Throughout Spider-Man's six appearances on screen, he has fought some of the character's more iconic villains. From two interpretations of Norman and Harry Osborn and battles against Venom, Sandman, Elector, Doc Oc, and Lizard, it has not always gone the way fans have hoped. In both Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the abundance of underdeveloped villains brought the franchises to a stop. Even though Spider-Man: Homecoming has not yet hit theaters, the villains may already be piling up.
Michael Keaton is set to be the main villain of Vulture, there are also a few other reported villains in the mix. Bokeem Woodbine has been linked to playing Shocker. Michael Chernus has reportedly been cast as The Tinkerer, who could help both characters with their suits. Now, the newest rumor points to another villain that could be a foe to the newest Peter Parker.
According to a report from Bleeding Cool, Sony employees have begun feverishly researching the character of Kevin Trench, also known as Nightwatch. The reasoning for this research is potentially because the character could soon be making a live-action appearance. Nightwatch is one of the obscure characters under Sony's control thanks to his ties to Spider-Man. In the comics, Trench takes up the mantle of Nightwatch after finding a man in the outfit in an ally, that turns out to be an older version of himself. He then sets out to do whatever he can to make this future not be the case.
If this report is to be believed, Nightwatch could be the fourth, or potentially fifth, villain featured in Homecoming. If the character is set to debut in Spidey's next film, it would be strange to not hear anything regarding casting. The only link that could be made is Logan Marshall-Green, who is also reportedly a bad guy. The biggest problem with Marshall-Green playing Nightwatch is, the character is traditionally African American and it is hard to imagine the studios whitewashing the character.
Outside of this unlikely change, Homecoming is in the final stages of filming and bringing on a new character, let alone a villain, this late in the game is not typical. If Sony employees are just starting to research the character, they could simply be getting a head start on characters that could potentially show up in the sequel. Assuming the first film is a success, a sequel is likely not that far away. Nightwatch is not a character fans are clamoring to see as soon as possible, so they could afford to wait until the sequel and not put a handful of villains in a single film.
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 – May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel– March 8, 2019; Untitled Avengers – May 3, 2019; and as-yet-untitled Marvel movies on July 12, 2019, and on May 1, July 10, and November 6 in 2020.
Source: Bleeding Cool