Malkovich officially for Vulture?

Honestly, you can’t go for a morning webswing through the city without crashing into another piece of Spider-Man 4 news.

This time, it’s some pretty exciting stuff that flies in the face of the doom and gloom that has so far clouded the project. Depending on how much you like John Malkovich, of course...

Oh yes, the slow-talking thesp has all but confirmed that he is going to be appearing in Peter Parker’s next cinematic comic book adventure as the villainous Vulture. If you believe the Italians, that is.

Y’see, Malkovich recently appeared on an Italian TV show called Quelli Che il Calcio . Somebody caught the show and emailed website BadTaste , who report the following:

“When conductor Simona Ventura asked him about his role of Vulture in the movie, he not only didn't deny his involvement, but confermed [sic] that he's waiting for the final script to be sent to him, and that the movie has been delayed. He also hopes that shooting will begin as soon as possible.”

So there you have it. Malkovich has always been Sam Raimi’s numero uno pick to play Vulture in Spidey 4 , so it’s not a massive surprise.

Except we know that the film’s much-reported delays almost exclusively revolve around Raimi’s fights with Sony over who should be the new film’s antagonist. Here, it seems that Malkovich is signed up and ready to squawk.

We’ll keep our ears to the ground for more on this one...

Good news? A flapping shame? Give us your thoughts below...