directors/actors, but, I doubt they would have the same quality as the first two have.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2005-03-22 11:47pm

I believe Alvin Sargent has already been optioned to write Spider-Man 4. Regardless of whether Raimi is on board for I think that these movies will continue to be made for as long as they continue to make Sony and Marvel vast sums of money.

The Dark · Post by **The Dark** » 2005-03-23 12:35am

I remember reading when the first one came out that they were hoping to do six movies. I think it was in USA Today while I was on vacation, reading it in a hotel room.

I'd like to see Mysterio. He's always been one of the odder villains, and one that could definitely make for a good psychological thriller-type superhero movie.

UCBooties · Post by **UCBooties** » 2005-03-23 01:38am

I remember when Daredevil came out all of the rumors that Spidey 3 would bring Duncan back as Kingpin and have the Spider Slayers. Of course, this was back when everyone was sure Conners would be transformed in number 2 and we'd have Doc Oc vs the Croc. Sigh

18-Till-I-Die · Post by **18-Till-I-Die** » 2005-03-23 04:21am

Has anyone thought about Msyterio yet? They could do some cool illusions with him. Or better yet, Shocker, who i always thought had an interesting gimick in his concussion gauntlets.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-03-23 04:33am

18-Till-I-Die wrote:Has anyone thought about Msyterio yet? They could do some cool illusions with him. Or better yet, Shocker, who i always thought had an interesting gimick in his concussion gauntlets.

If you actually bothered to read the thread, you would have seen that Mysterio was mentioned three times.

Dorsk 81 · Post by **Dorsk 81** » 2005-03-23 06:09am

Ghost Rider wrote:Honestly I have some serious wonderings, since this would mean a bizarre dual villain with Harry.

And if they aren't doing Harry next, then they've wasted a whole host of potential build up.

Nah, Harry will be a villain in Spidey 3, Sam pretty much confirmed it on the commentary on the Spidey 2 DVD. At the end when Harry finds the glider and what-not, Sam says something like "now that Harry knows what his father was, he may understand why he was killed by Spiderman, he may decide to turn over a new leaf and not become the Goblin." To which Toby replies "That sounds a little misleading to me *laughs*" and then same says "it didn't work huh?", so I think it's pretty much a given that Harry becomes the Goblin.

They've been trying to have 2 Vilains at once since the first one anyway, Black Cat was going to be in Spidey 1, but they thought they needed the screen time for the Goblin story, so she was cut. I can't remember who else was going to be in Spidey 2 though, atleast I think they were going to have a second villain at some point.

mwm1331 · Post by **mwm1331** » 2005-03-23 06:32am

We are talking abot lowell from wings right?
Hmmm he does look kinda like carnage, but as people also ponted pout could be mystiero, couldn't he also play scorpion?

Gorefiend · Post by **Gorefiend** » 2005-03-23 06:57am

Sorry to interrupt, who is the sandmen? Never heard of him in fact, or I don’t remember, my marvel memory is going down the drain these days.

Freeman's Trigger-Finger · Post by **Freeman's Trigger-Finger** » 2005-03-23 01:17pm

I'm hoping for the Lizard. He has both the incentive for the CG character that Ramai has described, aswell as the Dr Connors half having a good relationship with Peter character wise. The Sandman was a cookie-cluter villiain, he had little to offer in the way any character depth.

Venom is nigh on impossible without introducing the Symboite saga.

Oh, and Harry became Green Goblin 2, not Hobgoblin, thats a common misconception.

EDIT: I know that we've already seen a Dr Connors for the Spiderman 2 movie, but it would hardly come as a suprise for Ramai to go with someone more capable. Here's hoping.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2005-03-23 01:25pm

Gorefiend wrote:Sorry to interrupt, who is the sandmen? Never heard of him in fact, or I don’t remember, my marvel memory is going down the drain these days.

\

Take it literally and there's your answer; a man made of sand. He's somewhat like Mr. Fantasic, except he can manipulate his own body and make big torrents of sand and stuff. IIRC...

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2005-03-23 01:28pm

Gorefiend wrote:Sorry to interrupt, who is the sandmen? Never heard of him in fact, or I don’t remember, my marvel memory is going down the drain these days.

The Sandman