Malkovich as Vulture?

Could this be our first real substantial lead as to the casting of the SPIDER-MAN 4 villain? Movieline claims to have “confirmed with sources close to the film” that John Malkovich and Anne Hathaway have entered negotiations to star as the villains of the film. As they report, Malkovich (who was at one point was in negotiations to star as Green Goblin in the original film) would star as The Vulture, a golden era Spidey villain and a member of the original Sinister Six (alongside Doc Ock, Mysterio, Kraven, Sandman and Electro).

But the more interesting report is that while Hathaway would be playing the Felicia Hardy character, she won’t be Black Cat. This is apparently to cut down on confusion between that character and IRON MAN 2’s Black Widow and Batman villain Catwoman. She’ll instead play a Vulture sidekick called The Vulturess. I checked the calendar and it’s not April 1st. The reason for no Dylan Baker/Lizard as they report is that they want a villain with a human face and not just some rampaging monster. Which makes sense and would theoretically preclude Mysterio as well.

What do you think? Does this sound as ridiculous to you as it does to me?