SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING news: Michael Keaton is out, but RDJ is in

Casting news! Casting news!
We jumped the gun on some casting news.
It’s not so bad, that we weren’t right,
but it looks like we won’t see Keaton fight.
Look out! Here’s some more casting news…

*Ahem* Anyway… We previously reported that Michael Keaton was in talks to take on the role of the lead villain in the upcoming officially Marvel driven reboot, Spider-man: Homecoming, but sadly it looks like this is no longer the case. The Hollywood Reporter‘s Borys Kit has reported that talks unfortunately never got past the offer stage, so it looks like we won’t get to see Keaton in another super meta casting choice as the Vulture.

More’s the pity, as Kervyn pointed out Keaton has had a huge career revival lately, reminding us all just what a fantastically energetic actor he is, despite being almost completely overlooked by Hollywood for years. It would have been great to see him bring that fire to the role of this bitter and twisted villain.

So, that leaves Homecoming currently without a villain, it is early days and the choices are still wide open as to who they’ll go with. But, if it’s any consolation, Sony Pictures has confirmed that Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, will definitely be making an appearance. As we’ve seen from Captain America: Civil War, Iron Man and Spider-man are closely connected, so it looks like Homecoming might be expanding on that connection.

Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige had already confirmed the possibility for other MCU characters to appear in the film, which all points towards Marvel cementing Tom Holland as the official on-screen Spider-man, and trying once again to sweep Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-man under the rug.

In addition to Tom Holland, Spider-man: Homecoming is also set to star Marisa Tomei as Aunt May and Zendaya as a character by the name of Michelle, with Laura Harrier and Tony Revolori as two of Peter’s other friends. Scripted by Vacation writers and directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein and, directed by Jon Watts, production is set to begin on the film this (American) summer with a scheduled release in theatres and IMAX on July 7, 2017.

Last Updated: April 22, 2016