Spider-Man: Homecoming is a success at the box office, and a sequel is already in the works for 2019.
Now, the big question is who’ll be the villain?
Spider-Man star Tom Holland hopes for a few favourites of his, according to reports.
In a Cinemablend interview, the young actor gushes about the Spidey Rogue’s gallery. He already has a wish list of villains he would love to face onscreen.
“Oh, well I love Doc Ock. I think Spider-Man 2 is one of the greatest superhero movies ever made,” Holland says. “But I think Venom is someone I’d love to kick the crap out of one day.”
We know Venom won’t be in the sequel, because Sony is planning a solo movie. Tom Hardy is going to star as Eddie Brock in that film, but it won’t connect to the mainstream Marvel Cinematic Universe. As for Doctor Octopus, his last appearance onscreen was in Spider-Man 2, in which Alfred Molina played the role.
As for other Spidey villains, Holland is eyeing a few other choices. “There’s so many good villains,” he says. “I really like Mysterio, I like Kraven.”
Right now, Sony is planning Kraven and Mysterio solo films, but it’s unclear how they could work as standalone stories. While Kraven the Hunter is a cool villain, Mysterio would be a little harder to carry a film. Furthermore, it seems kind of strange to introduce villains in a solo flick before establishing their conflict with the hero. Suicide Squad was a success, but let’s not forget it is an ensemble team movie.
Mysterio is more of a supporting villain than a main antagonist. In the comics, VFX wizard and stuntman Quentin Beck assumes the role to impersonate Spider-Man while committing crimes. The idea of Spidey being framed as a criminal is a compelling one, but Mysterio would need to be developed more as a character.
Marvel Studios confirms there are no plans to revisit the Green Goblin or Oscorp in the near future. In a Movieplot.com interview, Kevin Feige explains they don’t want to retread old ground. “There are certain characters I don’t think there’s anything more to say about them right this minute,” he says. “I don’t know how many more times we can do the Green Goblin.”
Since Norman and Harry Osborn were big players in the Raimi and Webb films, it makes sense to give them a rest for now. There’s no need for the new Spider-Man films to become repetitive. If Sony turns to the comics, it would be interesting for Peter to meet the Osborns when he begins college. Plus, this could set the MCU Spidey apart from past cinematic incarnations.
Feige explains they will focus on villains who haven’t been on the big screen before. “I think it might be interesting to revisit some of the characters we’ve seen in films before, but right now, we think there are a lot of new ones we haven’t played with yet,” he says.
So, that probably means we won’t see Doc Ock in the MCU for a while. Then again, there are other villains that Marvel and Sony can explore.
While Mac Gargan is in Spider-Man: Homecoming, he only appears in a minor role, and he does not become the Scorpion. As the mid-credits suggest, he is looking to form a team of sorts. Could this be the MCU’s version of the Sinister Six?
Spider-Man: Homecoming is now playing in theatres.
