It’s no secret that the superhero genre is wildly popular right now, with a number of shared universes competing at the box office and via streaming services. But there was a time when these projects were more rare, like during Sam Raimi’s tenure directing Spider-Man movies. After that trilogy, a fourth installment of the sequel was spoken about, but eventually dropped. And Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway recently explained how close she came to playing Black Cat in Raimi’s scrapped Spider-Man 4. Cue the FOMO.
While she got to play a comic book femme fatale when Anne Hathaway starred as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, she had an earlier opportunity to play another cat-inspired comic character: Black Cat. While appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, she spoke about almost getting to enter the Spider-Verse, saying:
[I] did not get into costume and did not read a script past the audition slides. […] 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. Because 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.
There you have it. While Anne Hatahway did indeed get the role of Black Cat, it was super early in the development process of Spider-Man 4. She didn’t even get the chance to read a script before the project was eventually dropped by Sony. And because of that, the Rachel Getting Married star would wait a few more years before suiting up as another comic book feline.
During her appearance on Happy Sad Confused, Hathaway saw the silver lining in the fourth Spider-Man movie ultimately being scrapped. For her part, the 41 year-old actress doesn’t think that she’d be considered to play Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises if her Black Cat plans didn’t fall through. That movie would end up starting her collaborative relationship with Christopher Nolan, so perhaps it all worked out for the best for Hathaway’s career trajectory.
Still, there are plenty of Marvel fans out there who would have loved to see Hathaway as Black Cat. Some moviegoers have spent many years watching the Marvel movies in order, including long before the MCU was formed. And given Hathaway’s body of work, she no doubt would have crushed the role in Raimi’s blockbuster.
In the comics, Black Cat’s real name is Felicia Hardy. With abilities like super strength, she’s served as both a villain to Spider-Man as well as a love interest. While Hatahway didn’t get to play her, she eventually had an appearance in Andrew Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 played by Felicity Jones. Most recently, Black Cat had a role in the second Spider-Man game.
It should be interesting to see how Spider-Man lore continues to be explored in upcoming Marvel movies, especially if Tom Holland’s version of Peter Parker gets more movies. That might be the perfect opportunity to bring Black Cat in the fold. Another option for that character could be Sony’s ongoing Spider-Verse, which will be expanded with movies like Kraven and Madame Web. In the meantime, check out the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
