Fans have been conditioned to expect the Marvel Cinematic Universe to play the long game, with various Easter Eggs, hints, teases, and references regularly being left to ferment for years before they get paid off. However, in the case of one major Spider-Man villain that was blatantly nodded towards at the end of Homecoming, an air of impatience is creeping in.
For the first two installments of Tom Holland’s trilogy, the onus was on utilizing villains that had never been seen in live-action before, with Michael Keaton’s Vulture and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Vulture fulfilling that remit. Of course, for No Way Home, Marvel went in the opposite direction by bringing back five multiversal antagonists from franchises past.
Before that, though, there was a widespread belief that either Kraven the Hunter or Michael Mando’s Mac Gargan would be the costumed menace destined to do battle with the friendly neighborhood superhero. As you can see below, a viral tweet wondering when we’ll be seeing Scorpion has shown that nobody’s forgotten about the cliffhanger that went nowhere.
Holland will be returning for at least one more solo blockbuster, and an entire trilogy if Sony gets its way, so there remains a decent possibility of Mando’s Scorpion being given his moment in the spotlight. However, be careful what you wish for, when it also can’t be ruled out that the fan favorite bad guy could be brought over into Sony’s Spider-Man Universe to become part of the inevitable Sinister Six spinoff, which means there’s a decent chance he’d be ruined.