Last week, a number ofSpider-Man: Homecomingcasting additions were announced as the first week of production kicked off. The news thatBetter Call Saulfan-favoriteMichael Mandohad boarded the Sony reboot was lost underneath the seemingly more important news thatFargo’sBokeem Woodbinewas playing the third known villain in this upcoming Marvel adventure. Some fans are not happy with this direction, as too many villains is what plagued both Sam Raimi’sSpider-Man 3andThe Amazing Spider-Man 2. While neitherBokeem WoodbinenorMichael Mando’s characters were revealed, a new rumor has arrived from an unlikely source that hints Mando might be playing a villain too. Which puts the bad guy count at four. Though, Mando is rumored to be playing a villain that many have long wanted to see on screen.
Yes, if we’re to even remotely consider what the officialBetter Call Saultwitter page is suggesting, it appears thatMichael Mando, who plays Nacho Varga on thatBreaking Badspinoff, could be taking on the role of Carnage inSpider-Man: Homecoming. Either that, or the marketing team behindBetter Call Saulwho run that Twitter page have decided to have a teensy bit of fun at fans' expense. Here’s what the official Tweet, posted June 23, had to say.
“@MandoMichael is spectacular at bringing carnage to life in #BetterCallSaul.”
Though it mostly went unnoticed, this Tweet was launched into the Twitospher the exact same day thatMichael Mando’s character was announced. It certainly is a strange place to expose a spoiler as big as this, asSony and Marvelcurrently plan to keep their villains under wraps. Perhaps they are waiting to reveal the full cast of characters at this year’s Comic-Con?
It has long been speculated thatMichael Keatonis playing the main bad guyThe Vulture, with most trades now running this as fact, though it has never been confirmed by Sony and Marvel.Logan Marshall-Greenis said to also be playing a villain, someone that is in cahoots with The Vulture. Many believe the character is The Tinkerer. AndBokeem Woodbinehas been called a secondary villain, though no further details have been revealed. In terms ofhigh school,Tony Revoloriis said to be playing Peter Parker’s school yard nemesis, perhaps a fellow burgeoning scientist who has some bad intentions. This brings the bad guy count forHomecomingto 5.
That certainly is a lot, but it also must be considered that some of these villains may only be introduced for a few minutes of screen time, and could just be setting up the opening and ending acts of the movie, not exactly central to the plot. At this time, no official synopsis has been released by the Studios.
While the official Better Call Saul Tweet isn’t exactly confirmation that Carnage is coming toSpider-Man: Homecoming, it is pretty odd that it coincided withMichael Mando’s big casting announcement. In the Marvel comic books, Cletus Kasady is a serial killer who shares a prison cell with Eddie Brock, the man also known as Venom. When transforming into Venom, Brock leaves behind an alien offspring that bonds with Kasady and thus, Carnage is born. The terrifying villain goes onto become one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes. He is stronger than both Peter Parker and Venom combined. He also has shape-shifting abilities that make him incredibly hard to defeat. The character has never been seen on the big screen before. And it’s hard to imagine that this fan-favorite ghoul would be relegated to an opening act. Though, this first movie could simply be setting upCarnagefor future films.
Venom was introduced in Sam Raimi’sSpider-Man 3. It’s unclear if Eddie Brock was supposed to have a substantial role inThe Amazing Spider-Man 3, or if he was part of the delayedSinister Six. But Sony was planning aVenomstandalone movie, and that was rumored to revolve around Carnage as the main villain. Perhaps some of that storyline is being introduced here? While there has been word thatSinister Sixcould till move forward as a standalone movie, the fate of aVenommove has been left to linger in the air.
As we enter the second week of production onSpider-Man: Homecoming,Michael Mandohas confirmed that he is on set ready to shoot some of his scenes. Last week, Tom Holland, who plays the title character, was spotted on the high school set surrounded by his younger cast mates. It seems likely that those high school scenes will continue into this week, hinting thatMichael Mando’s character may have ties to Peter’s school. Recent set photos confirmed that Martin Starr is playing a teacher at the Midtown Science school. We’ll keep you updated as more news breaks.
