As we told you a couple of weeks ago, reports say that Sony and Sam Raimi have come to a loggerheads about the villain for Spider-Man 4. Raimi wants The Vulture, but Sony has been adamantly against the idea of Spidey battling a flying octogenarian. So who does Sony want as the villain in the fourth Spider-Man movie? If my made up sources are correct, they want ol’ Webhead to confront his most devious enemy:
SKIP WESTCOTT
This is a really bold choice for Sony, as Westcott doesn’t have the kind of brand identity that other Spidey villains, like Electro or The Rhino, have. But he is, without a doubt, Spider-Man’s greatest nemesis. After all, he did what the Green Goblin never could, what Doc Ock only dreamed of, and what never even occurred to the Sandman:
Skip Westcott sexually molested Peter Parker.

I’m not making this up. It happened in the Spider-Man/Power Pack free comic that was given out to school children in 1984 (school children like me!); Spidey reveals to the kids in Power Pack that when he was a young man he met an older student named Skip Westcott at the library and they became fast friends. Skip liked Peter for his brains, and nicknamed him ‘Einstein,’ which is a really good example of how unique and creative Skip was.
Skip and Peter would hang out after school a bunch, and Aunt May really liked him. I guess she had been worried that Peter’s first sexual experience would be too positive. Anyway, one day after school, Skip showed Peter some porn mags (again, this was 1984, back when you had to look at porn using physical media) and then suggested that he and the superhero-to-be re-enact some of what they saw. Peter doesn’t go into detail, but he does say that he was too scared to leave…
The best Spider-Man villains are those who are personally connected to Peter Parker, and no one is more personally connected to him than the guy who touched his wee wee when he was 12. Also, the inclusion of Skip works thematically – Sony tried to fuck the franchise by inserting Venom into Spider-Man 3 against Raimi’s wishes; now they can try to fuck Peter Parker by inserting Skip Westcott into… okay, even I can’t finish that sentence.
Who could play Skip Westcott? I think that Bruce Campbell would be pretty great, and if he’s not available, Raimi can always hire Jeffrey Jones. Some fans may be up in arms about Skip not having white hair, but there’s always the magic of make-up. They made Bryce Dallas Howard blonde for Spider-Man 3, after all. I think the white hair is integral, as it makes Skip look like a younger Uncle Ben, which was always the subtext of the story. In fact, maybe J. Michael Straczynski could return to the Spider-Man comics pre-Spider-Man 4 and establish that Skip Westcott is just Peter’s way of covering up the fact that Uncle Ben raped him. It wouldn’t be any worse than Straczynski turning Peter into a Spider monster and having Norman Osborne fuck Gwen Stacy, after all.
The other option is having Skip Westcott be a completely CGI villain. Finally a chance for the folks at WETA digital to really strut their stuff! Could someone achieve a fully photorealistic pedophile? Even Peter Jackson didn’t attempt it with The Lovely Bones, opting instead for old-fashioned ‘acting,’ but with a big enough budget, the support of a multi-national corporation, millions of man hours and the smartest people in the FX business, I think Spider-Man 4 can finally present a truly lifelike boy rapist. We can only dream.





38 comments
merry christmas- when did you start drinking today?
fucking awesome…best christmas present ever
Wow. Just…. wow.
This is the best Christmas ever!! (wipes a tear away from eye) But seriously, Whaaaaa…???
I'd go with Jeffrey Jones for this one as long as they bring back his fully possessed look from Howard the Duck. It would also help if his portrayal of Skip oozed charisma like Jones' character Spike in Stay Tuned.
This is awesome. Nice work.
This is Christmas, not April Fool's. Nice try…
I thing drinking and posting is worse than drinkin' and dialin'.
John Slattery's got this in the bag.
If this is serious, fuck Spiderman movies. We are DONE professionally!
Devin, saw you on AOTS today. Totally changed my opinion of you. In a good way.
That was funny. They should get Cameron to help out with some 3D.
make Skip Westcott have a big Michael Jackson's BAD poster in his wall and I'm sold
Will Chris Matthews get a cameo?
Spiderman 4: To Web a Predator
I get the feeling that Devin may be the only person on the planet that thinks One More Day was a good storyline.
I can only imagine the homo-erotic fan fiction that will follow this movie
Best Spider-Man article (in any medium) of 2009. 10 out of 10, would read again.
Reading the comments above I knew someone would insert a stale MJ joke in there. Get a life [A]. I think you're just jealous because you're too fat and ugly to have someone want to rape you. Fuckin' queer.
Hey, "One More Day" was total ass, but everything that's followed has been really, really good for the most part! It was a little clunky at first with the focus being on introducing so many new characters instead of showing how the events of "One More Day" changed Spidey's relationships with the old characters, but after reading the first 3 or 4 "Brand New Day" arcs, I don't WANT the old continuity back. OK, geek rant over…
this is stupid, i have read alot of your articles, and for the most part i dont have a bad opinion. but this time i would think that the spider-man franchise would not dumb down to an f 'n pedophile story. i would think you would keep the pot shots to a minimum at least until they do reveal who it is so you dont look like an ass to the people that actually like spider-man. but i guess ill get shit for my opinion so bring it on.
Is this serious? I mean really? Honestly?
"The other option is having Skip Westcott be a completely CGI villain."
This is the best thing Devin has ever written.
A full CGI villain is perfect in this context. This can be done like "Memento" in reverse with Peter killing the molester and buy the end of the movie you find out that Uncle Ben was the molester and Peter killed an innocent man he fixated on. The cgi would illustrate the self-invented nature of his fixation on this proxy of devience.
I vote for Chris Meloni as the child molestor.
perfect for one of the most overrated film series ever
That creepy little shit Peter Parker is a fucking liar! I never touched him!
Poor Dylan Baker just can't get a break.
@#19 & Others in confusion: Psst, read the 4th line of the article. Hope this sort of thing is a new Xmas tradition!
Some of you are way too PC for your own good. Stop taking yourselves so seriously. Devin, shit was hilarious. Glad to see the christmas trees treated you well today.
"If my made up sources are correct …" LOL
"If my made up sources are correct …" next sentence "I'm not making this up." worst villians worst hero, cast anyone, it'll make $800mill. worldwide..
Simon says MIND FUCK! Happy belated Xmas!
I have this comic. Total LOL. It is presented so matter-of-factly. Wonder if they will make a follow-up where Peter reveals he and Skip met on the internets…
Crispin. Actually, Crispin channeling Warhol in The Doors.
What's wrong with just good old-fashioned drawn animation a la 'Roger Rabbit'? Isn't used too much nowadays, though this commentator believes the retro style may work to the films advantage. Heck, it seemed to work for 'Cool World'…
Peter's mouth was saying no but his body was saying yes. If you take a look at the second frame you'll notice that he's actually nodding while he's pretending to object. The little tease.
Actually, this would be pretty awesome for many reasons…first no matter what villan they pick the movie will seem redundant, but if they pick a villian with a "special" set of super powers, this could actually work…. Second, they say most people who are abused, end up being abusers themselves so…. what would Spider-Man's dungeon look like? … scores of underage kids webbed to the walls of his abandoned warehouses basement? all of them turning into Spider-kids as Peter finds out his bite is also venomous much in the way that the spider that created him was. Considering he always has his mask on when he fights crime and never bites anyone, the irony of this unfortunately timed revelation is not lost on him as they inflicit savage retribution on him during an appearance on "To Catch a Preadator, Live!" …… Mary and Gwen discussing how Peter only seems to only get aroused watching reruns of You Can't Do That on Television and how he would always murmur "well, not on television…" under his breath during the opening credit sequence. Afterwards, making them put on Hypercolor shirts, Z Cavaricci pants and sing the Canadian natational anthem before he made love to them, but "only in the butt!!"… but, you're right, I'm sure The Lizard, The Vulture, or Ash, will make for a much more compelling and entertaining villian…
I think Bruce Campbell would be awesome for this… He'd probably want the role.
"Peter realized it wasn't his spider-sense that was tingling…"
Devin, are you available for this – I'm sure you've "researched" the role thouroughly.
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