Word on the wind is that Spider-Man 4 is running into scrip troubles. With a trio of screenwriters consisting of Gary Ross, James Vanderbilt and David Lindsay-Abaire now assigned, many are wondering if multiple cooks will spoil the film. The general idea with superhero sequels to date has been to introduce multiple super villains rather than just one… which invariably makes the movie a disjointed mess.
That being the case, it is interesting that piggy-backing this announcement of Spider-Man 4’s woes there is word that a film focusing on the villainous Venom may be closer to a release date than anyone thought.
The rumor is that Stan ‘the man’ Lee is powdering his nose for his latest in a series of comic book movie cameos. Stan has appeared in nearly every Marvel movie to date, including Daredevil.
In speaking with Superhero Hype, writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese revealed that the iconic Marvel creator Stan Lee will have a cameo appearance in “Venom,” and that his role is a very particular one.
“Oh, yeah. Stan Lee is in it,” Reese revealed. “I feel like that’s the one thing we can say. He does appear in our script, and we’re very specific about where he is and why. May he live forever. Let’s hope he’s in many movies to come.”
Lee co-created a vast portion of Marvel’s most famous characters including the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. As a result, the writer — who has previously appeared on film in Kevin Smith’s “Mallrats” and has had other brushes with celebrity — has been honored with cameos in Marvel’s body of film work over the years.
Perhaps his most plot-centric cameo came in the form of last year’s “The Incredible Hulk,” in which he played an old man afflicted with Gamma poisoning, thereby leading General “Thunderbolt” Ross to Bruce Banner’s South American hideaway.
From the sound of it, Lee’s role in “Venom” could rival his importance in the aforementioned Jade Giant’s movie — but despite rumors of Carnage’s involvement in the movie, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that the legendary comic book figure won’t be playing Cletus Kasaday… though one can certainly hope.
While I’ve never really understood the appeal of Venom, I am pleasantly surprised with how the character has progressed in the pages of Dark Avengers. Far deadlier than any psychopathic villain, Venom is more like a shark on legs who can make witty comments before he eats you alive.
And who wouldn’t want to see a movie centered on that?
