Anne Hathaway is one of the most talented actors in the world. The Oscar-winning actress known for her performances in films like “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Les Misérables,” also had a one-off role in the superhero genre.
She took on the role of Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises.” But before becoming Gotham’s feline fatale, Hathaway was almost set to portray a very similar character from the Marvel universe.
While fate ultimately placed her alongside Batman, Hathaway could have just as easily webbed up a spot next to the ever-popular Spider-Man.
Anne Hathaway Was Chosen To Play Felicia Hardy (Black Cat) In Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4
Spider-Man 4 is one of the most anticipated movies that never came to light. While Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 wasn’t as successful as the other two movies, it wasn’t bad enough to scrap the series altogether. The fourth installment of the series was under production, characters were mostly cast, and even a release date was announced before the project was scrapped.
Among the cast actors was Anne Hathaway. She was cast for none other than Black Cat, Spider-Man’s notorious love interest and fellow thief. She was chosen for Spider-Man 4, which would have seen her team up (or perhaps clash) with the web-slinger. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hathaway recently opened up about the Marvel opportunity that slipped through her grasp.
“I did not get into costume and did not read a script past the audition sides. I got the part and, yeah, it just… I think that’s probably more the producers’ story to tell than mine should they ever decided to tell it.
The Spider-Man universe has gone on to be so enormous and so thrilling. It’s just reinventing itself and all of those things so I wouldn’t want to make more of it than is necessary.”
Interestingly, this missed opportunity eventually led Hathaway down a different comic book path. With Spider-Man 4 off the table, she went on to portray Selina Kyle/Catwoman in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. Black Cat and Catwoman may have different reasons for what they do, but they’re both pretty similar characters from different comic worlds. However, there was one pretty big difference in Hathaway’s role as Felicia Hardy when compared to comics.
Anne Hathaway’s Felicia Hardy Was Not Meant To Transform Into Black Cat
While Felicia Hardy is who becomes Black Cat in the comics, the story was meant to go a different route in Sam Raimi’s scrapped movie. John Malkovich was in talks to play the role of Vulture and Hathaway was to assist him in his motives.
However, her character was not meant to be Black Cat. She was reportedly cast to play a new superpowered figure called Vulturess. While the movie never came to light, it would have been great to watch Raimi convert his ideas into reality.
