Michael Keaton In ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’? ‘Batman’ Actor In Talks To Play Vulture


Michael Keaton hasn’t completely gotten away from the comic book movie genre, as it’s just been reported that the former Batman actor is in talks to appear in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Batman, of course, is a DC Comics character, and the movie rights are owned by Warner Bros.; Spider-Man is a Marvel Comics character, with Sony and Marvel Studios producing the new Tom Holland Spider-Man film. This whole DC vs. Marvel competition doesn’t really seem to have an impact on Keaton, who apparently is in talks to play the main villain, according to Variety.

The only villain who has been widely speculated to appear in Spider-Man: Homecoming is the Vulture/Adrian Toomes. As it turns out, Michael Keaton does actually share certain physical characteristics of the character, and if Keaton shaved his head, he would probably even look more like him.

Michael Keaton In 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'? 'Batman' Actor In Talks To Play Vulture
Keaton at the 88th Annual Academy Awards. [Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]
Michael Keaton has gone from two Batman movies, Birdman (which featured Keaton playing a fictional winged superhero), and is now in talks to play the Vulture. Funny enough, all of these characters do seem to have one thing in common. Bats, birds and vultures are, of course, aerial animals. So the Beetlejuice actor just can’t seem to get away from portraying costumed people with wings. But beyond all of that, if Sony and Marvel Studios would be able to snag an actor of this caliber, it would be an incredibly smart move.

Keaton is fresh off of his Academy Award nomination in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Birdman for Best Actor and won the Golden Globe for his performance. Keaton has been able to build his career back up in the last few years, taking small roles in films like RoboCop, Need For Speed, and Toy Story 3. And though he was not nominated for his latest performance in 2015’s Spotlight, the indie film did win the Oscar for Best Motion Picture of the Year, as well as Best Original Screenplay for writers Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy.

The Oscar-pedigree Michael Keaton, 64, will bring to the Marvel Cinematic Universe would just be another big win for Sony and Marvel Studios. The number of Academy Award winners/nominees that have already appeared in Marvel films is quite an extensive list.

But the Multiplicity actor has supposedly been in talks with director Tim Burton to reprise his comedically twisted role of Beetlejuice in a sequel. Keaton himself has said that is one character he would love to revisit, and Burton apparently said that the two have talked about the possibility.

“I’ve emailed with Michael Keaton. I know he’s excited about the idea. I know Tim is excited about the idea. Where it stands now is Tim’s got to get ready to make [‘Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children’], and then hopefully we are set, deals are done, and we’re waiting in the wings ready to go right after ‘Peregrine’s’ wraps up. The ideal timeline is we’re really getting into it toward the end of this year.”

But is Johnny Depp going to replace Michael Keaton for this role? Burton came out and said that those quotes about the Beetlejuice sequel are not real and completely fabricated. According to the film’s director, neither himself nor Keaton have made any plans on doing a sequel. Yet, there are other outlets that claim the sequel is on, and Burton may end up getting his frequent collaborator Depp to play the role.

Michael Keaton In 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'? 'Batman' Actor In Talks To Play Vulture
Keaton at the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. [Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Turner]
If this is true, it wouldn’t be too surprising considering that the two have done countless films together for the last several years, and Depp is known to dress up in makeup for a number of his roles. But as of right now, this all seems to be speculation until we hear from either Tim Burton or Michael Keaton. Spider-Man: Homecoming, starring Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei, and Zendaya and directed by Jon Watts, is scheduled to be released on July 7, 2017.

[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

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