Marvel is finally bringing back Michael Mando’s Scorpion inSpider-Man: Brand New Day, but his return sounds suspiciously similar to that of anotherMCUvillain inCaptain America: Civil War. Michael Mando’s Mac Gargan had a brief encounter with Peter Parker inSpider-Man: Homecoming. Gargan swore revenge after being injured by the wall-crawler, but he has remained absent since then.
Nine years afterSpider-Man: Homecoming,Michael Mando’s Mac Gargan will return inSpider-Man: Brand New Day. Mando joins Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo, and Sadie Sink in the MCU’s fourthSpider-Maninstallment, which has yet to reveal its main villain. With so many big names in the film, however, Scorpion’s return might be overshadowed.
Brand New Day Risks Repeating Civil War’s Crossbones Mistake With Scorpion
Captain America: The Winter Soldierintroduced Frank Grillo’s Brock Rumlow, who developed a grudge against Captain America after his brutal injuries at the end of his debut movie. As Crossbones, Rumlow could have been a huge threat to Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, and Bucky Barnes. Unfortunately,Crossbones was quickly killed offat the beginning ofCaptain America: Civil War.
Spider-Man: Homecomingfollowed a similar pattern with the start of Mac Gargan’s feud with Spider-Man.Now, in the increasingly crowdedSpider-Man: Brand New Day, Gargan’s return as Scorpion seems to follow in the footsteps of Crossbones' abrupt sendoff inCaptain America: Civil War’s opening scene. Even if he isn’t killed off, Scorpion might simply become a secondary villain.
Scorpion is one of Spider-Man’s most famous and dangerous villains. Mac Gargan made his live-action introduction inSpider-Man: Homecoming, but he has yet to debut his costume and powers. Given thatseveral Spider-Man enemies exist in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, featuring Scorpion as a side character would be a huge waste.
No Way Home Proved The MCU Can Handle Multiple Spider-Man Antagonists
Despite featuring Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman, and the Lizard all in the same film,Spider-Man: No Way Homebalanced every antagonist and gave each of them their fair share of screentime.Instead of feeling overcrowded,Spider-Man: No Way Homeelevated its five main antagonists. Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, and Electro’s portrayals, in particular, benefited from their MCU team-up.
Spider-Man: Brand New Daycan do the same for its ensemble cast. Despite sharing the screen with MCU icons like Jon Bernthal’s Punisher and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, Michael Mando’s Scorpion could still leave a lasting mark onSpider-Man’s MCU story. While he may not get the same screentime as Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus, careful writing could ensure Scorpion has a memorable role.
