With all of the rumors going around that Sandman was going to be the villain in Spider-Man 3, I got to thinking that perhaps it's actually going to be Hydro-Man or both villains. While I stand by my view that Thomas Haden Church is not a good actor despite playing a good oaf, his resemblance to Hydro-Man is amazing - plus Hydro-Man himself is a big oaf.

  

Rumors of sand being all over Sony's studio (as well as Church having said he was 'in the mud all day') could point to Sandman, but as Hydro-Man would be powered by the sea, the sand could be simply for the beach. Yet, again, it could be that both villains will appear, opposite ends of the spectrum that cause trouble for each other and for Spider-Man. As in the infamous story that took place in Amazing Spider-Man #217-218, the two villains fight over the love of a lady, neither one being able to best each other as they are both too fluid. Spider-Man tries to stop their fighting as it begins to endanger others, so the villains decide to team-up against the web-slinger. In the end, the two merge into a being called Mud-Thing, which wouldn't be a good way for the film to go, but the underlying premise of the two entangling each other still works.

Another reason why both villains may appear is that when it comes to special effects, doing one villain is not too much different from doing the other because they are both fluid and move in a similar fashion.

Finally, Church himself just gave clues in Entertainment Weekly as to whom the villain would be. He states, "He's a horse of many colors." While I doubt he thought so far as to symbolically suggest how a horse represents water (a modern example being the power Arwen used to wash away the Ring Wraiths in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring), a horse does speak of a big, robust person - and Hydro-Man is such a horse.

While Sandman is also a horse, the next line of description that Church gives can only be applied to Hydro-Man. He states, "Let's just say he's an amorphous collection of protons, electrons, and neutrons, of different colors."

Both Hydro-Man and Sandman are amorphous, but mentioning sub-atomic particles applies more to water than the substance of any other major Spider-Man villain. "Electrons" may make someone think of Electro while "amorphous" may make someone think of Venom & Chameleon, but the part about different colors can only apply to Hydro-Man. When water catches light, it breaks up the spectrum and creates a rainbow effect, something which many of us have seen playing with the hose or a sprinkler when we were kids.

Now, if Church is Hydro-Man, then who would play Sandman were both villains to appear? Topher Grace is the only star who has been added to the cast and, while Marvel films have many actors in roles of characters to whom they bare little or no resemblance, I sincerely doubt that the small Grace will play the hulking Sandman. So, for now, let's set Sandman aside and focus on Grace.

Were Hydro-Man, the main villain, it would be sensible to go with a lesser villain who has strong ties to Hydro-Man - thus someone from the Sinister Syndicate, a team originally comprised of Hydro-Man, the Beetle, the Speed Demon, the Rhino, and Boomerang. Beetle is out as he is more oft an Avengers villain, and Rhino would more than likely be more suitable for a Hulk sequel. Speed Demon is hardly worthy of live-action adaptation (especially when Marvel would do a live-action of the much more popular Quicksilver before attending to other resident speedsters). That leaves only Boomerang, aka Fred Myers, whom Topher Grace would nicely suit. Though I doubt Sam Raimi and the other powers that be would even consider that character.

  

Let's look at some other startling possibilities, however unlikely they may be.

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The first possibility would be the Clone Saga. There are three reasons why this plot would be sensible, despite how dreadful it would be as well. First, there is a striking resemblance between Tobey Maguire and Topher Grace, so the latter could very well play Peter Parker's clone Ben Reilly.

  

Second, Church has the face of the Jackal, the villain responsible for the clones. The Jackal may not fit Church's clues, but as I stated in the first part of this article, Marvel has been known to use a ruse or two to distract people from and surprise them with what is really going to happen.

  

Third, many fans have wanted Gwen Stacy, Peter's first love interest, in the films. As the Jackal had created a clone of Gwen, it furthers that thought.

However, as said previously, Marvel films rarely cast based on looks, and the Clone Saga isn't very popular among many fans. Besides, Gwen Stacy could still be brought into any storyline regardless of what villain is used, merely to create a romantic conflict. A while ago, a supposed casting call asked for a 'blond, buxom girl.' Many people have speculated that it pointed to Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat, and fans dug their claws into the idea of a love triangle of sorts involving Felicia. Perhaps, however, this blond (if indeed called for) is actually Gwen Stacy. If so, that may even mean that Harry will become the Green Goblin after all, as a fight with GG is what led to Gwen's untimely demise in comics anyway. Such an idea leads to the next possibility.

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What about Topher Grace playing the Hobgoblin, aka Roderick Kingsley? We already know that Harry Osborn found his father's Green Goblin arsenal at the end of Spider-Man 2. Perhaps, as some had hoped, Harry decides to make use of the Goblin gear. Yet, instead of becoming the goblin himself, he licenses it out to Kingsely who becomes the Hobgoblin after modifications are made to the gear.

  

If that would be the case, Gwen Stacy would be a surefire fit into the story, but then who would Church portray. Perhaps he would be the Chameleon, who is actually a master of disguise not a shapeshifter (so Church's 'amorphous' clue wouldn't apply, but then again it could be a ruse).

  

In the comics, Harry's Green Goblin did conspire with the Chameleon, so perhaps the Chameleon is the mastermind who sends Kingsley to Harry, the two villains then turning on Harry in their attempt to take over OsCorps.

The only problem with this theory is that the Chameleon is 'brothers' with the popular Kraven the Hunter, who would have to appear in some capacity were the Chameleon to be in the movie as a major villain.

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The next possibility would be that Topher Grace plays the mastermind Chameleon, who doesn't get his hands dirty, while Church plays Kraven, a lackey of his brother who does all the dirty work in fighting Spider-Man.

  

With this possibility, I haven't much to say except that Gwen Stacy could still be very easily injected, although Black Cat would fit more sensibly as the serum that gives Kraven his powers is the same serum that gives Black Cat hers (not in comics, but in Spider-Man: the Animated Series). Moreover, Black Cat helped Spider-Man after the Chameleon stripped the hero of his powers, a premise which would make for a good story in a movie.

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My last theory involves the fan favorite Venom. Though it is highly unlikely, Church could be Venom and Grace appear as a cameo of Cletus Kasady, the psychopath who became Carnage in the comics. Though it is also possible to still have Venom, while Grace and Church portray any of the villains above, perhaps as Boomerang, simply a lackey, and as Chameleon, possibly the mastermind behind Venom, respectively.

  

  

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To recap, I think the Hydro-Man theory holds the most water. Odds on all of the other possibilities are low, especially on Venom or the Clone Saga.

There is one more rumor that could support or completely debunk all the aforementioned theories - the rumor that both Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man 4 will be filmed simultaneously. If that were to be the case, then my theory is that Church would be Hydro-Man in SM3 with Grace making a cameo at the end, leading to him being the villain of SM4 - most likely Hobgoblin.