In a very timely bit of casting news, Variety reports that the original Batman himself, Michael Keaton, is in early negotiations to play the baddie in 2017’s Spidey reboot, which we now know will officially be titled Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Unfortunately, the character he’s in line to play is still being kept under wraps for the time being – but rumor has it The Vulture will be one of the villains that’ll be causing headaches for the Webhead in the reboot.
We say “one of” as apparently The Vulture will only have a small role to play in the film. We imagine an actor like Keaton wouldn’t sign on for a project like this unless he had a substantial part, so with that in mind, we’re willing to bet he’s playing the main antagonist – we just don’t know who that is yet.
[zergpaid]Keaton is obviously best known for his role as Batman in the original Tim Burton movies, but he’s recently enjoyed something of a career resurgence with critically acclaimed turns in the likes of Birdman and Spotlight. He’s been away from the comic book genre for a long time now, but given that he’s arguably operating at the top of his game at the moment, it should be a lot of fun to see him try to take on Spidey in the upcoming reboot.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is set for release on July 5th, 2017. The movie will be helmed by Cop Car director Jon Watts and stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, and pop star-turned actress Zendaya in an undisclosed role.