Spider-Man: Homecoming: Keaton Calls Vulture 'Really Relevant'

CBR

By Meagan Damore

Published Jan 20, 2017

Batman star Michael Keaton teased that his Spider-Man: Homecoming villain will be more likable than viewers will want to admit.

This summer, "Batman" star Michael Keaton will return to the world of superheroes, but his comeback won't be so heroic. In "Spider-Man: Homecoming," Keaton will take up the mantle of the Vulture, one of the Web-Head's longtime villains. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Keaton teased that his villain will be more likable than viewers will want to admit.

“Actually, the character actually has more relevance. I know there’s this issue that comes up about how timely this is -- you know, 'The Founder' -- is, in terms of where we are now in this country. My character [Vulture], actually, is, if not more relevant — and I’m not going to say more than that," Keaton teased. "There’s a B-story to this guy that’s kind of really interesting and really relevant. I would be lying if I said that’s why I took it, but as we talked about it and did, I went, ‘Whoa, there’s some layers to this guy.’"

"This director’s [Jon Watts] is a very bright guy, and he wanted to bring this issue out," he added. "A lot of people are going to like him more than they probably want to, would be my guess.”

This isn't the first time Keaton has suggested that Vulture will be a sympathetic character. Just last week, he said, "He’s a really interesting — and more interesting than I thought — villain because there’s parts of him that you go, ‘You know what? I might see his point.’ Really, really. It makes it interesting to play.”

Vulture is a classic Spidey villain created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko dating back to 1963’s “Amazing Spider-Man” #2. However, “Homecoming’s” version of the character appears as though he’ll be a little more high tech, with wings that look as though they could have been ripped right off of the Avengers’ Quinjet.

Vulture won’t be the only villain in the film. Bokeem Woodvine will appear as Shocker, while Michael Chernus has been tapped the play Tinkerer. Though Donald Glover’s role hasn’t yet been announced, it seems that he, too, will have a villainous role thanks to footage from the film’s first trailer.

Directed by Jon Watts (“Clown”), written by John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein (“Vacation”) and starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., Zendaya, Donald Glover and many, many others, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” swings into theaters on July 7, 2017.