There is An Alternate Universe Where Anne Hathaway Was Black Cat in Spider-Man 4

Sam Raimi is making the PR rounds for Oz: The Great and Powerful, and seeing as how the second Spider-Man franchise in as many decades is currently filming its first sequel (*sniff* They grow up so fast!), he’s naturally being asked what he would have done if Spider-Man III hadn’t pretty much squished that version of the character with a tissue (at least in the court of public opinion).

Turns out, he would have hired Anne Hathaway.

Specifically, he would have hired Anne Hathaway to play Black Cat, neé Felicia Hardy, an infamous cat burglar and serial love interest of Spider-Man’s, for Spider-Man 4. If that sounds familiar, it’s probably because the character bears a lot of similarities to the modern interpretation of Catwoman (though whether or one was inspired by the other is a bit more complicated), a role that Hathaway has since played to great effect.

Said Vulture:

I know you’d been pursuing Anne Hathaway to star in Spider-Man 4… she was going to play Felicia Hardy, right?

Responded Raimi:

Yes.

And before you start ragging on Raimi for daring to remind us of his lackluster tenure over cinematic Spider-Man, you should know that he’s not the biggest fan of the movie either.

I was very unhappy with Spider-Man 3, and I wanted to make Spider-Man 4 to end on a very high note, the best Spider-Man of them all. But I couldn’t get the script together in time, due to my own failings, and I said to Sony, “I don’t want to make a movie that is less than great, so I think we shouldn’t make this picture. Go ahead with your reboot, which you’ve been planning anyway.” And [Sony co-chairman] Amy Pascal said, “Thank you. Thank you for not wasting the studio’s money, and I appreciate your candor.” So we left on the best of terms, both of us trying to do the best thing for fans, the good name of Spider-Man, and Sony Studios.

But don’t be too sad about what might have been, Black Cat fans. Felicia Hardy is also rumored to appear in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as played by Felicity Jones, since the movie’s production has, well, hired one more Peter-Parker-age-young actress than it currently has announced female roles for, and there simply aren’t that many female characters in Spider-Man who fit that description. You might see her on the big screen yet.

(Vulture via CinemaBlend.)