The past few days have been quite momentous for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s resident wall-crawler. It’s been confirmed that the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now in production and, all the while, fans have been treated to a BTS video featuring Tom Holland. (With that, fans have all the thoughts on Holland’s new suit.) Some big news also dropped, as it was confirmed that Michael Mando would reprise his role as Mac Gargan a.k.a. Scorpion. Now, Mando is really getting me excited due to his confirmation post.
Although news of Scorpion’s return came from legitimate news outlets, Michael Mando’s role was not officially confirmed by Marvel Studios or Sony. With that, I really appreciate that the actor himself had no problem lending credence to this exciting turn of events. The actor took to Instagram to share a teasy selfie. The black-and-white pic shows Mando facing a mirror, with only half of his face being visible. What can be seen, however, is the scorpion tattoo that Gargan famously has on his neck. Check out the photo, complete with Mando’s A+ caption:
Considering the cool tat on his neck, the Elysium alum may have very well been on set when he took that photo. We can’t say for sure whether or not he was, of course. Regardless of where the photo was taken, though, it’s just great to see the underrated actor getting ready to reprise his villainous role. For some time now, I’ve been waiting for Mac Gargan to truly receive his time in the sun, and this selfie alone is making that prospect feel more real for me.
It’s been a while since Gargan appeared in the MCU, as he was last seen in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. (That franchise starter of a film is available to stream with a Disney+ subscription.) Mac is featured as a potential buyer of merchandise sold by Adrian Toomes a.k.a. The Vulture. However, the web-slinger breaks up the deal, leading to Gargan being facially scarred and taken into custody by the FBI. Gargan, who wants revenge against the teen hero, is last seen crossing paths with (the also-arrested) Toomes and unsuccessfully tries to see if he actually knows Spidey’s true identity.
Michael Mando more than has the intensity and charisma to pull off the role of the Scorpion. For me, the proving ground for Mando’s talent would be Better Call Saul, in which he played the role of Ignacio "Nacho" Varga. Mando is the kind of actor who cannot only deliver dialogue but is also skilled when it comes to body language. In short, he can say so much by doing so little. Of course, I’d imagine that the Scorpion role will be somewhat grandiose, possibly requiring him to chew a bit of scenery – and that excites me.
Scorpion isn’t the only familiar face from the MCU who’ll be showing up in the Destin Daniel Cretton-directed Brand New Day either. Fan-favorite actor Jon Berenthal is returning as Frank Castle – a.k.a. The Punisher – the role he originated on Marvel TV shows. An Avenger is also in the mix, as Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk is set to return as well. Plot details are, unsurprisingly, scarce at the moment. At the very least, though, it’s been said that this is a street-level story, and it seems it’ll be set before the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself when it comes to Michael Mando’s return, as it’s far from clear just how big a role his character will actually play in the fourth Spidey film. Still, his mere presence and the possibility of him suiting up with a giant, mechanical tail are too much for me not to get hyped about. Here’s hoping Mando has a great shoot and that he manages to get his fair share of screen time this time around.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set to swing into theaters on July 31 as part of the 2026 movie schedule.
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