Rhys Ifans to Play Spider-Man Villain- ‘The Lizard’

(HMG Celebrity News) – Earlier this week Sony Pictures announced that Rhys Ifans, widely known as a comic actor in such films as “The Replacements” and “Notting Hill”, will co-star as the villain in the Spider-Man reboot due out in July, 2012.  The casting choice follows last week’s announcement that Emma Stone will co-star as Gwen Stacy in the new Spider-Man movie, which begins shooting in December. Ifans will be up against Andrew Garfield, who will star as spidey and young Peter Parker.  The studio’s announcement notes that the “filmmakers prefer to not reveal which character Ifans will be playing,”  but Marc Webb, who is directing the new Spider-Man offers that: “Rhys’ incredible ability to embody both warmth and rage makes him the ideal choice for this character.”  The folks at TheWrap have now learned, Ifans will play Dr. Curt Connors, better known as The Lizard, a character that was foreshadowed to eventually appear in the original trilogy.  Dylan Baker played Dr. Connors in Sam Raimi’s two “Spider-Man” sequels.