The actor Michael Mando (Better Call Saul) has shared his first moment as an iconic Spider-Man villain with the online community. Mando (who is also well known for his role in Orphan Black) plays an important character in Spider-Man: Homecoming even if non-comic fans might not realize it. Portraying the crooked and violent Mac Gargan, he may well play a significant part in the confirmed sequel and has hinted at his future persona with an early test photo.

In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Gargan is part of an arms deal with Spidey's main enemy Adrian Toomes (The Vulture, as played by Michael Keaton), and indirectly a cause for the spectacular Staten Island Ferry sequence. He also later appears in a teasing mid-credit sequence that suggests Peter Parker will have to be very careful in the sequel. In the comics, Gargan was created by the legendary partnership of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man in 1964. This led to the birth of the violent criminal called The Scorpion, affected by mind-altering "mutagenic" chemicals that gave him super-strength, and a suit that came with a destructive tail. During many battles he managed to get the best of the web-slinger on a number of occasions. Gargan has a long history and a bad temper in the Marvel comics, and many years later in 2005 he even usurped Eddie Brock as Venom, before becoming a bogus Spider-Man in 2009.

Marking the success of Spider-Man: Homecoming, the first screen test photo of the movie version of Mac Gargan has been shared by Michael Mando (via Twitter). Looking pretty much identical to his final appearance in movie, the actor displays the distinctive scorpion tattoo on his neck which was picked up by many as being both a clever Easter egg pointing to his comics persona, and a possible reference to his future identity. Just in case you missed it, he throws a scorpion emoji in there as well.

1st camera test #macgargan #SpiderManHomecoming #scorpion #Throwback ? pic.twitter.com/9w4tm2Hqju— Michael Mando (@MandoMichael) July 14, 2017

The Scorpion was rumored to have been an integral part of The Sinister Six when Sony was building its initial version of a Spider-Man universe, prior to his appearance in the MCU. So the fact that Gargan is important enough to feature in a credits sequence and then makes direct threats towards web head, makes him hard to ignore. Especially when he mentions "friends on the outside" with similar grudges to the fledgling superhero. There does seem to be evidence that at least some form of  The Sinister Six may appear in a Homecoming sequel.

This is all conjecture though until we get into the next phase of the MCU following The Avengers: Infinity War, and the plot for the next Spider-Man film is revealed. Whatever happens though, it seems very likely Mando will be part of that and that The Scorpion may well be swinging his tail in Spidey's direction. We'll keep you updated with further Spider-Man MCU news as we get it.

MORE: Spider-Man: Homecoming Post-Credit Scenes Explained

Source: Michael Mando

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