Anne Hathaway almost played a major villain in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4

Dec. 12, 2023

Anne Hathaway was set to play a major role before Sony scrapped the film

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Anne Hathaway almost played Black Cat in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 – which was ultimately scrapped bySony.

“If [Spider-Man 4] had gotten made, I don’t know if I would’ve been considered for [The Dark Knight Rises],” Hathaway toldThe Happy Sad Confused Podcast. “Perhaps [Christopher Nolan] would’ve said, “No, she’s occupied in another universe.'”

Hathaway was set to play Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat, a villain who, in the comics, ultimately falls in love with Peter Parker’s Spider-Man persona, but not so much Peter. After surviving a traumatic assault, Black Cat trains herself in combat and acrobatics – and also has these cool probability fields that generate ‘bad luck’ for her opponents.

After the film was scrapped, the actor would go on to play the slightly similar Cat Woman inThe Dark Knight Rises. Black Cat eventually made her on-screen appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, played by Felicity Jones.

Spider-Man 4 fell through after Spider-Man 3 received mixed reviews from critics, with Raimi himself confirming that he was unhappy with how the film turned out overall. It was then that Sony decided to reboot Spider-Man, casting Andrew Garfield as a different Peter Parker with a slightly different backstory and storyline. Two films were made before Marvel reacquired the rights and introduced Spider-Man into the MCU by way ofSpider-Man: Homecoming. Of course, all three Spideys reunite inSpider-Man: No Way Home.

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Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent’s Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

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