Fairly or not, the idea that having too many villains in one film can spell doom for superhero movies has taken hold as a fandom truism. This has been cited as a reason for the breakdown of everything from the 1990s Batman movies (with Batman & Robin) to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 - and, to a lesser degree, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, back in 2014. Of course, that's not actually a tried and true rule for the comic book movie genre.

Marvel Studios' upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming is looking to prove that isn't a rule, by including The Vulture (Michael Keaton, presumably) as part of the film's storyline, along with weapons-maker The Tinkerer (Michael Chernus). It's also been reported that the old-school Spidey foe The Shocker appears in Homecoming too - and now photos from the set appear to show the latter Spider-Man baddie in costume.

These images have now popped up on multiple Twitter accounts and show an unidentified actor (heavily rumored to be Bokeem Woodbine) wearing a dirty yellow "body stocking" style costume that completely covers his face, torso and arms along with brown pants, a utility vest and a pair of elaborate mechanical gauntlets over their hands and forearms. While not confirmed by any official source, it does indeed look very much like the comic book Shocker as rendered in the style of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which tends to favor designs and color-schemes reminiscent of the source material reimagined with functionality and real-world materials in mind).

Have a look at the set photos (via Marvel News), below:

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New Spider-Man Homecoming set photos show Bokeem Woodbine's Shocker!!!! pic.twitter.com/6RQmAV98Ow— Marvel__News (@Marvel__News) September 5, 2016

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Created in 1967 by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr, The Shocker (real name Herman Schultz) is a common crook gifted with above-average engineering skills who uses his talents to excel as a master thief. His experiments with using mechanically-manipulated vibrations for cracking safes and picking locks leads him to create a pair of "vibro-smasher" gauntlets that are capable of (among other things) creating localized earthquake-like vibrations and emitting concussive blasts as a weapon. In addition, his specially-designed suit insulates him from the effects.

As Marvel and Sony have yet to confirm that The Shocker is even in Spider-Man: Homecoming, nothing is known about the scope of his role. Like many Spider-Man villains, Shocker is not typically a world-conqueror or a master criminal. He's just a guy with special weaponry he uses to commit crimes and cause trouble. Thusly, it's possible that he could be a minor threat (possibly only appearing for a single scene) or a henchman of The Vulture.

NEXT: Jon Favreau Reprising Happy Hogan for Homecoming

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, 2019Untitled 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: Marvel News