The Marvel Cinematic Universe is no stranger to intimidating bad guys. Even though some of the earlier villains in the franchise were a bit hit-or-miss, the Marvel Studios film series knew how to make its antagonists stand out. From power-hungry monsters to egotistical maniacs, the MCU truly has had it all when it comes to villains.
But for every Dark Elves there is a Loki, for every mismanaged Gorr the God Butcher there is a Thanos; wins so larger-than-life that it's almost impossible to regard them as villains in the same franchise, for these characters are complex beings capable of so much more than one note. And it's wins like these ones that stand the test of time.
The good news is that one of Marvel's very best villains is now reportedly set to make a comeback in one of the MCU's most-anticipated movies. And if this report turns out to be true, it would be a welcome return indeed. The good news is that there is now more evidence to suggest it might happen.
Michael Keaton reportedly set to reprise role as the Vulture in Spider-Man 4
We reported earlier this year that veteran Marvel scooper MyTimeToShineHello claimed Michael Keaton will reprise his Spider-Man: Homecoming role as Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. the Vulture, in Spider-Man 4. As much as fans wanted to believe that, there was one small issue: The last time that the character was seen on the big screen, he mysteriously surfaced in Sony's Morbius - a movie that takes place in a completely separate universe.
It's also a movie that Marvel would likely like to pretend doesn't exist, for the references to the Sony Pictures Universe of Spider-Man Characters have been minimal, and with that franchise now reportedly dead (with a reboot on the horizon), there is no need to reference it. But that brought its own series of problems, as the death of Sony's Spider-Man Universe surely means that Vulture, one of the MCU's most beloved villains, is just trapped in a dead universe. Well, not quite it seems.
According to insider Alex Perez, Keaton's Vulture has already been brought back to the MCU. Responding to a tweet on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, about Toomes' status now that the Sony franchise has come to an end, the scooper responded "He was brought back. Just off screen".
Of course, Marvel have yet to confirm this, but these comments do support the idea of Keaton returning in a future film, and given that he is now expected to appear in Spider-Man 4, it's simply more evidence that the return may indeed happen.
Fans responded extremely well to Keaton's performance as Vulture. Adrian Toomes was portrayed as one of the more nuanced MCU villains at a time when the heroes' first standalone movies didn't have the best track-record with villains. It was a very human character pushed to do some very severe things due to the world becoming more increasingly super-powered, and that was a very interesting approach for the MCU at the time.
Keaton played the role in a way that made it easy to understand where the character was coming from at one moment but also be incredibly terrified of him in the next. The car scene between him and Tom Holland's Peter Parker is particularly intimidating and it's widely considered one of Spider-Man: Homecoming's best scenes.
It would be interesting to see what kind of role he would play going forward. His most recent MCU appearance saw him protect Peter's identity in the post-credits scene of the 2017 film when the Scorpion asked him. The Vulture always had a code so that might just have been down to the fact that Spider-Man saved his life, or it might be because of Peter's connections to Toomes' daughter Liz. But does that rule him out as a potential villain of the movie?
Either way, it would be wonderful to see him back in the MCU. And these reports certainly suggest that it's more likely that it will happen now.