This is the most perfect news you’ll hear today. Michael Keaton — the definitive Batman for a certain generation — is being courted to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s interpretation of everyone’s favorite web-slinger in Spider-Man: Homecoming..
Rumors have arisen that one of the villains in the film will be The Vulture, a nemesis who was supposed to be in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 before the studio rebooted the franchise. It’s been implied that the Vulture’s role will be that of a supporting antagonist instead of the main threat, but that seems like a perfect role for Keaton to do. He was somewhat weak as the big bad of the 2014 RoboCop remake, so a supporting turn that allows him to cut loose more sounds like a slam dunk.
Of course, there is some meta-humor to this news. Keaton recently made a comeback with the critically-beloved Birdman, a darkly satirical drama about a former actor who played a superhero. The metaness is overwhelming! As lukewarm as I was about Birdman, this bit of real-world connection actually gives us a good idea of how playful this new version of Spidey is going to be, both in tone and self-awareness. I have to believe that the jaunty silliness of Deadpool and its astounding success are going to influence this new Spider-Man film in a big way.
With the world about to fall in love with Tom Holland’s take on Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War, we should be hearing more and more news about his solo outing in the months ahead. I won’t be surprised to hear that Doctor Strange will be carrying our first teaser for the movie. Stay connected with Fandom to make sure you don’t miss anything!
