Back in December we brought you a story about John Malkovich being rumored for the role of The Vulture in Spider-Man 4. It now turns out that the rumor may have actually been true, and the renowned actor was not only up for the role but has already joined the cast. During a recent interview with the Italian sports show Quelli Che il Calcio, Malkovich talked not only about being approached to play The Vulture, but also about the production delays on Spider-Man 4,

From badtaste.it:

“When conductor Simona Ventura asked [Malkovich] about his role of Vulture in the movie, he not only didn’t deny his involvement, but confirmed that he’s waiting for the final script to be sent to him, and that the movie has been delayed. He also hopes that shooting will begin as soon as possible.”

While I don’t have any problem with The Vulture being the villain in part four, nor do I have any reservations about Malkovich taking the role… it does make me wonder if the studio may be hedging towards that convoluted idea of “The Vulturess” that was rumored back in December as well. Barring that possibility, what does this mean for Black Cat or Lizard?

If you’re not familiar with The Vulture, Below is Marvel’s Bio for the character

The Vulture (Adrian Toomes)

Adrian Toomes is a former electronics engineer who employs a special harness of his own design that allows him to fly and endows him with enhanced strength. Toomes is quite old, though spry, and is a virtually remorseless killer. On one occasion, he restored his youth through biochemical means, though this wore off after exposure to the corpse of an elemental superhuman. At one point he had used a device to steal Spider-Man’s youth, leaving Vulture young and Spider-Man elderly, but this effect wore off within hours.

On more than one occasion Toomes has been in league with several other Spider-Man villains in order to destroy the wall crawler. The Vulture has been in every incarnation of the Sinister Six.
Spider-man 4 was originally slated for a May 6th 2011 release but at this point that is very much up in the air.