Kirsten Dunzo After 'Spider-Man 4'?

Two movies too late, there is talk that Kirsten Dunst may finally be out of the Spider-Man franchise. She'll be back for the fourth movie, after some coaxing by Sam Raimi, but that might be the end of the road for Mary Jane Watson. Filmicafe is among the many outlets reporting that Mary Jane will be killed off in the next installment and that Anne Hathaway, the rumored pick to portray Black Cat, will become Peter Parker's love interest in the fifth and sith movies. One problem: The rumor comes from a source spilling the beans to Star magazine, which is a bit like finding a cure for cancer from that charlatan who sells cures "they" don't want you to know about on infomercials. The primary reason something like this would gain any traction is because Dunst's character has outlived her welcome and you don't go bringing in an Anne Hathaway (if that is indeed what Raimi will do) to have her stand in someone else's shadow. There are enough villains in the web slinger's world to not have to deal with Black Cat, who could later transform into an ally for Spider-Man based on the comics. Just the very hint of another strong female presence here makes Mary Jane obsolete. It was almost that way with Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), and she didn't even have anything to do in Spidey 3. And I think if Sony put the series in front of focus groups - which has almost certainly happened in the past 36 months - I would believe in all confidence that the studio would get reports back on how little Mary-Jane has added to the arc of the franchise after the first movie. It's time to go. Hathaway? I dunno. I could be convinced of it, but I thought Rachel McAdams was a better fit, as these completely unfounded rumors go.