New Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 Rumour Teases New Villains
But why? There's already a perfectly good villain!
With the end of Marvel's Phase 3 lumbering into sight increasingly quickly, the studio is already pushing ahead with plans for the next round of MCU movies. We've already had word of sequels for Spider-Man, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Black Panther and it doesn't sound like the studio can afford to sit and relax on those while they ramp up for Avengers 3 & 4 (and everything between). That's sort of inevitable when you have to make three movies a year.
The latest of the new movies being talked about now is Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 (which definitely won't be called that), with two new rumoured cast descriptions appearing online that point towards a new villain and an important new high schooler.
So far, details on the sequel are limited, though we can suspect that Michael Mando's Mac Gargan will return after his vow for vengeance at the end of Homecoming, the appearance of Gwen Stacy and there are rumours that Peter Parker will head overseas for it. That last point would be somewhat surprising, given Marvel's open admission that they want to follow the Harry Potter model for movie chapters and keep him at school for a while, but kids have school trips abroad all the time...
Anyway, the casting rumours come courtesy of That Hashtag Show who say that the sequel is seeking a villain with "elevated ideas" who may be responsible for Peter’s trip abroad and who could be played by either men or women between 30-45. "Elevated ideas" is a hell of an interesting idea in respect of a villain, and you'd have to immediately think of someone like Mysterio or a scientist like Otto Octavius. In either case, a gender-swapped performance would be fine.
The high-schooler, meanwhile is to be played by an 18-24 year old male of any ethnicity with “leading man” qualities (though he won't get his own spin-off apparently) who can hold his own with Tom Holland. You'd love to suggest Mile Morales at this point, but if they open Miles up to any ethnicity actors, they're courting too much controversy. Perhaps a new character altogether? It's not like they'll put a new high-school Eddie Brock in when Venom is coming out.
Maybe they're looking to bring in Norman and Harry Osborn? They'd fit as a team - which might explain why the casting is grouped - and having Norman recast as a woman would be an interesting way to shake things up after we've already had two versions on-screen. Perhaps Emily Osborn is the way forward?
If they're intending to use wholly new villains for the sequel that would be a bit of a shame, as Mando's Scorpion is set up nicely to appear. And it would be frustrating for him to be another Marvel villain set up at the end of one film only to be used solely in the opening act of the next and then dumped. Mando's work deserves more than that.