What’s In Store For Spider-Man 4?!

While picking producer Todd Black’s brain about “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” I asked a few questions about the upcoming “Spider-Man 4.” Black was understandably cryptic, but here’s what I did learn:

- Kirsten Dunst is definitely on board. Last month, director Sam Raimi was quoted as saying he didn’t know if the actor was going to sign up to play Mary Jane again, but it appears that she has.

- Contrary to online rumors, it doesn’t look like the script will feature a wedding between Mary Jane and Peter Parker. Black had no knowledge of that subplot.

- Also contrary to online rumors (but really, are there any other kind?), the villain will not be Morbius the vampire. Sure, vampires are hot, but Black squashed that rumor completely.

- As for who the villain will be, Black had this to say: “We’re just coming up with who the villain’s going to be now. We’ll be shooting in New York again. Trust me, people will appreciate who we pick, because it’ll be a big part of New York.”

So who could it be? What Spidey villain has ties to New York City? Let’s speculate after the jump.

Black also confirmed that the villain will be one of Spidey’s foes from the comic, not a character invented for the film. And we can assume it’ll be one of the hero’s classic rogues. Just four movies in, the producers won’t be resorting to B-listers. So with the help of this list, I have two guesses. And again, the key is that the villain has a more specific tie to New York City than just living there. That narrows the list considerably.

1. Kraven the Hunter. He’s a former big-game hunter who captured and tormented Spider-Man in a famously dark story from the 1980s. But as far as his ties to New York? Not particularly strong, beyond being positioned as a man out of place, because he’s a big-game hunter in an urban area.

2. That leaves the best guess: the Kingpin. He’s the leader of organized crime in Gotham, and is about as New Yorky as a villain can get. The character already appeared in Fox’s “Daredevil” a few years back, and it’s unclear if that studio still owns the rights. But if Sony has worked out a deal, it seems Kingpin would be a solid choice.