Fans have been wondering since the casting was first announced...how would actor Thomas Hayden Church be transformed into Spider-Man villian Sandman. Well, this week Sony Pictures posted the first photo of Church as Sandman's alter-ego Flint Marko.
![a first look at Thomas Hayden Church as Spider-Man villian Flint Marko aka Sandman [photo: Merie Wallace /Sony Pictures]](http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/zengrrl/spiderman-sandman.jpg)
Dressed in a green-on-green striped t-shirt and khaki pants, Church appears to have bulked up for the role. With the muscles and short-cropped hair, the actor does look rather menacing in the photo.
![Sandman as he appears in the Marvel Comics Spiderman series [photo: Marvel Comics]](http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/zengrrl/spiderman-sandman2.jpg)
This will be Church's first role since his Oscar-nominated performance in 2004's "Sideways."
No photos have been released yet of actor Topher Grace, who has been cast as the film's other villian, Venom.
"Spider-Man 3" will again star Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson and James Franco as Harry Osborne.
Helmed by director Sam Raimi, it is scheduled for a May 4, 2007, release.
For more information on the Spider-Man films, please visit the official website at spiderman.sonypictures.com
