SPECULATION: 'AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2' Villain The Jackal? Plus Other Possible Villains

Sony had rebooted the Spider-Man with the Amazing Spider-Man heading to theaters next month. The studio has already tapped James Vanderbilt to start work on Amazing Spider-Man 2 and it's been given a release date of May 2nd 2014. It's possible the sequel's villain will be teased or introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man. I understand Spidey fans are anticipating the return of Norman Osborn and The Green Goblin but there are plenty of other villains to consider. Also, everyone knows that Gobby kills Gwen Stacy and the studio isn't likely willing to go that route so early. We should expect the studio to bring in unused villains for the next couple of films. I have my own theory that The Jackal is a very strong candidate.

JACKAL AND KAINE: In this new film there have been hints that Peter may or may not be a genetic experiment developed by his parents. Genetics has always been apart of the Spidey mythos but it could mean that the clone saga could rear it's head. The Jackal is the brains behind the secret program to clone Spider-Man which leads to the powerful villain Kaine. Oscorp has been thought to house a majority of these villains in the making for the new franchise. So it's possible a slew of unused villains could stream out of the company such as Smythe and The Jackal.

As the sequel is already heading into production we should assume the villain will be introduced in the first film. In the more recent trailer for Amazing Spider-Man there is shadowy figure that questions Connors in prison about Peter discovering the truth about his father. Many are assuming this is Norman Osborn because Oscorp is front and center in the film. However, this man seems a little too dishevelled to be the usually impressively dressed Norman. My theory is that he could be Dr. Miles Warren who becomes the Jackal leading to the ominous powerhouse Kaine. I also wouldn't count out this being Smythe as he's featured in the video game tie-in. Having Warren/Jackal as a straight up evil scientist and not "changed/conflicted" by an accident like all the previous villains would be something fresh. Not to mention he's a character I could believe killed Parker's parents. Perhaps, blackmailing them to work for him and his illegal cloning experiments or risk the safety of Peter.

One reason why this might not be Jackal is the death of Gwen Stacy. Green Goblin kills Gwen in the comics and if the Jackal is plausible that could mean that Parker could his cloning technology to bring Gwen back. If that's the case then Jackal wouldn't get involved until after the return of Green Goblin. That being said killing off Gwen (and keeping her dead) could ground this reboot similar to the death of Uncle Ben and Harry. Kaine could also come into play as a misunderstood villain and would eventually become one of Spidey's allies.

OTHER POSSIBLE VILLAINS

DR. MICHAEL MORBIUS: Raimi had talked to Empire magazine about bringing the living-vampire into his Spidey franchise during the early days of Spider-Man 4. He also went into more detail about his love of vampires when asked about Morbius by Fear during press for Drag Me To Hell. The only issue would be the Morbius rights might be attached to Blade which is now back with Marvel Studios. The character had originally been wanted for the Blade sequel and even had showed up at the end of the first film in a deleted scene.

“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.”

"I Guess They're... umm, very appealing like the best of villains. They have some positive qualities, That is they can be very sexy and alluring, and umm they way in which they attack you is a very sensual it's almost something you desire. You know the bat, we're all scared of bats. Ew! so thats kind of cool. Some vampire stories go there some of them don't obviously. But umm, that why I like the fact that there's a cure against them in some of the lore like the garlic, or the cross. Thats really interesting, that there's a way to stop them. There's a whole story that can be made with all those elements so its got some real rules and laws. And then you could be turned into one of them, is interesting also. There's a lot of enticing qualities for a story teller and audience."

The main reason the Lizard ended up becoming the villain Amazing Spider-Man was the outcry from fans. Raimi had teased Dr. Connors for his last two films but ended up pursuing other villains for Spider-Man 4. The reboot went into development and the Lizard championed by the online community and Spider-Man fans alike. Depending on if Sony owns the rights to Morbius it would be a different type of villain than we've seen before as he's more of a horror creature than science experiment. While interesting his development into the living-vampire could have similar origins to The Lizard.

KRAVEN THE HUNTER: Besides the Lizard the most wanted classic villain fans have wanted to see is Kraven. Considering they've been using the Ultimate version of Spider-Man in the new film it's possible to a more plausible version as Kraven is a TV celebrity. The main trend of the villain selections (minus Venom) has been using classic villains Green Goblin, Doc Octopus and Sandman. If they wanted to bring the Sinister Six into the fray they'd have to bring Kraven into the franchise. Electro, Vulture, Shocker and Rhino (Paul Gimanti had lobbied for the role) could also be some classic villains to be considered.

DR. ALISTAIRE SMYTHE: An interesting aspect with Smythe is that he's established in the Amazing Spider-Man video game as an Oscorp employee. Apparently the game is tied with the new film so it could mean Smythe will be involved. Smythe is best known for development of many different generations of Spider Slayers. It doesn't seem like the best option but still it would be interesting to see a non-transformed threat and see more of a raobotic villain.

'VENOM' Spin-Off Update From Avi Arad

Sony hasn't revealed too much about their Spider-Man spin-off Venom concerning it's direction. What we do know is that it will have a script from Rhett Resse and Paul Wernick. The pair had previously wrote Zombieland and a promising script for the X-Men spin-off Deadpool. Josh Trank who make the small-budget superpower film Chronicle has been linked for director's chair. Some might remember that a pre-Hunger Games Gary Ross was originally attached to direct during it's early development. Topher Grace won't be reprising the role seemingly confirming that we'll see the anti-hero get a new origin separate from Spider-Man 3. Spider-Man producer Avi Arad has revealed that this movie will follow the classic story of Eddie Brock. I'm sure in the weeks leading up to and after the release of The Amazing Spider-Man we'll be hearing more from Avi and Sony on the project.

"It's an Eddie Brock story," said Arad. "We want to be as close to the comics as possible. Especially in Eddie Brock's story. But again, pseudo-sceince is becoming science. All these tidbits about webs, artificial webs, is a huge industry now. Spiderwebs have unique qualities that will be huge for communications, fibers, and so forth. So we have taken the approach that we want to make the huge amazing movie about Eddie." Tolmach adds, "He was a journalist. He had the wrong story, he got in trouble for it, he got fired. The whole essence to us for the Marvel characters. Stay close to the bible, stay close to the emotional story, and the rest is fun."

There had been some question to who would don the Venom symbiote since Brock hasn't been the only one and Sony would have access to other characters. Mac Gargan, the Spidey villain Scorpion had taken over the suit and was added to the lineup of the Thunderbolts. More recently Flash Thompson was re-envisioned as a disabled war hero given the Venom symbiote by the government. Flash is hired by the government to be a special agent wearing the Venom symbiote. Flash is only allowed to wear the suit for up to 48 hours, or risk a permanent bonding with the symbiote. The Government is also equipped with a "kill switch" designed to take Flash out if he loses control. That doesn't mean we won't see these characters explored eventually.

The symbiote sagas don't exactly fit into the Spider-Man franchise since they are traditionally dark material and include a body count. If anything a Venom film could benefit from a mature adaptation similar to Blade. Considering it would be hard to bring a serial killer supervillain like Carnage (a mass murderer) in a PG-13 franchise like Amazing Spider-Man. However, the sheer volume of characters involved could be enough to keep a mature franchise going. Carnage and Scream could end up becoming possible villains leading to more symobites and more mature Spider-Man universe villains making appearances. I could also see villains such as Sorpion (a little too similar to The Lizard for Spidey sequels) and possibly Morbius (apart of Marvel's Blade rights?) the living-vampire.



SOURCE: Hollywood

Marvel Films The Venture Bros. Creators Should Make

At the tail end of last year there was yet another call to Marvel from Venture Bros. creators Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick to allow them to be apart of the Doctor Strange film. It sounded they were more disappointed than anything else. They weren't even contacted considering their cartoon series is a giant homage to the characters of Marvel comics. One hero being a direct wink to Strange himself with Dr. Orpheus. While it looks like their involvement is looking unlikely I have a few other Marvel Studios films they could be perfect for as writers.

IRON FIST: Similar to Doctor Strange, the origin of Iron Fist takes place in a world of mystical mysticism and the occult. There could also be noir elements of classic heroes like the Phantom or the Shadow mixed in as well. It would do the film justice if it took cues from the Immortal Iron Fist including both Daniel Rand and Orson Randall. My take is that it could be a kung-fu version of Highlander if done properly. Spanning a bunch of different time periods would also be a great way to separate the character from Strange.

Originally Ray Park (G.I. Joe 1-2, X-Men) was set for lead with John Turman (Fantastic Four 2, Hulk) handling the script and Kirk Wong (The Big Hit) was set to direct. Wong left the project and Steve Carr (Next Friday, Daddy Daycare) was brought in, luckily the film was again put on hold and he exited. Currently,  Rich Wilkes is attached as the film's screenwriter but there is no word if the studio was happy with his script so far.

BLACK WIDOW: I assume after The Avengers hits theaters in May the studio is going to quickly gear up on the Black Widow spin-off. Marvel has Scarlett Johansson locked in the role and have previously mentioned a new film is in development back in 2010. At one point there was a Widow film setup at Lionsgate with David Hayter (Watchmen, X2) writing a script. He was expected to also direct but the film ultimately never happened. I would hope that while including some elements of the original script they'd be better off scrapping most of it.

Venture's Molotov Cocktease seems to have a slight edge to her that Widow has always been missing. It might be interesting to see the character in more of a hard boiled Bourne styled spy setting. The Venture guys have always written episodes with lots of classic Bond moments and as long as they go more grounded and less Austin Powers I think they could a great job here.

BLADE: Just last year Marvel regained the film rights to Blade from New Line Cinema and I assume all of the characters from Tomb of Dracula. The character rights includes Blade, Whistler, Hannibal King, Morbius The Living Vampire and Dracula's Daughter Lilith. Jefferson Twilight is obviously inspired by Blade and they seem like they could tackle the satirical nature of the world the Day Walker inhabits. In the first two films Stephen Norrington and Guillermo del Toro were able to balance the horror elements with some grounded actions scenes along with the satirical humor you would normally see in movies like Robocop and the original Total Recall. I know beyond a doubt with the reboot already in the works Hammer and Publick would be able to write the hell out of this. Not to mention that Blade has always been more geared to adults and they wouldn't be hindered by the amount of violence and raunchy humor they could include.

LEGION OF HORROR: The Legion of Horror has never been mentioned as a future film but with the rise of horror based action films and television shows it's likely that it will eventually come up at the studio. The lineup includes team leader Jack Russell (Werewolf By Night), Michael Morbius (The Living Vampire), Santana Hellstrom, N'Kantu (The Living Mummy), Dr. Ted Sallis (Man-Thing) and Manphibian. It could be interesting to see this group being an occult division of SHIELD becoming Marvel's answer to Hellboy's BPRD and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It would also leave the door open for Blade and Doctor Strange crossovers.

RUMOR: Could Marvel Be Using Vampires In Doctor Strange?

A new rumor points out that the Avengers post-credits scene could involve a vampire or vampires has surfaced via ComicBookMovie. This doesn't seem to fit with Iron Man 3, Thor 2 or even Captain America 2. So if true this could mean that we'll be seeing a new film that vampires would inhabit. That narrows things down to Blade or Doctor Strange.

Blade comes to mind but they don't have a script, director or even a new Blade. I assume when Marvel Studios regained the Blade rights from New Line they got all the vampire characters back including Deacon Frost, Hannibal King, Dracula, Lilith (Dracula's daughter), Morbius and The Blood Pack.

Morbius was going to be the main baddie in Blade 2 before Guillmero del Toro came in for the sequel. The living vampire had a cameo at the end of the first Blade movie but was ultimately cut out. One of the great things about Morbius is that he's also been a hero so he could be an interesting conflicted character.

The rights would also include Jack Russell from Werewolf By Night who had a cameo in a Blade 3 cute scene. There had been talk of Werewolf By Night film in development but nothing came of it. I figure all these characters are now fair game at Marvel and could be used in many different films.

Doctor Strange just happens to be the best bet to what this post-credit scene could be teasing. The film has a script and has been the one project most voiced by Marvel as apart of their next lineup. It's unknown what angle they'll be going with Strange but he runs the gauntlet of cosmic, magic, occult and horror elements. Strange has run into a few vampires in his time which includes Morbius, Dracula, Lilith, Baron Blood (his brother Victor) and many others. I would love to see Strange end up becoming more of a horror style Marvel franchise. A vampire could also just be one of the many monsters that Strange will have to face in the movie.

Horror comics were once a major part of Marvel, titles included The Living Vampire, Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf By Night, Brother Voodoo, Son of Satan, Legion of Monsters, Santana and others. It would be interesting to see Marvel Studios bring this sort of comic book universe to the screen. It had been sort of teased with the Blade films but the occult, magic, other creatures and demons were never the focus.