Of all the superhero films almost made, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 might just be the one that fans will never forget. Not just because of how beloved Tobey Maguire’s portrayal was (and still technically is), but because of how close it was to coming together before falling apart.
Various disagreements between Sony and Raimi ultimately forced the film to be shelved, but it is important to note that a release date had already been set. Both John Malkovich and Anne Hathaway were brought onboard to play Vulture and a new iteration of Felicia Hardy that would go on to become “the Vulturess” respectively too
A few years ago storyboard artist Jeffrey Henderson took released never-before-seen concept art for the film, which included what Malkovich’s villain would have looked like.
While it seemed like this would be the closest fans would get to ever seeing the film, this weekend comic book creator and writer Ken Penders took to Twitter to randomly reveal photos of Vulture’s actual costume from the film!
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As he explains in the tweet, over a decade ago, he visited a few friends who working on the costume and managed to snag a pictures. He obviously withheld releasing them for legal reasons. Considering that we’ve had two new Spider-men since the film was cancelled and a brand new Vulture, he thought it would be okay to finally share them.
You can check them out below!
While you can only really see the wings in this photo, Penders later posted a closer image of the costume that featured a mold of Malkovich’s body that the wings were being fitted for.
Like all of Raimi’s other Spider-man films, it appears that the approach would have been mostly practical. It’s a shame that fans will never get to see his vision fully fleshed out.
As mentioned before, the classic Spider-Man villain ultimately made his big screen debut in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. Michael Keaton has played the character ever since – and he even had an appearance as the character in this year’s meme hit Morbius!
Given that more has come out about this film has come out than anyone would have suspected, we’re holding out for a potential script leak down the line.
To date, no iteration of the character has received a fourth film. As of right now, fans are eagerly awaiting an announcement about a fourth Spider-Man film set within the MCU.
What do you think of the costume design? Sound off below!
SOURCES: Ken Penders, Jeffrey Henderson, Movieline
