Spider-Man: No Way Home reunited three incarnations of Spider-Men and marked a new chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on the web-head. With Sony and Marvel Studios currently working on Spidey’s future inside the MCU, fans are wondering which villains the hero might confront next. According to new reports, the fourth film will feature a large cast of characters, including Spider-Man’s big-time foe, The Scorpion.
Michael Mando’s Comeback
Adrian Toomes/Vulture (Michael Keaton) was the main villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spidey’s first MCU standalone film, released in 2017. Having said that, the film also featured an additional fan favorite Spider-Man rogue in the form of Michael Mando’s MacDonald “Mac” Gargan, best known as the Scorpion.
Michael Mando is apparently returning to Spider-Man 4 as the Scorpion, this time in a comic-accurate design that will pay homage to the Scorpion suit seen in the Marvel comics.
Mando’s Gargan reached an agreement with Vulture and was on the point of purchasing some lethal Chitauri weapons in Homecoming when Holland’s Spider-Man caught him off guard in a sneak attack to stop the villain. Gargan was captured and imprisoned by the FBI despite his grievous injuries. As a result, an enraged and imprisoned Gargan vowed vengeance on the superhero.
Sadly, fans never saw Mando as the ruthless villain again, and they were increasingly keen to see him in his real supervillain avatar as Scorpion. However, sources suggest that not only will Mando reprise his role as a prominent villain in Spider-Man 4, but he will also do it in a “comic-authentic Scorpion costume.”
Furthermore, while the MCU has made advancements in recent years in terms of diversity, there is still a glaring paucity of key roles played by actors of Latino and/or Hispanic heritage. Given all of this, Sony and Marvel would be making a huge mistake if they allowed Mando to fall through the cracks. There’s probably a plan in place, but it seems silly that No Way Home would feature a multiversal Scorpion Easter egg when the MCU has its own Scorpion in the works.
