11 Best Things The MCU Did Differently To The Comics
4. The Vulture - Spider-Man: Homecoming
Marvel Studios
While there's certainly nothing wrong with the comic book version of the Vulture - a decrepit old man who preys on the young and innocent - there's a lot to be said about the tradition of sympathetic Spider-Man villains, which is what Homecoming's version of the character plays into.
Both versions are equally compelling in their own unique way, but Keaton's performance - combined with the added backstory of a life spent exploited by society's elite - just takes it up a whole notch altogether. It's what cemented Vulture as a top-tier supervillain in the public eye, joining the likes of Killmonger and Loki as the franchise's most complex antagonists, and it's highly doubtful that he would've done the same had Marvel opted for the original comic book interpretation.
With further appearances set to come given Homecoming's ending, it's still possible that Keaton's Vulture could get even better. That's really exciting, and while there's room for both Vultures out there, if one had to stay, it has to be Keaton's.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
