It appears Anne Hathaway was always destined to play a cat-inspired criminal in a comic book movie!

In a new interview with Vulture to promote "Oz the Great and Powerful," Sam Raimi confirmed that Hathaway was lined up to play Felicia Hardy -- better known to Spidey fans as Black Cat -- in his planned "Spider-Man 4," before he and Sony agreed to cancel the picture. Instead, she went on to play Selina Kyle in "The Dark Knight Rises."

"I didn't get to see Batman yet, because I've been working nonstop on Oz, but I hear she's great in it," he said of Hathaway's Catwoman performance. "I'm not surprised, because I loved what she was doing with the auditions for Spider-Man 4."

Raimi further spoke about the decision to pull the plug on "Spider-Man 4," saying, "It really was the most amicable and undramatic of breakups: It was simply that we had a deadline and I couldn't get the story to work on a level that I wanted it to work. I was very unhappy with Spider-Man 3, and I wanted to make Spider-Man 4 to end on a very high note, the best Spider-Man of them all. But I couldn't get the script together in time, due to my own failings, and I said to Sony, 'I don't want to make a movie that is less than great, so I think we shouldn't make this picture. Go ahead with your reboot, which you've been planning anyway.' And [Sony co-chairman] Amy Pascal said, 'Thank you. Thank you for not wasting the studio's money, and I appreciate your candor.' So we left on the best of terms, both of us trying to do the best thing for fans, the good name of Spider-Man, and Sony Studios."

Let us know what you think of Hathaway as Black Cat in the comments or on Twitter!