[Potential MILD SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Homecoming ahead.]
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Tom Holland has started his run as Peter Parker on the big screen with a bang, thanks to his well-received Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. Holland's web-slinger will get his own MCU movie in 2017 with Spider-Man: Homecoming, a film that is being directed by Jon Watts (Cop Car) and scripted by Horrible Bosses and Vacation (2015) writing duo John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein.
Michael Keaton was previously reported to have been offered the role of main villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but ended up passing on the offer. Well, it seems that he has changed his mind.
THR is reporting that Keaton is now in final negotiations with Marvel Studios to play the central antagonist in Spider-Man: Homecoming. The news, which is being confirmed by additional outlets such as Variety, means that Keaton will be joining a cast that includes Robert Downey Jr. reprising his MCU role as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Marisa Tomei as Aunt May (who also made her MCU debut in Civil War), in addition to Holland and fellow youngsters Laura Harrier (One Life to Live), Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel), and Disney Channel pop star Zendaya as (presumably) Peter Parker's high school peers in the movie.
According to a fresh rumor from JoBlo, Keaton will be playing none other than the super-villain Adrian Toomes a.k.a. The Vulture in the film. This isn't the first time that such claims have been made either, as a report asserting that Holland's Peter Parker will battle The Vulture in Homecoming surfaced not long before the MCU movie gained an official title. John Malkovich was originally set to bring that character to life in Sam Raimi's canceled Spider-Man 4 years ago and the super-villain's eventual big screen introduction was alluded to in a sequence near the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - before Sony abandoned its plans to develop an Amazing Spider-Man cinematic universe and rebooted the property (again), this time, as part of the MCU.
JoBlo's sources report that Keaton's version of Adrian Toomes in Homecoming will build his Vulture suit using alien technology recovered from the Chitauri attack on New York City in The Avengers, with assistance from fellow Marvel baddie The Tinkerer. In addition, as many fans have guessed after seeing Civil War (and based on the implications of the Homecoming subtitle), Tony Stark will continue to act as Peter's mentor in the first MCU Spider-Man movie and provide him with more costume "upgrades" - including, potentially, Spider-Man's "web wings" from the Marvel Comics universe (see the image below).
Although the identity of Keaton's villainous character in Spider-Man: Homecoming has yet to be officially revealed, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige has long indicated that the film's antagonist won't be one that was featured in any of the previous Spider-Man films. That means super-villains such as Green Goblin, The Lizard, and Doc Ock are off the table - while The Vulture remains a viable candidate, not least of all because he's been groomed to make the jump to the big screen for some time now. Regardless of who Keaton ends up playing, though, he's a welcome addition to the Homecoming cast and the MCU as a whole. The fact that he'll be appearing in a superhero movie some three years after headlining Birdman (a film that pokes fun at Hollywood's current love affair with the superhero genre, as well as Keaton's own real-life history playing Batman) is pretty funny too.
Who do you hope to see Keaton play in Spider-Man: Homecoming? Let us know in the comments section!
NEXT: How Spider-Man Joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Captain America: Civil War is in theaters now. Doctor Strange opens November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man: Homecoming – July 7, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; Black Panther – February 16, 2018; Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – March 8, 2019; Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; and as-yet untitled Marvel movies on July 12, 2019, and on May 1, July 10, and November 6 in 2020.