Back when superhero movies were still rising in popularity - unlike now - Sony took an interest in Anne Hathaway for a role in Spider-Man 4. The Academy Award-winning actress recently explained how close she was to playing Catwo- whoops, sorry, Black Cat for the movie.
In an interview with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hathaway revealed that she was set to star as Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat for the sequel to Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man 3 before it was scrapped. Sony eventually opted not to produce a sequel and instead rebooted the Spider-Man universe with Andrew Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man.
"Uh, I did not get into costume and did not read a script past the audition slides," Hathaway said. "I got the part and, yeah, it just...I think that's probably more the producers' story to tell than mine should they ever decide to tell it." She adds, "The Spider-Man Universe has gone on to be so enormous and so thrilling.
According to reports, the plan was to cast John Malkovich to play Adrian Toomes, aka Vulture in Spider-Man 4. The villain would die in a clash with the web-slinger and Toomes' daughter, played by Angelina Jolie, would eventually take on the mantle of Vulturess. Hathaway's Black Cat would have aided Spider-Man in defeating the villain.