All The Villains in Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spoilers ahead for Spider-Man: Homecoming.

While The Vulture (Michael Keaton) was a high point of Spider-Man: Homecoming and has been tossed around in the days since its release as potentially the best villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the character was far from the only familiar name seen in the movie.

There were a half-dozen Spider-Foes in the movie, all told, even if most or all of them played only a very low-fi version of their comic book selves.

The fact that they are all tied together through The Vulture was an interesting twist; it gives a sense of community that hasn’t really been explored in big-budget movie villains before, but is common to comics and even to TV shows like The Flash.

It isn’t quite a Sinister Six — after all, with six total villains there are only five alive at any given time because we had one Shocker come in to replace the other halfway through the film.

Either way, the film effectively filled out the universe of Spider-Man, helping to establish a number of potential threats for the sequel and the universe as a whole.

So who were the villains we spotted along the way? Read on…!

THE VULTURE

Though Michael Keaton is no stranger to superhero movies, having brought the Batman to life in the popular Tim Burton-directed series, the actor has taken some time away from capes and powers.

Now he’s walking on the side of the bad guys, portraying the Vulture in the character’s first theatrical appearance.

“The Vulture does corrupt things in order to fight what he sees as corruption,” Keaton said. “He thinks to himself, ‘they all have theirs, where’s mine?’”

In the comics, The Vulture first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #2 (May 1963) and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

In the comics, Toomes was not burned by Damage Control or Tony Stark but by his own business partner, who embezzled from their company and essentially ran Toomes out of business.

Luckily, their company had been creating high-tech gear like a flight harness, which Toomes was able to turn around and use for a life of crime.

 

THE TINKERER

Michael Chernus played The Tinkerer in the film, arguably the most significant villain to the story besides The Vulture himself.

In the movie, he not only provided tech and expertise for The Vulture and related villains, but even spurred on Toomes’s big third-act plan to rob a plane.

It was The Tinkerer’s live-action debut.

Chernus has appeared most recently as a series regular on Orange is the New Black on Netflix, and has had supporting roles in various films and TV shows.

The Tinkerer’s history with Spider-Man dates back to the second issue of The Amazing Spider-Man in 1963, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Through the years, he has provided technology and weaponry for several of Spider-Man’s villains, including Mysterio, Scorpion, and yes, eventually, Vulture.

SHOCKER I & II

Spider-Man: Homecoming was always going to include the Shocker, but fans probably didn’t expect there to be two of them.

Spoilers incoming for Spider-Man: Homecoming, so if you haven’t seen it yet you’ve been warned.

Shortly before the film premiered, Sony released the cast list for Homecoming, which revealed that two actors have been assigned the Shocker role. The two actors are Logan Marshall-Green and Bokeem Woodbine, and here’s why both are listed for the part.

Logan Marshall-Green plays Jackson Brice, who works for Adrian Toomes’ budding alien gun running business. Brice is given a gauntlet to use on runs, but after a somewhat unsuccessful run, Toomes chides him for being so careless. Brice isn’t hearing it though, so Toomes cuts him loose. After Brice threatens to expose his operation, Tooms vaporizes him, though to be fair he thought it was an anti-gravity gun.

That paves the way for Woodbine’s Herman Schultz to take the gauntlet from that point forward. Along the way someone jokes he should have a nickname like “the Shocker”, but he doesn’t actually go by that.

So, two villains for the price of one!

THE PROWLER

In the lead up to Spider-Man: Homecoming, many cast members were shrouded with mystery as their characters’ names either remained completely without reveal or were the subject of debate (see: Zendaya as Michelle). In Donald Glover‘s case, it was the former.

With Spider-Man: Homecoming having hit theaters this weekend, the world finally learned the identity of Glover’s character in Spider-Man: Homecoming. The actor is portraying Aaron Davis, a character also known as The Prowler.

In fact, the Prowler alias was acknowledged in the film by the tech in Spider-Man’s suit when it identified the character.

The Prowler first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #78, however, this was Hobie Brown. The Aaron Davis version of the character came under the Ultimate Marvel umbrella, where he is the uncle of the Miles Morales character, who happens to be Spider-Man.

As the story goes in Marvel Comics, Aaron Davis committed various crimes with his brother Jefferson Davis. Jefferson, however, learned the error in his ways, while Aaron elected to continue a criminal lifestyle in which he would become known as The Prowler.

 

SCORPION

Towards the midway point of the film, Spider-Man stops a weapons deal on the Staten Island Ferry, resulting in that heroic spot seen in the trailer. What isn’t shown is that the deal includes Vulture, the Shocker, and one other participant who is revealed to be Mac Gargan.

Fans will know Gargan from the comics as The Scorpion, a character with an enhanced suit that includes a spiked tail that, depending on the version of the suit, can fire blasts to “sting.”

The botched deal sequence is not the only time he shows up in the movie.

Actor Michael Mando, who plays Gargan, shows up again in the after credits scene in prison, a scorpion tattoo clear on his neck. He passes a detained Adrian Toomes (Vulture) in the hall and alludes to having some people on the outside who want to take down Spider-Man.

He also asks Toomes if he knows the identity of Spider-Man, as there is a rumor going around he does.

While Toomes doesn’t give away Spider-Man’s identity, he’s got it in his back pocket just in case. For more on that after credits sequence, you can head here.

It’s not a big part but effectively plants the seed for Mando to return in the sequel in full costume. Maybe Toomes will use his connections and mechanical know-how to get Gargan his Scorpion suit, but for now, fans will just have to wait for Homecoming 2 to find out the answers.

 

MORE SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.

The cast includes Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Zendaya, Donald Glover, JacobBatalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Tyne Daly, Bokeem Woodbine, with Marisa Tomei, and Robert Downey Jr. It also includes Jon Favreau, Martin Starr, Kenneth Choi, Michael Mando, Selenis Leyva, Isabella Amara, Jorge Lendeborg, Jr., JJ Totah, and Hannibal Buress.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming are in theaters now, followed by Thor: Ragnarok on November 3, 2017. After that Black Panther debuts on February 16, 2018, while Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters on May 4, 2018. Ant-Man and the Wasp is slated for July 6, 2018, followed by Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019.

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• Sony Releases Amazing Fantasy #15 Homage Poster 
• Homecoming: All The Rumors Debunked 
• Homecoming Has Massive Marvel Cinematic Universe Plot Hole