Paul Giamatti Is Fine Not Returning As Rhino In The MCU

Actor Paul Giamatti has claimed that he has no issue with not returning to play Rhino in any upcoming films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Giamatti originally played the role of Rhino, aka Aleksei Sytsevich, in 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opposite Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man, albeit in a much reduced role than fans initially expected. Giamatti was then set to return in The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which was scheduled for 2016, and would likely have also appeared in the planned Sinister Six movie. However, due to the lukewarm reception of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, these plans were put on hold and ultimately resulted in Tom Holland taking over the role of Spider-Man, and the webslinger transitioning across to the MCU in 2016's Captain America: Civil War.

Holland's Spider-Man is next set to appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home later this year. While little is known about the actual plot, both Jaime Foxx -who played Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2- and Alfred Molina -who played Doctor Octopus in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 way back in 2004- are to return in those roles much to the excitement of fans. Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange is set to appear as well, and considering his upcoming sequel Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness will lean into Marvel's multiverse, many have speculated this will play a part in bringing these villains into the MCU to reprise their roles. Naturally, this also led many to wonder whether Giamatti's Rhino would also make the jump across to the MCU.

However, in a recent interview with Comicbook.com ahead of the release of his upcoming Netflix film Gunpowder Milkshake later this month, Giamatti has confirmed that he won't be returning to the role of Rhino. Moreover, it seems that the actor is completely fine with not being invited back for Spider-Man outing.

"I'm happy. I hadn't followed any of [these rumors]. Somebody else just asked me about this, so I hadn't been following. I'm okay with that. I'm certainly okay to just leave it all where it is. It's fine with me."

While fans may be disappointed that Giamatti won't be stepping into the Rhino armor once again, if the actor is as "happy" as he claims then all power to him. Giamatti has certainly not been affected by the cancellation of the Spider-Man films he was attached to, having since gone on to star as the lead role in Showtime's Billions and is set to appear in Disney's Jungle Cruise later this year. Perhaps Rhino not being included in No Way Home is for the best as well considering the character didn't exactly get a fair showing in Amazing Spider-Man 2. More importantly, one of the biggest complaints from that film was that there was far too much going on and that it failed to balance having three antagonists, with Rhino being used more to bookend the film.

Marvel Studios have managed to avoid making this mistake with its films so far with most of their films, even their group efforts, focusing on one or two villains for the heroes to contend with. While the MCU's Spider-Man films are produced by Sony, if both studios want to avoid making the same mistake that affected The Amazing Spider-Man 2 so negatively then not including Rhino seems to be smart move. If Giamatti is fine with this, and content working on other projects, then it seems that everyone wins. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will just have to wait and see what's in store for Spider-Man's next adventure No Way Home when it releases on December 17th, and they can catch Giamatti in Gunpowder Milkshake when it hits Netflix on July 14th.

More: Spider-Man: No Way Home: When Will The First Trailer Release?

Source: Comicbook.com