Comic book insider reveals John Malkovich as villain in canceled ‘Spider-Man 4’

There were more bad guys for Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man to battle throughout the Big Apple, a Marvel insider has revealed years later.

Comic artist Ken Penders unearthed plans for the canceled fourth installation of director Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” film series of the mid-2000s. It had been dropped after the third flick, starring James Franco and Topher Grace as the villainous Hobgoblin and Venom, was remembered for all the wrong reasons — including a cringe-worthy dance montage from Maguire’s webslinger in 2007.

“Before Tobey & Sam were bid adieu by Sony, work actually had begun on SPIDER-MAN 4, and I visited friends who were working on the Vulture’s costume intended for actor John Malkovich,” Penders tweeted of the bad-guy-to-be.

“Once production shut down, all materials were turned in. I’ve sat on this for almost 15 years.”

A comic book insider revealed that John Malkovich was slated to play a “Spider-Man” villain. Europa Press via Getty Images

Along with the shocking name drop, Penders also revealed an image of the monstrous mechanical flight suit that the villain was slated to wear on-screen.

In a follow-up tweet, he showed the controls for the wings in addition to “where the John Malkovich body mold can clearly be seen.”

Even though Malkovich has not yet made his way into the Spider-verse, his buzzard-esque character — by day known as Adrian Toomes — finally got the green light a decade after “Spider-Man 3.”

Michael Keaton reprised the Vulture and went wing to wing with Tom Holland’s Spidey during a battle royale over the skies of Coney Island in 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”

Keaton’s sinister Marvel Cinematic Universe get-up shares much in common with the concept outlined for Malkovich as well.

The Vulture was eventually brought to the screen by Michael Keaton in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”©Columbia Pictures/courtesy Eve

Along with the classic “Sinister Six” nemeses, Maguire and Raimi also saw their own, separate returns to Marvel in 2021 as well — both had been quite warmly welcomed back by fans.

Maguire teamed up with Holland’s and Andrew Garfield’s versions of the web-head along with Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr. Strange to battle threats across the multiverse —including Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, and Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman, all from the Raimi films — in the 2021 smash hit “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

Tobey Maguire made his way back into Marvel in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”Alamy Stock PhotoYears after his “Spider-Man” trilogy, Sam Raimi directed the sequel to “Dr. Strange.”Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

Although that Holland-starring trilogy was left to director Jon Watts, Raimi was put in charge of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” a sequel film which had its plot intertwined with that of “No Way Home.”