Anne Hathaway's name added to pile of Spider-Man 4 casting rumours

Spiderman News

Anne Hathaway is the latest name rumoured to be in the running for the role of Black Cat in the forthcoming Spider-Man 4 sequel, according to an article written by Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood. The star of Get Smart and Rachel Getting Married is supposedly being considered for the hero/villain role (the character could conceivably go either way), even though Sony refuses to provide confirmation on the casting or even if Black Cat is involved in the latest big-screen Spidey adventure.

Hathaway joins a considerable group of talented young women on the increasing casting shortlist. Romola Garai (Atonement), Julia Stiles (the Bourne trilogy), and Rachel McAdams (The Notebook) were previously rumoured as casting possibilities. At this early stage in Spider-Man 4’s pre-production development, any or none of these actors could snag the role at any given time. Since even the inclusion of Black Cat in the movie’s plot is a mere assumption, this casting decision is nothing more than a guessing game at this point.

Very little is known about Spider-Man 4 right now, other than the fact that the main cast members (Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst) will return, as will director Sam Raimi. The movie is slated for release on May 5, 2011 (almost nine years to the day of the first movie’s release) , but even that is subject to change. The script has been through a number of rewrites already, courtesy of James Vanderbilt (Zodiac), Pulitzer-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), and Gary Ross (Pleasantville).

But even with so much work being down on the script by a trio of writers, practically nothing is known about the forthcoming movie’s plot. Black Cat is the closest thing the movie franchise has to a new character right now and her inclusion is due to the amount of young actresses being rumoured for a mystery role. With the roles of Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard) already filled, Black Cat seems like the next logical possibility. Surely, there will be plenty more casting decisions to make and several more fresh faces will be involved by the time Spider-Man 4 starts shooting. But for now, there is the chance that Anne Hathaway will be standing next to Spidey come 2011.