Sam Raimi, Director of all movies in the Spiderman franchise, spoke in the latest issue of Empire magazine and told them who he’d like to be the featured nemesis of Peter Parker’s alter ego in Spider-Man 4.
“I like it in the Marvel comics when Spider-Man fights Morbius,” said Raimi. “He’s really cool. A vampire! I like that combination of superhero plus supernatural.”
After Spider-Man 3, it was assumed by many that The Lizard would play a major role if there was to be another sequel as he was featured as an important secondary character in the movie playing a mentor-type role to Peter Parker in that film.
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It would make sense to see The Lizard and Morbius as the two villains as they would work well together in the same film having had quite a bit of history together in the Spider-Man comics. On top of that, they share obvious similarities: Both are/were doctors, both work with different animals for their experiments and both achieved power from the same method.
Dr. Curt Connors (The Lizard) had his arm amputated due to an injury sustained by a blast while being a military surgeon. Later in life he studied the limb-regenerative capabilities of lizards and long story short, he turned into a humanoid-lizard hybrid.
Dr. Michael Morbius on the other hand, was a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who suffered from a rare blood disease. Using experiments involving vampire bats and electroshock therapy, he ended up with super strength some side-effects similar to that of Vampirism and now he must drink blood from his victims.
I think this is a great idea for the next Spider-Man movie and if done right, can make up for the mess that was Spider-Man 3. This time they can focus on two characters and the film can be darker-themed with the nature of the characters involved. That being said, I’m getting a little tired of all of the Spidey villains partly redeeming themselves at the end and not being truly bad. That applies for both of these characters who are not entirely bad guys.
We should also not forget that Vampirism is definitely a current hot topic with the success of the Twilight books and movie which is turning into a series of films as well as the True Blood HBO series which is pre-production for a second season.
What do you think of The Lizard and Morbius making their big screen debuts?
Spider-Man 4 brings together Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi yet again, and is expected to hit theatres in 2011.
Source: /Film
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159 Comments
Interesting news, I didn’t really expect them to ever consider using Morbius. That could set up some pretty cool fight scenes. I just hope they’re careful, and don’t pull another SM3 and pack too much into one movie.
Hmm, I don’t quite know about this one. they should really just have one Villian. Too many villains usually ruins a potentially good story and film series (IE Batman Forever,SM 3,Daredevil etc).
I vote Conors.
I still do not u nderstand the need to make anymore, yeah there is definetly no shortage of Villians and other charactors in the Spider man world, but know when you are licked, and Spider Man 3 get all of our butts. and sucked big time
They have to do the lizard. They’ve hinted at if for long enough with Connors getting a larger role in part 3. It would be great, it could be dramatic, fitting in with what Raimi likes to do with the characters. They could play on maybe Spidey having a part in Connors making a full transformation into the lizard.
So Connors starts the experiments that eventually turn him into the lizard. But he doesn’t get the look, just the regenerative qualities. This is a big deal and could net the owner of the tech a large sum of cash. A break in at Connors lab in the middle of a follow up experiment is broken up by spidey. As he battles the baddies, he knocks some equipment toward connors, causing the full transformation. They’d have to use the machine that was used in the spidey cartoon from the 90’s. That could play into Morbius too, maybe he broke in to take Connors tech so he could transform himself back. Spidey doesn’t know it…
I’m just saying, it could work with both those guys.
SM3 did have too many bad guys , too many scattered subplots and because of that it pretty much sucked.
Venom is awesome but he should’ve been the only villain. The Sandman fx were really cool and he , also , could’ve worked as the sole bad guy.
I can handle an assortment of minor thugs , I can even handle some stylized evil minions. However if you try to stuff too many ingredients into your sausage (sausage=movie)
the casing will burst and most of the flavor will escape.
The Lizard is very cool and could work well as the villain.
However, I always thought that Morbius was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo cool. I would totally totally totally love it if they used Morbius.
I agree with you Rob that vampires are very much in vogue lately but I do not expect him { Morbius } to be used as he is not too widely known.
( I say this mostly to minimized my own expectations of disappointment ).
@ Jon
I agree with you..this could be a fantastic storyline and let’s face it …visually speaking it would be great to see those two characters on the big screen and I’ll bet that Raimi can make both the Lizard and Morbius quite creepy..and scary too!!
Both would be awesome villains, and I agree that Raimi could make them look really good. I agree that too many villains would hurt the film. But two would not be too many, especially two that could play off each other as well as Morbius and the Lizard.
Uh … did Sam even mention the Lizard? Will you all be angry if Lizard isn’t in it?
No. I know that Sam never said the Lizard would be in it. He also didn’t say that Morbius would be in it. But it’s fair to speculate, and based on his style, and things that have been slipped into the other movies, it would be fair to assume that the Lizard is a possibility.
I’m down for other options too. Shocker would be cool, or Electro. Or maybe Bruce Campbell as Kraven the Hunter. I just want something new to wash the taste of Spidey 3 out of my mouth. Venom was wasted…
well…the lizard obviously is a definate because of connors getting a bigger and bigger role…but i thought maybe carnage would be in 4 or atleast a return of venom considering he isn’t completely destroyed….
IF they use Morbius, he should be played by Benicio Del Toro
I can’t automatically discount anymore that multiple villains ruins superhero movies. Not since Batman Begins and The Dark Knight proved otherwise.
That said,the circumstances are quite different from the way they’ve been used in the two series. With Batman, they’ve either come in as fully formed and without any need for backstory (the Joker, and Scarecrow), or they’ve had histories that have only been briefly alluded to (Ra’s Al Ghul). The only villain given a full arc so far has been Two Face/Harvey Dent, and only because his arc became part of the ultimate statement the film was trying to make and it only worked because of the contrast and comparison between his character, Batman and the Joker.
The way multiple villains were handled in Spider-Man 3 give me less confidence that the treatment will be so nuanced. The best they can do I think, is to have at least one of the villains (probably Morbius) arrive fully formed and maybe have his past alluded to, and make Connor’s arc and his relationship with Parker the focus of the film. Don’t know how those two would work together, though, and if Morbius’s part of the story doesn’t contribute to moving the plot forward significantly, then it will drag the film in much the same way having 3 villains in the third movie did. There must be a good, character driven reason for every character’s existence and reason for doing what they do.
@ t’challa
well done Dude , BDT is an excellent choice to play Morbius!!!
Nice casting call t’challa!
Very well said jerseycajun. I couldn’t agree more. I don’t think any of us want another villain for the sake of having another villain.
There’s a lot of stories in Spidey comics crossing over Morbius and The Lizard and at one point, Lizard actually fought with Spidey against Morbius – That could certainly happen in the movie too.
With the way they set up Dr. Curt Connors, I would bet that it’s pretty much a sure thing he will be featured in the next film and it makes even more sense for that to be the case if it turns out that Morbius is in fact the villain.
This will be a good thing for the franchise because they are more physical villains based in a slightly more believable reality and neither are as rediculous as Sandman and Venom.
On top of that, with many of the plot threads tied up from the first films, Peter will hopefully be able to focus on a properly developed villain this time around.
I hated Spidey 3 but I do have hope for this one.
And t’challa, great idea on Del Toro, he sure looks like him!
Not a bad idea. The whole concept would be awsome. and seeing how they are all science based, it would be in Peters best territory and we would probably see more environments and actualy see Peter doing lab work, and build huge relationships with Michael and Curt. I know you guys are worried that two villans would might be messey but remember that they plan to make two parts, so they could fully develop each character. Oh and didn’t Falica Hardy have a huge part of Morbias’s life or was that just the 90’s cartoon? Anyway I think Black-Cat should be introduced. I see hope for the movies, and I can’t wait.
And let us not forget, David Goyer was playing around with the idea of using Morbius for Blade II. It’s high time he was used.
And I’m tired of this “too many villains” argument. Look how many villains were featured in The Dark Knight. It’s HOW you use them!
I agree with Jersey’s post from above that it is not the number of villains in the movie but the purpose they are given in the storyline and the quality of the overall story that matters most..
Great post Jerseycajun!!
one word CARNAGE
Carnage is just Venom with ADHD..enough of the symbiotes and stick to the Spider-man villans that have been around since the 60’s and 70’s…besides we don’t need a Carnage movie it’s already been done with Venom
@greenknight333
lol
I agree with you about Carnage, he’s a 3rd generation rehash but I will admit he’s got a lot of fans (I’m just not one of them ).
Carnage would look too wierd on screen – they had 2 extreme characters of that sort in Spidey 3.
I think they need to stick to these (somewhat) more realistic characters.
Scorpion, Vulture, Chameleon, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Rhino, Jackal, Morlun, Puma
I hate it when I submit before I finish a post…
Scorpion, Vulture, Chameleon, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Rhino, Jackal, Morlun, Puma, Silvermane..the rogue’s gallery is quite extensive but they would not all translate well to the big screen..but the villians I have listed above would be good if featured in a movie…
I always loved Shocker. Just me though. I can see him being a mini-villian kinda person.
Yeah I know what you mean Zach ..I like him too but he kind of reminds me of an Electro-Lite!!
Lol Zing, GK!
Rhino would be nice. Destruction everywhere, I wouldn’t complain.
I don’t know how Rhino would look in live action though – It couldn’t be done justice without looking dumb.
It would be a little like Juggernaut from the failed X3 and he’d never be able to hit Spidey – not even a match.
The Shocker could be done well I think – Although I think they’re avoiding all the crazy flashy stuff in the next installment and are trying to make it darker and more real.
Im honestly starting to hate this darker and more real crap. How is a kid whos DNA was transformed by a genetically altered spider, real? I know, I know. Just ranting.
And I agree on the Rhino, soon as ya said it. All of the sudden I saw Juggy telling spidy hes the Juggernaut bitch.
After the disappointment of Spidey 3 I really have been looking forward to this one just because hopefully we would have the lizard in the 4th installment. To hear that Morbius might be in it too just makes my day. I see some very good fight scenes with these 2 villians,im just praying to not have a similar disappointment like spidey 3. The way they butchered the villians in the last one made me wanna crawl in a corner in horror
I can really picture the Lizard and Morbius fighting each other before they finally team up. A three way battle at first and then Spidey being double teamed would make it very intresting since Spidey no longer has anyone to back him up.
I really wish that they didnt go with the whole dark and realism thing. As much as some of these other movies pulled it off very well, I liked the change that Spidey brought. I think it would be impossible to have spidey be real anyways, you dont hear about highschoolers getting bit by radioactive spiders and then haveing super powers like someone else mentioned. If thats what works best for the movie then I say go for it but lets stick to how spidey was before and not turn it into some dark creepy movie. We got are fill from TDK. lets not fix what isnt broken.
@Zach
lol! that was what I was thinking too.
Spiderman 4? Dear God not again!
@ Jess,
I can see The Lizard teaming up with Spidey against Morbius as that happened once in the comics, and I can see your theory occurring too.
Assuming both characters will in fact be in the movie, maybe both events will happen
I gave up after Spidey3. I’m done.
(actually 1/2 way through Spiderman3)
I grew up a fan of Spiderman from the early 70’s and the original Amazing Spiderman ala Ralph Bakshi animation.
Yes, there are great ideas and villains galore as all of you have stated but I’m done hoping.
Because not matter what they come up with to blow our skirts up they’ll still give us Kirsten Dunst.
This franchise is in desperate need of a ‘reboot’. It worked for Batman and it looks like it’s gonna work for Terminator..
Alright, Few things:
1) I am apparently one of the few who did not despise Spider-Man 3. Do I think Venom could have shown up at the end of he film so he could start a new story arc for the next three films? Darn right. Do I think Sandman was underused? No question. But you will never get me saying Spidey 3 was a pile of dung. It just isn’t better than 2.
2) I’m on the fence here in regards to Morbius, but in a ‘good’ way. While I’d much rather see a solo film (set in the early 70’s) I’d just as love to see him battle Spidey. There are many pluses with the character. However, I also have to agree on the ‘vampires in vouge’ issue. Indeed- even Sam produced 30 Days Of Night!
Also, Morby is a villain who is slightly sympathetic, and had turned into something of a hero/anti hero, esp. when he teamed with Midnight Sons, which is also whiile I favor a solo Morby movie. See, if Marvel can do Avengers…convince Sony to pull out a Morby film, then Doc Strange. We already have Ghost Rider…okay, enough of that.
3) Morb isn’t supernatural, but made through science. Even so, we are still keeping a PG-13 rating, I’m sure.
4) I totally agree with having a bad guy who is a bad guy from start to finish. No grey area. No redeeming social value. He just wants to cause problems. The Scorpion would be high on my list, as would Kraven.
This can work, as long as the picture has a long run time to justify the characters! So much history between these characters it cannot be rushed, like Venom in S-M3.
However, having Morbius as a villain just because ‘Vampires’ are in vogue is just silly…but, it would be great battle scenes between Spidey, Lizard and Morbius (wire work & cgi).
@Jess H.
Here is the good thing about Spider-Man, here is a character than can be balanced with Light and Dark settings. Spider-Man has fantasy villains and street level, gritty villains. Therefore, going in a creepy and dark direction is not out of the norm to the Spider-man character!
I hope they team Spidey with Lizard and have Morbius as the major villain but no matter which villain they choose I will definitely watch Spiderman 4.
My favorite villain would be the Shocker but if they want to follow the Batman thing it will probably bee Morbius with or without the Lizard.
It can’t be worse than SM3. So maybe I’ll see it.
The spiderman films are absolutley brilliant and ive heard all the speculation over whether there will be a fourth and if there is sam will not be directing it therefore tobey and kirsten will not be appearing but i just really hope they stick around because it is the cast what make a lot of films and if they change that now at number 4 it just wont be the same by any standards. i love films and hopefully one day i will be working in the industry and i would relish a job such as that.
The only thing that can save the franchise is if it Raimi doesn’t make it. Raimi has successfully ruined one of the most marketable superheroes of all time with the filth and tripe that was SM3. I almost felt sorry for Tobey Mcguire when he had to do the strutting and hipthrusting and disco dancing in SM3 until I realized how much he was getting paid to embarrass himself, and that I helped pay that by watching. The franchise needs an overhaul the same way that Batman did after Batman and Robin. Ditch Tobey (who never was a decent actor), dicth Raimi, cut all of the ridiculous wastes of time and crying, and make a solid 2 hr (MAX) movie focusing on a villain (the 70s show kid as venom? jesus christ.)someone could actually enjoy watching wreak havoc.
Or just let Sam do another, and all the fanboys will end up watching Spidey team up with the Flash, Aquaman and the Incredible Hulk to fight against Morbius, the Lizard, albino werewolves, angry beavers, and ill-tempered sea bass with lasers attached to their heads…all while Peter Parker laments about MJ won’t marry him because he’s pathetic and emo.
@Rob
That is why I am praying that they throw Morbis into Spidey 4. That would tottaly make me forgive the mistakes of Spidey 3!
@Darren seeley
I did not despise Spidey 3 but I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I was really looking forward to seeing the Sandman and Venom and I do not think they did thoose villians justice.
@SK47
That is why I always like to watch a Spiderman flick or even IronMan. They are a nice relief of the whole dark and depressing thing. I just hope they dont change that or I probaly won’t enjoy this one as much as I would usally of the other Spidey films.
Morbius in a Spidey movie would be absolutely brilliant – a little left field, but great idea.
It does have the makings of another redemption story though (yawn).
I didn’t care so much for S3 either, but S2 was almost perfect. The scene of Doc Oc (or his tentacles) killing the doctors in the operating room was fantastic, I wish we could’ve seen such creativity with Venom
I think that since Venom was in the last movie, that Carnage should be a perfect fit for Spiderman 4. Also you should include Rhino maybe or Shocker, and wait for Spiderman 5 to use Lizard and/or Morbius.
@ Mark Brown,
I think Sam Raimi is back for Spidey 4 and they’re waiting on confirmation on Tobey.
We have an article on it from not too long ago if you click the ‘Spiderman 4′ tag at the end of the article.
@Rob
If Raimi is back for Spidey 4 then I wont be suprised when Tobey signs on as well. Thoose two are like bread and butter when it comes to the Spiderman movies.
@ Jess H,
Especially with a $50 Million contract!
http://screenrant.com/tobey-maguire-50-million-spider-man-filmnerdjamie-3713/
@Rob
lol even if I absolutly despised a role I wouldn’t pass up a chance to add 50 million dollars to the funds
like I said I wont be suprised when he signs on haha
If lizard isn’t in the third they might as well right connor off, the build up is almost rediculus. I wanted him to be in 3 and it would’ve been a better choice than sandman, which I thought was a lame choice… the writing could have gone well, yeah it wouldn’t flow with the original story line. But one thing I’ve noticed is none of these comic to film movies transition that way… save ironman that did a good job, aside from the “magnet to keep the shard from going into his heart” which actually worked….
and I too have been longing to see rhino on the screen, as long as he isn’t screwed up like juggernaut in xmen 3 was.
@ Jess H,
Definitely agree! And it’s not just a stupidly large amount of money he’s getting, he gets all these perks and nice scheduling for time with his family. It’s almost at the point where I’d be angry at him if he said no, lol.
@ papa.fuego,
I agree – I think Lizard is a must from what we saw built up previously – He’d be a great character to help Spidey 4 correct the disaster that was Spidey 3.
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