After battling his fellow MCU heroes in Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker will face off against The Vulture next year in Spider-Man: Homecoming. While Marvel hasn't announced who is playing the winged foe yet (most expect it will be Michael Keaton), it's appropriate he will be Spider's first super villain in this continuity since he was one of his earliest adversaries in the comics. However, it looks like he won't be the only early Spider-Man villain appearing in Spider-Man: Homecoming. The word is out now that The Tinkerer has been cast as the secondary villain in the Web-Slinger's first solo MCU movie.
Deadline is reporting that Orange is the New Black actor Michael Cernus has been cast as a younger Phineas Mason, a.k.a. The Tinkerer, in Spider-Man: Homecoming. That makes this installment the third Spider-Man movie to feature more than one super villain, following behind Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Logan Marshall-Green and Bokeem Woodbine are also reportedly playing villains, but their character identities haven't been disclosed yet.
The Tinkerer, one of the Marvel universe's top scientific geniuses, debuted in 1962's The Amazing Spider-Man #2, the same issue where Vulture first appeared. While he's never been an A-list Spider-Man villain, he has made a name for himself as a weapons supplier to other super villains.Tinkerer was first rumored to be participating in Spider-Man: Homecoming back in May, shortly after The Vulture was first reported as the main villain. At the time, it was said that the MCU's Phones Fogg would help Vulture, a.k.a. Adrian Toomes, build his suit used recover Chitauri technology from their invasion in The Avengers.
The Deadline article didn't provide any details about how exactly Tinkerer will fit into the story, so it's unclear whether the Chitauri element will actually be featured in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Nevertheless, with Tinkerer involved, fans can look forward to him building an assortment of unusual gadgets and weaponry, either for his own use or to sell to other criminals. When the Wall-Crawler interferes with Phineas' work, then he'll get a taste of what the technological evildoer has been constructing in his workshop.
Michael Cernus is perhaps best known for recurring as Cal Chapman in the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. His other credits include the WGN series Manhattan, The Bourne Legacy, Captain Phillips and the upcoming Melissa Leo-led feature The Most Hated Woman in America. Cernus joins a cast that includes Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr, Donald Glover, Zendaya, Tony Revolori and many more.
Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Homecoming swings into theaters on July 7, 2017.
