Michael Keaton on Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming
Following three new posters, which you can view in the gallery below, Michael Keaton and director Jon Watts have spoken to USA Today about his Keaton’s portrayal of the villain Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
“My whole approach for this movie is that we’ve seen the penthouse level of the (Marvel) universe,” said Watts. “We’ve seen what it’s like to be a billionaire inventor and to be a Norse god. We’ve seen the very top of this world. But we’ve never seen what it’s like to be just a regular joe.”
“Some people see themselves as victims — he sees himself a little bit like that,” Keaton added. “He probably would have a strong argument that he never got a fair shot — a lot of ‘Why not me? Where’s mine?’”
In the film, Adrian Toomes (Keaton) runs a New York salvaging company that cleans up messes such as the ones left by big superhero battles. He becomes irked, however, when a new government organization founded by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) steps in to take over after one altercation. Toomes and his crew — including the Shocker (Bokeem Woodbine) and the Tinkerer (Michael Chernus) — use scavenged alien artifacts and stolen advanced tech to put together weaponry to sell to other criminals.
Watts said he gets to use “this neat junk from all the other movies. It’s a really great starting point for the villains to have the Vulture picking over the stuff and finding the valuable exotic elements and having the Tinkerer assemble into something that could be used.”
The director revealed he found inspiration for Vulture’s “ground-level perspective” in John C. Reilly’s supporting character in Guardians of the Galaxy.
“I like the idea that in these huge movies, you pick out one extra and you’re like, ‘What does he think of all this?’” Watts said. “Sometimes these movies are so casual about just destroying whole cities and incredible things happen and everyone’s like, ‘Eh, whatever.’ If that really happened, it would be amazing and change everything.”
A young Peter Parker / Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.
Spider-Man: Homecoming also stars Zendaya, Jon Favreau, Donald Glover and Tyne Daly.
Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Homecoming was written by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley, Jon Watts & Christopher Ford, and Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers. The film is produced by Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal, and executive produced by Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Patricia Whitcher, Jeremy Latcham, and Stan Lee.
Spider-Man: Homecoming will swing into theaters on July 7, 2017.
