File this under Unexpected Casting Awesomeness (UCA, for short). The Hollywood Reporter says Paul Giamatti is in negotiations to play Rhino in next year’s THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2.
Giamatti definitely has the chops to play any sort of villain, but this will be his first true foray into the world of super-villainy. While Jamie Foxx is already headlining as Electro and Dane DeHaan will be appearing as Harry Osborn, Giamatti will defintely not take a back seat when it comes to the action.
As a huge fan of the character, Giamatti has been discussing the role going back to 2011. He then told ShowBizSpy “I thought Rhino was the greatest thing when I was a little kid. It was a guy who was basically in this rhinoceros outfit and I always thought, ‘Why don’t they have The Rhino in one of their movies,’ but maybe The Rhino wasn’t that big of a deal for anybody but me…If they ever go with The Rhino I would be ready and waiting.”
It remains unclear if Giamatti lobbied for the role or if two villains were always planned for the sequel to Marc Webb‘s 2012 movie. Either way, this is the first great news I have heard about the movie. I hope they are not going to overload the movie which is always the death knell for comic book movies. But, I am now looking forward to THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2. How about you?