Spider-Man: Homecoming Has a Villain Problem
Is Spider-Man: Homecoming walking down a familiar (and unpleasant) path? Two of the last three Spider-Man movies suffered from the same issue: too many villains. Spider-Man 3 had the “New Goblin,” Sandman and Venom. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 boasted The Green Goblin, Electro and The Rhino. Now that the property is in Marvel’s hands, they certainly won’t repeat the same mistakes, right?
We do know that Michael Keaton is playing the primary antagonist of Homecoming; he’s probably The Vulture, although that has yet to be confirmed. However, it was also reported that another, more obscure character would be joining the chaos: The Tinkerer. Well, now a new report from Heroic Hollywood claims an “inside source” knows how the Tinkerer fits into the story.
The Tinkerer will be an ex-Stark Industries employee who was personally fired by Tony Stark a few years back. Mason will be providing tech to both The Vulture (Michael Keaton) and The Shocker (Bokeem Woodbine) in an attempt to prove to Stark that it was a mistake firing him.
It was reported earlier this week that Orange is the New Black star Michael Chernus will take on the mantle of Phineas Mason, a.k.a. The Tinkerer. He seems like the solid choice for the nerdy inventor who seeks revenge against Stark for discarding him (was probably still building weapons even after Tony eliminated that branch of Stark Industries). It’s also fitting that he will team up with The Vulture and help build Adrian Toomes flying suit. I’m fine with that.
However… the report also says that Fargo’s Bokeen Woodbine is set to play The Shocker who is also working with The Tinkerer. Worst case scenario, Tinkerer, Shocker and Vulture all triple team Spider-Man… in another log-jammed villain movie.
Oh, did I forget to mention that Logan Marshall Green (Prometheus) is set to play yet another villain in Homecoming? That’s potentially three different threats for the webslinger to deal with. I trust Marvel, and with Iron Man (and possibly other Avengers) showing up in Homecoming, the fight could actually be an even affair if everyone is seeing action at the same time. But why does it feel like Marvel and Sony are trying to squeeze out a Sinister Six movie in Spidey’s first MCU outing?
As the old adage goes, “those who don’t follow history are doomed to repeat it.” Both the Sam Rami and Marc Webb Spidey franchises ended after movies packed with too many villains. We all know Spider-Man has a library filled with great foes that would be amazing to see on the big screen. However, we don’t need them all at once. Should Homecoming be as successful as it has the potential to be, there will be plenty more opportunities to introduce the rest of the forgotten Spider-Man villains (like Kraven. Can we please get Kraven in a movie?).
So, too many too soon?