Last week, we wrote about how actor Rhys Ifans has been cast as the new villain in the Spider-man movie but we had no idea who he would play. Well, this week, we can confidently report to you that Rhys Ifans will be portraying the Lizard. Originally played by Dylan Baker in the first three Spider-man films, the Lizard was a character who was beautifully and slowly played up, but we never had a chance to see his actual transformation. For those who want to know more about the Lizard, hit the jump for a Wiki Marvel breakdown of him.

[Via the Wrap]

 Curt Connors was a gifted surgeon who went into a war to help his country. He performed “meatball” surgery on wounded GIs, but his arm was injured in a blast and had to be amputated. He eventually became obsessed with uncovering the secrets of reptilian regeneration, and studied reptilian biology extensively. From his home in the Everglades, he finally determined a serum taken from the DNA of a reptile. He had successfully regrown the missing limb of a rabbit, and, despite the warnings of his wife, chose to test it on himself. Connors ingested it, and his arm did indeed grow back. Unfortunately, it had one side effect: Connors was subsequently transformed into a reptilian monster!