Michael Keaton explains the motivation behind his Spider-Man: Homecoming villain, Vulture. The actor, who is not new to working in a superhero genre film having starred in Tim Burton's Batman almost three decades ago, is jumping across the moral fence and is now playing the primary antagonist to Tom Holland's Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the upcoming film.
Keaton's Vulture (also known as Adrian Toomes) is a street-level criminal whose modus operandi is scavenging Avengers battle scenes (particularly the Battle of New York) and making high-powered weapons out of scraps to execute his gang's illegal operations. While he does not have innate powers, he builds a suit of his own using Chitauri tech which has its own bells and whistles much like Iron Man's (Robert Downey Jr.) armor and Spidey's new suit. Unfortunately, as he tries to level up on his operations, the web-slinging superhero discovers him and goes on a personal mission to stop him.
Related: Why Disney Let Marvel Make Spider-Man for Sony
In a new featurette released [seen above] Keaton talks a bit on what drives his character and shares how he perceives the situation in a way that justifies his actions. The actor explains that he has found an "interesting approach" to a character like his who is dubbed as a villain. "The Vulture does corrupt things in order to fight what he sees as corruption. He sees himself and they all have their's, where's mine?" he says referring to the Vulture's mindset.
Further, Holland chimes in by singing nothing but praises for his co-star, saying that Keaton is both "intense" and "scary" which are two great descriptions when discussing an effective villain."A superhero movie's only as good as their villain," the young British actor adds.
It is no secret however that the Marvel Cinematic Universe films are not really known for their fleshed-out antagonists, explaining that they want to highlight their heroes more. But since it was announced that Keaton will take on the villainous role of Vulture, people were quickly excited about what he will potentially bring to the role. The veteran actor packs the acting chops needed to make a menacing villain as evident in the film's trailers. And it appears that he delivered on the promise with early Spider-Man: Homecoming reviews dubbing him as one of the few well-written MCU bad guys.
Unfortunately, it seems that much like most of MCU antagonists, Keaton's Vulture will be just a one and done character. Sources suggest that the actor's contract with the Marvel and Sony collaboration project is only for one feature-length film. However, with the positive reception that his performance is getting, it is still possible that he can come back in future films depending on what his ultimate fate in Spider-Man: Homecoming will be.
Next: Spider-Man: Homecoming Earns High Rotten Tomatoes Score
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment
