According to a report from IESB the next Spider-Man film which is running under the title Spider-M4N has been delayed indefinitely. IESB states:
An inside source working on the project tells IESB that there are some major issues director Sam Raimi is dealing with that include an incomplete script. And why is the script incomplete? Looks like Raimi and the studio heads at Sony Pictures can’t agree upon a villain for the film.
According to IESB the villain in question is The Vulture:
Raimi is pushing hard for the Vulture to be the big baddie, something he also pushed for in the third film to star alongside the Sandman but didn’t get and we all know how that one turned out. Vulture was to do his evil deeds alongside the new Goblin and Sandman. A single concept art sketch can be seen in “The Art of Spider-Man 3” book. Vulture and Flint Marko would have been cellmates who escaped together, with Vulture pressuring the more passive Marko into committing crimes.
On the flip side, who does the studio want to be the villain? Our source says they seem to only be interested in featuring which ever character is selling books right now but basically they have no idea, just not the Vulture.
UPDATE: Superhero Hype has the exclusive news that this report may not be true:
Our studio source tells us this is not true. They are simply on hiatus for the holidays and production will resume in the new year. This is a very common practice on films, and not really surprising.The fourth installment is scheduled for a release in conventional and IMAX theaters on May 5, 2011.
There is nothing else to report on the matter at this time. I’ll say this though, Sony needs get all the franchises they want to do in order. They are hitting walls with threequels for Bad Boys and Men in Black and they can’t seem to get things rolling on Spider-Man. Also, if Tobey Maguire ends up going on the hobbit journey, will he even have time to get in the spidey costume?
Who do you want as a villain in Spider-Man 4?