Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy was a superhero classic. The memorable run featured Tobey Maguire in the webslinger’s shoes as he faced off against villains like the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, and Venom.
Raimi’s Spider-Man could’ve had the chance to battle more classic villains, too. Unfortunately, a fourth film in the series didn’t pan out. However, in the early stages of planning for Spider-Man 4, the Vulture — who would have been played by John Malkovich — was envisioned as one of the movie’s main villains, alongside Angelina Jolie playing the character’s daughter.
Over a decade later, behind-the-scenes photos of the Vulture’s costume from the canned movie have surfaced. A tweet from comic book writer Ken Penders shows off what would have been the Vulture’s costume in the film, which sticks fairly closely to the supervillain’s feathery comic-book appearance.
The Vulture eventually found his way to screens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, where the character was played by Michael Keaton. The more grounded take on the villain even earned Keaton a cameo in Sony’s Morbius.
Still, Raimi and Malkovich would have surely given us a different, perhaps even darker take on the character. Spider-Man 4 storyboard artist Jeffrey Henderson shares that “Vulture [would have] almost kill[ed] Spider-Man,” but a last-ditch move by Peter would have sent the big bad to his death.
They were going to have a big brawl-for-it-all, where Vulture almost kills Spider-Man. And then Spider-Man at the last minute—he’s really wounded, he’s bleeding really badly, he’s in real trouble—Peter finally, almost as a reaction, forces The Vulture off. When he does, it snaps some of the stuff from the wings, so he ends up just tumbling into the ether, off the top of the Citicorp building. That’s what does him in.
— Jeffrey Henderson
Edwin is a seasoned raconteur with a lifelong passion for video games, comic books, movies, and more. He thrives on captivating stories and immersive world-building, with a soft spot for adorable monsters.
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