The Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer may have offered a few glimpses of Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes in his Vulture suit, but it’s his warning, "Don't mess with me. Because I will kill you and everybody you love", that exhilarates us the most. That one statement in Keaton's sinister voice is enough to promise a purely evil nemesis for Tom Holland's web slinger in his first standalone movie.
But if the actor's words are to be believed, the Vulture in the Jon Watts venture is not a completely bad guy and is someone to whom we will be able to relate. In a recent interview with Variety, Keaton was asked about the inherent likability he willingly or unwillingly brings to his roles and the fact that it's been a while since he portrayed such a villainous character. In response, he said:
Yeah, Vulture, recently. But not to give too much away, but interestingly, he is and he isn't, that character. He's a really interesting "” and more interesting than I thought "” villain because there's parts of him that you go, "You know what? I might see his point." Really, really. It makes it interesting to play.
There was a time when Michael Keaton played Batman - in two Tim Burton movies, Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). So the interviewer asked him whether he felt hesitant about returning to the genre after two and a half decades with Spider-Man: Homecoming. The actor insisted that he didn't feel anything like that:
No, I mean, not at all. It's just a thing. A gig. I don't mean it's just a gig, it's the next job. And you think you can do it or want to do it and in fact I said no, because I couldn't, it didn't work in my schedule. Then, I'm glad to say, they kind of shifted the scheduling and it worked out. So it fit in and I'm glad I did it.
Despite the fact that the big baddies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe haven't always lived up to expectations, it feels like the Vulture isn't just messing around in the July 7, 2017 release.