Word has come in on good authority that Sam Raimi is starting to cast the villains and supporting cast of Spider-Man 4, and it looks like Rachel McAdams has met with producers to take a hefty role, most likely Felicia "The Black Cat" Hardy. Sources also indicate, but don't yet confirm, that Black Cat will be the second of two villains, the other likely being Lizard with Dylan Baker reprising the role of Dr. Conners. More on the update after the jump.

The news comes from "reliable" sources at Mania.com. Fans of the comic canon will recall that Felicia Hardy starts out as a common cat burglar obsessed with Peter Parker, and turns into a mutual love interest down the road, which will be good if we're looking at another trilogy as previous speculated.

If Raimi and his producers have indeed started casting at large, I'd expect to hear a lot in the coming days, so we'll keep you posted as the names start rolling in.  For more on the Black Cat, click here.