‘Spider-Man 4′ Exclusive Accidentally Outs Closet Fangirl Nikki Finke

While regular Nikki Finke readers know she don’t do geek, you’d be forgiven for assuming from today’s column that she occasionally dabbles in dweeb: Watch as she churns a Spidey Wiki’s worth of Peter Parker biographical material cross-referenced with the latest villain indexes into the mother of all Spider-Man 4 exclusives, its vital insider information fed to her in the basement of a Century City parking structure by an anonymous figure known only as Deep Flack.
The basics:
· Spider-Man 4, based on a screenplay by Zodiac writer Jamie Vanderbilt, is a go, with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire on board.
· Kirsten Dunst’s character is in the script, but hasn’t yet signed on.
· The “black costume” won’t return.
· They may shoot 4 and 5 back-to-back.
As for villains, well, we’ll leave you now to Finke’s capable deductive services:

I am told…that “once you find out who the villain is, you’ll know who’s playing it.” That should lead to speculation that Dylan Baker’s character of Dr. Curt Connors will ultimately turn into The Lizard as he did in the comic books.

There’s one other character that’s been set up but is a real longshot — Daniel Gillies, who plays John Jameson, the astronaut fiance of Mary Jane in Spider-Man 2. In the comics he becomes the villain Man-Wolf. Raimi has said in the past that he wants the best actors to play the villains in the movie, not necessarily the most famous.

And don’t even get her started on The Kangaroo’s back story! (Seriously, though—Philip Seymour Hoffman, if you’re listening, you were born to play the part.)

• EXCLUSIVE: Sony Locks In Sam Raimi & Tobey Maguire in ‘Spider-Man 4′; Studio May Shoot ‘4′ and ‘5′ At The Same Time [Deadline Hollywood Daily]