John Malkovich still attached to Spider-Man 4 as lead villain |

Spider-Man villain The Vulture first appeared in 1963 as an elderly antagonist created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

According to SlashFilm, John Malkovich recently confirmed recent rumors that he has been cast in Sam Raimi’s troubled Spider-Man 4…well, sort of. Many suggestions were that as Malkovich would play lead villain The Vulture (a.k.a. Adrian Toomes), if Raimi – who hated the most recent version of the script – gets his way. However, Sony apparently has other plans, wanting “any” other baddie to go up against Spidey in the sequel.

According to reports, Malkovich told an Italian sports show that he’s waiting for a new draft of the script, although he didn’t mention his character by name, meaning he could be involved in some other capacity. BadTaste reported that the actor says shooting on the project has been delayed and that he’s waiting for a new script.

One thing is certain at this point. Spider-Man 4 will not be kicking off summer 2011, as originally planned.

UPDATE: Raimi, Maguire and Dunst all off Spider-Man 4, which is now set to be a prequel