Anne Hathaway Nearly Played Marvel's Version Of Batman's Catwoman

It's curious that Sam Raimi never made a "Spider-Man 4." His 2002 film "Spider-Man" kicked open the doors of the superhero genre, which would remain ascendant in Hollywood for over 15 years. The first film, while mediocre, made a whopping $823.9 million at the box office, assuring a sequel. 2004's "Spider-Man 2," a better movie in every regard, was almost as successful, making around $797 million. Raimi's 2007 installment, "Spider-Man 3," was once again mediocre, but it had the highest box office receipts yet, earning $896.3 million. Despite its huge earnings, though, "Spider-Man 3" was a critical disappointment. It also cost an astronomical $258 million to make, which was bloated by any measure.

"Spider-Man 4" was put into development, and a script was even written. The plan was to cast John Malkovich as the Vulture and Anne Hathaway as Felicia Hardy, the character who would go on to become the Black Cat. As Spider-Man fans can tell you, Black Cat is a seductive antihero who begins her career as a thief and low-level villain, only to change her ways (well, slightly) when she begins a romantic relationship with Spider-Man. The character was created for Marvel Comics in 1979 and is, one might note, very similar to Catwoman from DC's Batman comics.

"Spider-Man 4," however, was scrapped when Raimi decided not to direct it. Instead, the "Spider-Man" franchise was rebooted a few years later, and Hathaway — by total coincidence — went on to play Catwoman in Christopher Nolan's 2012 film "The Dark Knight Rises." She swapped one cat for another.

Hathaway recalled her near-miss with the Black Cat in an interview on the "Happy/Sad/Confused" podcast in 2023 (via Variety). She was intrigued by "Spider-Man 4," but she ultimately felt grateful for the gig she actually got.

Although a script had indeed been put together for "Spider-Man 4," Hathaway never read it. The project had also never advanced to the screen test stage, so she couldn't comment on the similarities between her potential Black Cat costume and her Catwoman outfit (something comic book fans would most certainly want to have known about). Hathaway was, however, pragmatic, noting that her career ultimately took the correct path. As she put it:

"If ['Spider-Man 4'] had gotten made, I don't know if I would've been considered for ['The Dark Knight Rises']. Perhaps [Christopher Nolan] would've said, 'No, she's occupied in another universe.'"

It's possible Hathaway didn't need to worry. After all, there has been a lot of superhero pop culture cross-pollination over the years. Chris Evans, for example, played the Human Torch in 2005's "Fantastic Four" before portraying Captain America in several Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, while Idris Elba appeared as Thor's ally Heimdell in several MCU films before James Gunn cast him as Bloodsport in "The Suicide Squad." Then again, seeing as Black Cat is decidedly similar to Catwoman, casting Hathaway in both roles might've felt like double-dipping. Had "Spider-Man 4" been made, then Nolan might've well selected another actor to play Catwoman in "The Dark Knight Rises."

Of course, that didn't happen, and Hathaway starred in Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy finale. She then went on to reunite with the filmmaker on 2014's "Interstellar," a sci-fi film that came along just as everyone seemed to be happy to hate on Hathaway. The pair have since re-teamed again for Nolan's adaptation of "The Odyssey."

Hathaway got the right job, and her career is going as strong as ever. Sunrise. Sunset.