The Amazing Spider-Man was a divisive film. Some people thought it was a fair reboot that rejuvenated a popular, if tired, franchise. While others felt a resounding hollowness from a, seemingly unnecessary, reboot of a franchise that was still reasonably healthy. Despite the mixed reception from the Spider-faithful, the film made gobs of cash and a sequel is fast approaching.
We thought we had a good handle on the villainy of ASM 2 with the assumed inclusion of Norman Osbourne and Jammie Foxx as an unorthodox Electro set to conflict with the web-head. However a surprise twist to the film’s rogues gallery might just have been uncovered via a Hollywood Reporter scoop:
Paul Giamatti is in talks to join The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as the villain known as The Rhino… The Rhino first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #41in 1966 as a thug from a Soviet Bloc country who wore a superhuman suit that made him invulnerable while giving him superstrength and superspeed. It also had a deadly horn on top.
What What What?
This film is certainly heading into some bold and interesting directions. Not only is the one-two punch of Rhino and Electro rather random, but the actor choices the casting department targeted for these roles are either brilliant or completely nutter-butter.
One thing is sure, Giamantti is one hell of an actor. Despite the fact that no one would have ever pegged him for The Rhino, no one can deny that we are going to get an interesting take on the rather one-note comic character.
This sort of ‘adventurous’ casting gives us hope that the Amazing Spider-Man cinematic tangent will pay off in ways the Raimi films were just not capable of hitting. No disrespect meant to the original theatrical Spider-Man trilogy, but the whimsical and broad sensibility of those films was just too far removed from the darker more tragic stories Spider-Man fans adore.
