'Spider-Man 4' Rumor of the Day: Julia Stiles as the Black Cat?

Now that Rachel McAdams has disavowed interest in playing the Black Cat in 'Spider-Man 4', it's almost open season for any talented actress eyeing a career gain by playing Peter Parker's favorite fetching feline.

The latest Spidey speculation involves Julia Stiles. The actress, wrapping up her Broadway debut come January with the unexpectedly early closing of David Mamet's play 'Oleanna' (starring opposite Bill Pullman), is reported by Ugo.com's movie blog to have met with casting directors in New York about the film. This doesn't mean she was meeting about playing the Black Cat. This also doesn't mean she'll be cast. In fact, at the rate rumors are flying, tomorrow we expect Stiles to call the Spidey spot spurious.

Is Black Cat casting about to get as silly as 70 years ago, when every glamor goddess in Tinseltown tried out for Scarlett O'Hara in 'Gone With the Wind'?

Don't laugh: Vivien Leigh, a brilliant out-of-the-box choice, won that role -- so maybe there's a lesson here. For example, must the Black Cat be white? True, in the Spider-Man comics the Black Cat is white, but then again, Leigh also wasn't a Southern belle -- she was British. So why couldn't the Black Cat, for example, go to a woman of color?

We propose two actresses for consideration. One: the intensely lovely Paula Patton. Problem is, she and husband Robin Thicke are expecting their first child next year, so the timing may not work for production. Two: Zoe Saldana, who looks so utterly catlike that those zesty, insidious, alluring eyes alone could ensure sparks for the Sam Raimi-directed picture.