So far, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man franchise has actively avoided using villains that audiences have seen before, with Adrian Toomes’ Vulture the main antagonist of Homecoming, while Tinkerer, Shocker and Scorpion’s alter egos Phineas Mason, Jackson Brice, Herman Shultz and Mac Gargan also made their live-action debuts.
Far From Home brought Mysterio into the mix, while Quentin Beck’s misleading Elementals were based on comic book villains Hydro-Man, Molten Man, Cyclone and Sandman, although the latter was a major player in Sam Raimi’s third movie. But based on the recent swathe of casting announcements, it would be fair to say that Jon Watts’ Spider-Man 3 is throwing the established precedent right out of the window.
We know that The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s Electro is back for another round along with Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus from Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, but there’s still no word on who the big bad from the main MCU timeline is going to be. Most of the speculation had zeroed in on Kraven the Hunter, but cameras have been rolling for months now and we’re still none the wiser.
Plot details are also firmly under wraps, but tipster Mikey Sutton has offered up some potential story developments. According to him, Spider-Man 3 will see Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire each battle a villain from their own pocket of reality, before all three diverge in spectacular fashion just in time for the third act.
“Maguire and Garfield don’t appear until the second half of the film, setting up an extraordinary sequence with the trio battling their respective villains. There will be time travel involved as well swinging from one universe to another.”
That pairs Garfield with Jamie Foxx and Maguire opposite Molina, but the mystery remains as to who will act as Holland’s nemesis in the opening third of the movie while he’s still on the run from the authorities, before Spider-Man 3 embraces the multiverse and delivers fan service on an epic scale.
