The web-swinger is well-known for the diverse archive of super-villainous foils that plague his friendly neighborhood. From his first foe in the costume-savant Chameleon of Amazing Spider-Man #1 to the immense popularity of modern mainstays like the doppelganger-esque Venom…up-coming Spider-Man film speculation predominately revolves around the coveted new antagonist role. Yet while Mark Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man follow-up already has a confirmed baddie in Jamie Foxx, it appears Electro may not charge up the audience alone. Bad guy buzz is tingling!

The Hollywood Reporter is proclaiming – HERE – that Paul Giamatti is in talks to play the pachyderm dope that is the Rhino. First appearing in Amazing Spider-Man #41 and steadily reappearing throughout the crime-fighting career of Peter Parker, Alex O’Hirn became a notable classic character and the meat-headed bruiser of the franchise. While Giamatti isn’t quit fitting the steroid-raging stereotype…it’s a safe assumption the film will go by the lizard-begun animal shtick established in the 2012 reboot. If true, Giamatti would likely be infused with rhinoceros DNA rather than be the buffed up bodybuilder in an animal suit seen in comic continuity. Felicity Jones is also in talks to play an unconfirmed role. If confirmed, they’d join the increasingly growing new-crew of the prior mentioned Jamie Foxx Electro, Shailene Woodley Mary Jane Watson, and Dane DeHaan Harry Osborne.

“I thought Rhino was the greatest thing when I was a little kid,” Giamatti told ShowbizSpy in March 2011. “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.”