Rhys Ifans Will Play Villain In 'Spider-Man' Reboot

The Hollywood career of Welsh actor Rhys Ifans has been somewhat stop-start since his break-out role in “Notting Hill” — despite turning in solid work in British flicks like “Enduring Love” and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” his adventures across the pond have mostly consisted of the underwhelming likes of “Little Nicky” and “The Shipping News.” But coming off the back of an excellent supporting role in Noah Baumbach’s “Greenberg,” and with Roland Emmerich’s “Anonymous” and a role in the final “Harry Potter” films on the way, Ifans looks set to book a role that’ll prove to be easily the most high profile of his career.

According to Mike Fleming at Deadline, Ifans has been offered the role of the villain of Marc Webb’s reboot of the studio’s golden goose “Spider-Man.” Ifans would join Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, who’ve already been cast as, respectively, Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. There’s no firm word on who the actor would play if he takes the role (and we can’t imagine why he wouldn’t): The Lizard has been rumored to be the villain in the picture, but recent reports have pegged Venom as making a possible reappearance.

Michael Fassbender, Christoph Waltz and, more recently, Philip Seymour Hoffman have all been linked to the role, but it looks like Ifans has landed it — we imagine that Hoffman turned the project down, if it even reached that stage. Whoever Ifans ends up playing, it’s another interesting, and somewhat offbeat, addition to a very strong cast for a project that few held hopes for when it was announced.

Update: A press release has gone out confirming that Ifans has signed on. Columbia Pictures president Matt Tolmach commented that “We have been very fortunate to attract some of the best actors working today to play the villains in the Spider-Man movies, and it is exciting to see that trend continue with Rhys Ifans. After seeing his performance in our upcoming film “Anonymous,” we’re in awe of his talent and think he’s the perfect choice to take on this role,” while director Webb added “What sets the Spider-Man villains apart is the complexity of their relationships with Peter Parker. Rhys’ incredible ability to embody both warmth and rage makes him the ideal choice for this character.”

While there’s still no word of who Ifans will be playing, Webb’s statement sounds like it could be hinting towards The Lizard — the ‘complex’ relationship and mix of ‘warmth and rage’ certainly sound about right. We’re sure it’ll be made clear down the line.