While no official announcements have been made regarding the villains in the two upcoming feature films based on heroes from Marvel Comics, some tantalizing clues have recently surfaced as to who will be the bad guys in "Spider-Man 3" and "X-Men 3."

Tim Phoenix, a special effects artist on several upcoming major motion pictures including "Where the Wild Things Are," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and "Spider-Man 3," was featured in an article in the Press & Sun Bulletin.

Besides discussing interesting facts about sculpting statues and creating prosthetics, the article quotes Phoenix saying that the crew for "Spider-Man 3" was in the conceptual design process for the villains, who are Venom and Man-Wolf.

While Venom has been the villain fans of the webslinger have been most anxious to see, the choice of Man-Wolf has taken some by surprise. However, it is a logical one because it would give the character of John Jameson (Daniel Giles), the astronaut son of Daily Bugle Editor J. Jonah Jameson, room to expand in the next film.

Regarding the third installment of the X-Men films, IGN FilmForce recently reported that Anna Paquin has been signed to return as Rogue and that the Danger Room will be seen. Also slated to appear will be a male Angel, a blue-skinned Beast and Gambit.

However, sources have denied that the Sentinels, the giant mutant-killing robots from the comic books, will appear. Those sources refused to comment on the report that Dr. Bolivar Trask, creator of the Sentinels, will be the bad guy, which has some fans intrigued. How does a film feature the man behind a major group of foes without the group itself? Stay tuned!

"Spider-Man 3" is slated for release on May 4, 2006, and "X-Men 3" is scheduled to hit theaters a few weeks later on May 26, 2006.