Rachel McAdams Rumored for 'Spider-Man 4'

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

In the first bit of "Spider-Man 4" villain news that will inevitably grow in the next couple months as director Sam Raimi finishes his script and the shooting start-date approaches, "Mean Girls" and upcoming "Sherlock Holmes" star Rachel McAdams is rumored to be in talks for the character of Black Cat.

Cinematical dishes the dirt on the femme fatale:

"If you're unfamiliar with the character, she is a sometimes good, sometimes bad cat burglar who, in addition to being a possible love interest of the web-crawler's, tries to use her less-than-legal prowess to break her father out of jail. It would be an interesting spin to have villainess for part four, but it's unclear at this point as to whether or not the film's Black Cat will ultimately be friend or foe."

There's very little information beyond the rumor, except that the studio may also be looking to cast someone for a male villain. Raimi voiced an opinion not too long ago that he wanted to narrow it down to one villain this time around, which brings a bit of doubt to the McAdams rumor. Then again, Raimi and the studio have been known since "Spider-Man 2" to spread early word around to keep any actual villains secret. Raimi may very well still be planning on using Dylan Baker's character Dr. Curt Connors (who transforms into The Lizard in the comic books) as a villain.

If there is any truth to the rumors, though, McAdams is a pretty solid choice for the role (and she'll be showing off her action chops soon enough in "Holmes"), and Raimi has proven he can write strong female characters with his recent horror film "Drag Me to Hell." This is one piece of casting news that's definitely worth keeping an eye on.