In the first piece of news I've heard about the web-slingers next outing Thomas Haden Church, star of the acclaimed film Sideways, has apparently signed to play the bad guy in the next movie.

No word yet on who he is actually playing and I'm not going to hazard a guess as I don't know a whole heap about the Spider-man comics!

You can however find out more here: Spider-man 3 role for Thomas Haden Church.

oooh, that would be so cool! he is a fantastic actor and would make a great spidey villain. i wonder which character he would be...?

He'd be great as Eddie Brock, but I think Raimi's made it pretty clear we're not going to get a Venom origin story that's faithful to the comics.

Meanwhile, in other news.

"Sevigny Reveals Spider-Man 3 Villain?

The New York Daily News spoke to Chloë Sevigny (Melinda and Melinda, American Psycho) who says she's trying to land a role in Spider-Man 3.

"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!

She adds, "That [may] surprise people, since actors are always thought of as their last film or who they were. I think I'll always be drawn to films more difficult to watch, but I don't want to be a snobby cinephile."

Could we see Spidey facing Black Cat in the third film? It's not confirmed, but this is definitely interesting."

I'd like to see Venom in the next film!

I've got a good idea the franchise will probably tail off after this outing (with Raimi, Maguire and Dunst all on record as saying they'll only do three) and I'd like to see Venom on the big screen before the standard slips!

Me too, but preferably Eddie Brock not John Jameson as has been hinted at by Raimi and the rumours of the internet.

Is it just me who can`t see this?

I doubt she'll get it, she's no Felicia Harding that's for sure.

Forgive my paltry memory, but I thought I'd heard somewhere that Raimi had left the Spiderman stuff behind to concentrate on a further superhero development? Or was that the person who did the first two X-Men films?

I forget.

Anyway, the bestest thing about Spiderman II was that you weren't too sure which baddies there might be in the Spiderman III, although after watching II, discussions amongst my peers revolved around a big old fashioned baddie festival, like Batman the Movie, where Batman and Robin punched a loads of bad guys off the side of a submarine (Fred West era).

It all makes me wish I'd got into comics when I was younger, or more accurately, graduated from the Beano to something better.

I hate Venom and I was under the impression Raimi was of the same mind. He's from the more retarded school of comic book character creation. Black Cat was cut from the second movie's screenplay just as Doc Ock was cut from the first. I'm a bit worried about all these rumours. I'd be very surprised if the third flick doesn't send Harry Osbourne evil but having a few too many villains has undone numerous superhero films before.

Yes, I would think that you are getting your wires crossed with Brian Singer, who has
ditched directing duties for X3, in order to concentrate on Superman Returns.

Yes you're thinking of Brian Singer who has left the X-Men franchise to direct Superman Returns



Well we know for sure that The Lizard is going to be in it after Dr Curt Conners appearance in the first sequel, so what with him, Harry becoming The Green Goblin, possibly the Black Cat, John becoming Man-wolf or Venom plus whoever Thomas Haden Church is playing...we could be on for quite the smackdown.

Whoops too slow, damn people knocking on my office door and disrupting my posting with actual work.

Damn those folks.

Thanks ever so for that answer Ade AND Zoe.

I thought I had got my wires crossed, it's all those ruddy superhero films they're churning out. Mind you, for every Spiderman or X-men, there's an Electra or Daredevil to bring the genre back down to earth.

Does it have to be a smackdown? I'd like to see a rumpus, or at the very least a ding dong doo.

The popular opinion seems to be that Mr Haden Church will be playing The Sandman which I'd be very happy about. Raimi is more into old-school Spidey than the McFarlane-era symbiote suit shit so here's hoping.

Venom is one of my favourite characters of all time, although whitey's point about the 'old school' is a very good point.

I think Haden Church is a wee bit old for Eddie Brock - Sandman seems a pretty logical choice. I think with special FX the high standard they've been in Spiderman so far - we could see some really impressive sand-morphing action.

As people have already said - I hope it doesn't get overloaded with new characters. Too many villians spoil the broth as they say...

Can I ask why?

In a recent press conference Raimi demonstrated that his knowledge of Venom's origins, comic, cartoon or otherwise, were so sketchy that I'd be very surprised to see him make an appearance in the next flick. If he was I'm sure Sammy would have done a little reading. Also Raimi has been on record as saying that he hates Venom and unless he's bowing to studio pressure, again I can't see the character showing up. I cannot fathom why people like Venom. At all.

Black = cool?

Im sure someone told me that venom had been confirmed to be in the next film...

Raimi cracked a joke at a press conference and a world of geeks took it as an undeniable confirmation. Which it really wasn't.

Ah, rumour and conjecture, where would the Internet be without you?

Dear God not another one.

Nobody's going to make you go and see it. Shut your hole.

Tbh i'm not the biggest fan of the spiderman movies, i always felt they concentrated too much on the whole love story part rather than giving us a proper spidey movie. I thought the whole 'with great power comes great resposibilty' stuff was a load of anus and really pissed me off. Did anyone ever listen to the spiderman radio story? It didn't have mary jane in it at all which i felt worked much better and they used a lot of the old school characters in it as well (Sandman, Green Goblin, Fantastic Four, Prince Namor, to name a few). I'd of liked to see a movie like that.

In regards to venom i can understand why people would not like him, he really is part of a new era of spiderman that a lot of the old school fans would hate. Saying this though i do really like him myself (although i always thought carnage was cooler ). No matter what happens though i would really like to see Raimi really pull his finger out and give us a film that is actually worth watching that whole thing rather than just fast fowarding to the action parts.

Being a child of the eighties I grew up with that era of Spider-man. Venom was a favourite with me and my brothers. I used to particularly enjoy watching the early nineties cartoon (Christopher Daniel Barnes will always be the voice of Peter Parker to me) with my little brother who loved Venom. There were some fantastic episodes based around the Venom storyline. I like the mix of Brock's hatred for Peter and Spider-man and the symbiote who is a perfect match for Spidey's powers. There's also some pathos there as the two halves bond only after Brock has lost his job, been disowned by his father and tried to commit suicide.

Plus he just looks fucking cool.

I always liked (And I've probably got the names wrong) Elektro and The Vulture...

I think we can all agree though that spiderman is a damn cool character, i know it's a constantly debated question, but who do you reckon would win between spidey and superman?

Yes, you can.

And I'll tell you. The reason I liked comics as a kid was the illustrations - I used to copy these meticulously and build up collages of Marvel characters. And, as Zoe said, Venom just looks fucking cool! So, he became one of my favorite characters to draw, and by default, I started following his stories with more interest.
It was the same with Wolverine. It took a while to appreciate the character stuff, and now I like him for those reasons too!

Superman

Sod Venom, I think Carnage is your man!!!

Astronaut.......symbiotic meteor.........sod that.............mmmmMMMMMmmmm -Mary Jane (more nips please!)

-m0r

See everyone always says that, but i reckon it would be spiderman. This is because Superman actually has a weakness which Spiderman doesn't, this being Kryptonite. I reckon that Peter Parker, being a scientist, would realise this and put Kryptonite crystals in his webbing, then own the mofo. They don't call him The AMAZING Spiderman for nothing

And in the meantime, Superman, before Spiderman has had a chance to react, has grabbed Spiderman (flying somewhere close to the Speed of Light) and pulls Spiderman out of the Earth's atmosphere, rendering Spidey DEAD!

Perhaps

BUT

Old Clarky boy is faster, stronger, fly-ier, laser/x-ray-ier, invinsiblier and heralded by the public as a hero.

Spidey is the underdog.

I personally cannot stand soups and am glad batz kicked his ass in DKR, now Spidey or Batz there's a one!

-m0r

But the thing is, Spiderman i reckon is just as strong as Superman. I think it would be a pretty even match, plus Superman doesn't know what Peter Parker looks like really so he would have time to make his krypto-web

You're on crack mate... There is only one marvel character that is potentially as strong as Superman, and that's The Hulk!

Okay i may of been going a bit over the top, but the Hulk IS stronger than Superman, if angered enough. I still think spidey would win though.

Ell,

Soup could be in the stratosphere looking down at spidey doing his spidey things. He could watch him go into a building take off his mask and pick up his toothbrush and apply that lovely mint paste.

Soups could fly down take that toothpaste shoot off, empty it, ave a chuff into the tube fly back and put it into Parkers hands just as before, he could then fly back up to the atmosphere and have a good chuckle watching the prevailing onslaught of spidey figuring out what had happened.

Spidey could just sit back and take it like a bird eating spider.

Even though I hate soups this is the case.

-m0r

Man you one funny mofo

Can you imagine superman actually doing that? Hilarious. Superman would clearly deck spiderman, even though i'd be rooting for spidey. Like theyy said, he could fly in at the speed of light, spiderman would never see him, and then he could just chuck spidey at the sun.

*Fizz* one spider problem, exterminated!

Imagine the trouble spidey had with green goblin or doctor octopus. Superman would have just frozen them with his icy breath and chucked mountains at them.

But spiderman against batman? Well, I reckon spidey might win, but it'd be a close run thing, he'd take a beating first!

This is what I like to see. 'Who would win' arguments... what the internet was designed for.

Spidey would kick the poshboys' arse all over Gotham City.

Batman is just a rich bloke in a suit with loads of gadgets. Does he have any special powers? Spiderman would sent him down to Chinatown, and I'm not talking a three course meal followed by a fortune cookie.

I have to admit that i'm deluding myself a bit and Superman would probably win, but Spiderman is my favourite hero so i have have to defend the poor guy.



Yer Boi!

Superman would obviously beat Spider-man (unless it was a battle of one-liners).

Spider-man would beat Batman...or at least so I thought until I saw the new Batman...

WRONG!!! Bats would completely whoop Superman's ass because Bats has no problem with breaking the rules to win...

He's obviously not a wealthy as I thought. Just look at the state of that mattress thing slung over the bannister in the background. It's mucky as.



Does breaking the rules make him super or a hero? Spidey to win. Whoop whoop!!!!

Shouldn't this be in the 'you fancy him you do' thread, eh Zoe?!

In fact, I quite fancy Bale. We should have a Will Smith-style 'Men who'd turn you' thread...

*Back on topic* - Spidey should really beat Batman. Bats is clever and gadget-laden, but surely super-powered beings would win every time?

I don't know what you're talking about, I admire and respect him as an actor that's all...



Oh well if you're owning up to it!



Steady on, I'm not sure I can cope with homoeroticism at this time of the morning!

It was be the weather - I've come over all unnecessary.

There was an edition of Superman where he mat Batman (Supes was doing the old "You're a vigilante and need to be taken down" 'cause Bats has no problem kicking the everliving shit out of someone) and Bats warned Superman that if he touched him, someone in Metropolis was wired up with explosives and Bats would hit a button and that person would explode.

What Bats failed to disclose was that it was in fact Bats who was wired up!

It's alright it's officially the afternoon now, bring on the 'Top Gun' esque camaraderie!



Oh Batman! You know how to play on a man's weaknesses and yet remain heroic by not putting anyone in danger. You clever vigilante you (aren't all superheroes essentially vigilantes?)

Surely that's just daft, because Batman would explode and Superman would just get his uniform a bit ripped. We've all seen it happen, Superman flies through a ball of fire and just about singes the edge of his cape.