The Lizard in Spider-Man reboot?
Wed, June 9, 2010 
As we wait to find out who will officially take on the role of Spider-Man, we continue to get other peices of casting info. Just last week Blending Cool reported Jamie Bell being the new Spider-Man. Which I still find hard to believe.
Then just yesterday Showbiz 411 reported that Michael Fassbender was up for a Magento in the X-Men first class prequel as well as an unknown villain role for the Spider-Man reboot. At the time I said he should just take the Magneto role, but now Bleeeding Cool has revealed the villain for Marc Webb's reboot is Dr. Curt Connors (aka the Lizard). I must now retract my previous statement regarding Magento, and put my support behind Fassbender playing The Lizard. A villain we've technically yet to see on screen.
This does come as somewhat of a huge slap to the face for Dylan Baker who played Dr. Curt Connors in two of the previous films, but never had the chance to be The Lizard as well.
Damn you Sony! I actually wanted to see Spider-Man 4. Regardless of the weird Vulture/ Vulturess plot. I like many fans hoped Connors would finally transform into the Lizard.
Reader Comments (3)
Lizard, eh? Interesting choice. I figured the reboot might go for an entirely different villain as to avoid too much repetition with the previous films, but I'm not sure if I want to see Fassbender play that part. I really like the idea of Fassbender as a villain, but I think he'd be more suited for a character that doesn't require a bunch of CGI/costumes to pull off.
As far as the reboot, I think it's both a good and bad thing. On the positive, I was really tired of Raimi's films by Spider-Man 3, and if Venom was the only thing the studios forced on the movie I can't see it being a good movie even without Venom. I really only ever liked Spider-Man 2 as it is--Spidey is my absolute favorite superhero, but I was never completely satisfied with Raimi's vision. The only film version of Spider-Man I liked a lot was James Cameron's story from the early 90s, but even that had its share of problems and shortcomings (no one can seem to nail Peter Parker's humor).
But the reboot could turn out badly as well. I don't think the idea of a reboot in the first place is necessarily a negative thing (I actually think it's what the franchise needs right now), although Marc Webb is kind of a wild card, and I'm hoping that Sony will allow for a more creative process this time around. Ultimately I think the most important thing is to set apart the new film from Raimi's campier, 1960s-inspired stories. The new films should be much more modernized and vastly different in tone. I don't have a lot of confidence in Sony, and even though I haven't seen 500 Days of Summer, Marc Webb seems like a decent guy. I just have a feeling that Sony acquired a young and relatively inexperienced director so they could control him easier, but I hope that isn't the case.
Spider-Man has always been a soap opera with superhero stuff thrown in for us boys, so as long as the new films can get that right without being too silly or campy like Raimi's version, I think it has a lot of potential to be a great introduction for new fans. The original Spider-Man has not held up very well (like most of the early comic book films), so I'm hoping this story will really take advantage of the fantastic origin the character has and do it justice. It's one of the best superhero origin stories ever, and I thought Raimi's version was a very by-the-books translation/adaptation. The best part of that movie is essentially the first 30 minutes until it turns into a generic hero vs. villain action movie. I liked how Cameron made his entire story the origin, really making Peter earn that Spider-Man status. Either way, I'm interested to see where it goes.
I'd say you're spot on with Sony hiring Webb in order to control him. They were looking for a "yes man" after the issues they had with Raimi.
As far as I know they also had their hands on spider-man 3 for more than just the inclusion of venom. So if S3 is any indication of Sony's vision for web head, I'd be worried about this reboot.
I think he would be a better liazrd than magneto. Even though I hate the idea of the reboot, this sounds fucking awsome!