Spider-Man has one of the deepest Rogues Galleries next to maybe only Batman on screen. There are so many different places that new Spider-Man movies can go with villains, that we can now see enemies like The Vulture (Michael Keaton) and Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) in the MCU for the first time because the previous Sony films already have exhausted classic comic characters like Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus.
But the Sony/Marvel Spider-Man movies also have the ability to seed the backgrounds with potential villain possibilities. Michael Mando played Mac Gargan, aka Scorpion, in Spider-Man: Homecoming. And there is a character named Dimitri in the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home who may or may not be set up to eventually become The Chameleon.
We asked Far From Home director Jon Watts specifically about the rumor that actor Numan Acar, who plays Dimitri, was being set up to be The Chameleon on screen, and the director revealed:
Well, Dmitri in the film works for Nick Fury and I think anyone who works for Nick Fury, they certainly have a mysterious past. We're not specifically saying that he's [Chameleon]... but we're not not saying.
The character of Dimitri shows up in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment in the trailer. He works for Nick Fury, and he can be seen to the left of Peter in this shot:
But when CinemaBlend visited the set of Spider-Man: Far From Home last year, we learned even more about how Dimitri will be used in the story.
As it turns out, Nick Fury really will hijack Peter Parker’s European vacation. After Fury recruits Spidey in Venice, he plans to place Dimitri on the class bus, taking the place of the driver, so he can drive Peter to locations where the Elementals are showing up. Executive Producer Eric Carroll walked us through the bulk of the plot for Far From Home, and told us this about Dimitri:
One of the guys on Nick's team is played by Numan Acar. He's a fantastic actor. And he's got this really great thing where he looks super imposing. He looks like the sort of guy you'd expect to be a mercenary. But he's hilarious. Just one of the funniest actors. … So now you've got this really scary-looking mercenary driving these kids around Europe. So, they get rerouted [by Fury]. They drive through the Alps, and there's a fun character set piece here where Peter, who now has access to some technology in the wake of having met up with Nick Fury, tries to use that technology for iffy purposes…. and almost blows up his bus by launching some weaponized drones that this spy team has access to.
It sounds almost like Jon Watts is asking Numan Acar to disguise himself as the school bus driver to stay near Peter Parker on this trip, and bring him to the places Nick Fury needs Spider-Man to be. Could he be… a chameleon, working for Fury?
For those who might not be aware, The Chameleon is Spider-Man’s earliest foe, appearing in issue No. 1 of The Amazing Spider-Man comics, dating back to 1963. He’s a master of disguise, a villain whose face is featureless and can basically pretend to be anyone. He’s also related to Kraven the Hunter, and damn if Numan Acar doesn’t look like he’d make an amazing Kraven, as well.
But we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves here. Spider-Man: Far From Home already has Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), and four Elemental creatures who are meant to represent MCU versions of Hydro-Man, Sandman, Molten Man and more.
We’ll see if the Chameleon really is in the cards when Spider-Man: Far From Home opens in theaters on July 2.
