One of Spider-Man’s oldest villains makes his screen debut this week; The Vulture!
In Spider-Man: Homecoming, out this week, Michael Keaton will give audiences a taste of his dark side with his portrayal of the infamous villain Vulture. Not seen in any of the previous Spider-Man films, for many this will be their first experience with this character, who has been around since the very beginning of Spider-Man’s history. No doubt, the Vulture that inhabits the Marvel Cinematic Universe will share similarities with the traditional comic book portrayal, but will also be able to stand out on his own.
For now all that is really known about this incarnation is that they both share the namesake of Adrian Toomes. Much like the original, his abilities involve flight by way of a winged suit and an advanced technological prowess.
The differences appear to stem from his background. In Homecoming, Adrian Toomes runs a salvage company based in New York City, that handled some of the cleanup effort after the “Battle of New York”. This is how he may have come to posses the materials to construct his Vulture suit, and explain some of his dealings with Tony Stark. There is clearly some bad blood between them.
With over 50 years of lore to mine through, a look into the characters history may offer some insights into his new future.
Into The WayBack Machine
The first appearance of Adrian Toomes/Vulture was in the second issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. May 1963 to be exact. Adrian was an engineer and inventor who created a harness that granted him super-human strength and the ability to fly. After losing his job, an enraged Toomes became the Vulture.
Since his first encounter with Spidey, Vulture has been a staple villain for the decades that followed. Numerous battles have led to multiple incarcerations, but in true comic tradition, bars are never enough. Adrian has always been depicted as being more aged than his cohorts, since the very beginning. Comic book time apparently flows differently than real world time, so this enabled him to stick around through the years. In fact, in multiple occasions he has been able to prolong his life and reverse disease.
Over the years, the look of the Vulture has also changed. Straying far from the initial green spandex, later incarnations modernized the look of the costume. And also added to his brutality. Adding razor sharp wings and clawed feet matched his increasingly vicious actions.
Sinister Six
Good guys are not the only ones to form teams.
When it comes to the antagonists in Spider-Man’s world, the very worst of them have often teamed up to take down the Wall-crawler. Calling themselves the Sinister Six, membership would traditionally consist of….well…six members. The lineup would change from time to time, but would usually include the Vulture.
Originally forming under the leadership of Doctor Octopus, the group would go toe to toe with Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. The first line-up included Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Sandman, Kraven the Hunter, Electro and Mysterio.
The best of the best. Or the worst of the worst, depending on the point of view.
Down the road, the Sinister Six would go through varying changes. They would become the Sinister Seven, the Sinister Twelve, even the Sinister Sixty Six.
During the run of the Superior Spider-Man, the Doctor Octopus inhabited Spider-Man faced the Superior Six. An interesting change as the new Spider-Man was their former leader.
The Moniker
Although certainly the most recognizable, for various reasons other criminals have taken up the mantle as the Vulture.
Blackie Drago was the first of these. Meeting Toomes in prison, he tricked him into giving him the suit to defeat Spider-Man. His true intention was more selfish, and used the suit to commit robberies. He was eventually defeated and vowed to never wear the wings again.
The next pretender was a professor named Clifton Shallot. Life events caused him to mentally snap, and his expertise in biology and mutation led him to transform into a close duplicate of Adrian Toomes’ Vulture. This incarnation was more mutant than man-in-suit. With wings that were actually part of his body, and real claws and fangs. A murder brought him to the attention of Spider-Man who was eventually able to stop him by reversing his mutation. Jailed for murder, Clifton would never be heard from again.
The craziest version of the character has to be Jimmy Natale. A lowly mob employee, he was forced to undergo mutation, and became the new Vulture. Sporting a red suit, and now with an acid spitting ability, he would pick off other low level criminals. And eat them. Jimmy would only be around for a few years, and would die at the hands of the Punisher.
MCU
After the Battle of New York seen in The Avengers, alien Chitauri technology littered the streets and was ripe for the picking. Micahel Keaton’s Toomes is able to craft a winged suit for himself, for reasons that are not completely clear yet. What is clear is that from the small amount seen so far, all the ruthlessness of the comic book Vulture is there. Michael Keaton is no stranger to being in a suit, having appeared as Batman in the 1989 film of the same name, but it will be interesting to see what he brings to the character. After all, Vulture is on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Will he survive Spider-Man: Homecoming? Is there an opportunity to bring him back, possibly with the Sinister Six?
My guess is you’ll want to wait through the end credits!
Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters July 7th, 2017.
Mike Harris hails from the suburbs of Chicago and has been a fan for most of his life. Working as an industrial radiographer and raising a family with his wife take up most of his time, but there’s always room for Star Wars books and podcasts! Just looking to give back to Star Wars and the fan community, it’s been a source of fun and learning for him for so long.