Michael Keaton Teases His Return To The MCU As Vulture
Am I the only one who's fascinated by the trajectory of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man? It might feel quaint now, especially after we've all gotten used to Tom Holland's Peter Parker going up against infighting Avengers in "Captain America: Civil War," a genocidal alien in "Infinity War," and multi-dimensional enemies in "Spider-Man: No Way Home." But at one point, Spidey's biggest threat was ... trying to take a date to prom and dealing with her intimidating dad who, oh right, ended up moonlighting as a techno-villain in "Spider-Man: Homecoming." The most refreshing aspect of Michael Keaton's antagonist, Adrian Toomes, was that he was just a regular guy with very modest ambitions, which is what allowed the plot twist about his identity as the Vulture to hit so hard and feel so high-stakes.
Yet oddly enough, despite being set up for future appearances in the MCU, we haven't seen the Vulture since — although he will end up reprising his role in the ancillary film, "Morbius." But wait, there's more! Keaton recently let slip that he will be filming additional scenes as the villainous Vulture in the upcoming days, so put on your speculation hats and join us as we parse his words to an absurd degree below.
'Vulture Stuff'
When you're a living legend like Michael Keaton, you're allowed to say whatever you want. To wit: while making an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Keaton addressed all sorts of topics ranging from his return as Batman in "The Flash" to his new Hulu show "Dopesick" to — you guessed it — his role as the Vulture.
After poking some light-hearted fun at the "77 other Batman" actors that have taken up the famous cape and cowl in the years since he put it down (seemingly) for good, Keaton goes on to recall a certain memory of his by prefacing it with, "I shouldn't say this." Thankfully he does anyway and goes on to talk about how he needed someone to "brief" him on the story while on set as the Vulture in "Spider-Man: Homecoming," filling him in on all the lore-related details while he stood there silently thinking, "I have no f***ing idea who's who or why or where, or even where I am."
It's at the very tail end of this hilarious recollection that Keaton drops the unexpected reveal that he's actually going back in front of the camera again as the Vulture.
"I'm shooting tomorrow, I'm shooting ... Vulture stuff."
Right off the bat, as vague as this is, there are a few possibilities for this "Vulture stuff" that immediately present themselves. It may be too late in the game for this to be about (very) last-minute additions to either "Morbius" or "Spider-Man: No Way Home" — although it bears noting that reshoots on superhero movies have taken place further along the post-production process than this; the famous shawarma tag in "The Avengers" was filmed after the actual world premiere, for one extreme example.
However, one tantalizing option could very well be that Keaton is meant to appear in another multiversal adventure: "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." We just received word that the "Doctor Strange" sequel will be undergoing extensive reshoots straight through to the end of this year. With Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange, Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch, and Rachel McAdams' as Christine Palmer confirmed to appear along with, presumably, Benedict Wong as Wong and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo, is there enough room for the surprising appearance of Keaton's Vulture?
You can check out the full video below, with the Vulture tease occurring around the 14 minute and 40 seconds mark.