For one of one of Marvel's perennial favorite characters, Spider-Man certainly took a long time to find his way home. Tenured at Sony Pictures, where he's served them well through five films and nearly 15 years, Marvel finally managed to coax the Web-head into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, at least in a mutually beneficial shared fashion. His debut in Captain America: Civil War gave fans a taste of Tom Holland in the role, and left them wanting more.
Fortunately, Spider-Man: Homecoming was announced shortly before Civil War hit theaters. Much of the casting on Jon Watts' Spidey pic has been kept under lock and key, especially the roles of Donald Glover and Michael Keaton. Early rumors had the former Batman star slated as the main villain, possibly the Vulture.
Today, during the Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con, director Watts displayed footage from the film, including a fleshing-out of the truly high-school elements. Towards the end, astute fans caught a glimpse of a menacing Michael Keaton soaring in as a mechanized Vulture. Shortly after Marvel's run in Hall H, they released some brand new concept artwork which confirmed his antagonistic role. Take a look:
The production art, featuring Spider-Man engaged in aerial combat with his old nemesis Adrian Toomes, looks sweeping and exemplifies the villain's modern design. The upgraded Vulture costume – with its wicked-looking mechanical wings, gnarly metallic talons, and possibly some sort of cybernetic helmet – looks truly menacing. In addition to the new concept art, a sizzle reel from Marvel's panel also gave Comic-Con attendees a more in-depth look at Spider-Man: Homecoming's nemesis (click here for the full sizzle reel run-down). The reel primarily highlights the high-school elements from the film – including a truly meta-moment where Peter Parker watches footage of Spider-Man knocking Giant-Man out of commission. However, the final moments of the teaser offer a glimpse of the Vulture in action as he swoops down from the sky.
Fans of the original Vulture design may find Toomes' updated costume a little far afield. While Marvel does enjoy updating their adversaries costumes to suit the tastes of modern audiences, usually their production design team comes up with a respectable alternative to the character's classic design. Although initial descriptions from the sizzle reel vary wildly (it was just a moment, after all), fans of the Spider-Man series mostly seemed excited to catch a glimpse of the classic villain in action, especially after he narrowly missed being in two other wall-crawler outings.
Whether or not you're a fan of the Vulture's new duds, the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming looks as though it has something to offer just about everyone. Between Tony Stark's minor role, the possible addition of several more villains, and the compelling backstory, there will be plenty amazing set-pieces, superhero-villain battles, and teen angst to please everyone from the casual moviegoer to the super-fan.
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.
Source: Marvel, Slash Film