- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Vulture from the Marvel Cinematic film series. The mainstream version can be found here: Vulture.
| “ | Walk through those doors, you forget any of this happened. And don't you ever, ever, interfere with my business again. 'Cause if you do, I'll kill you and everybody you love. I'll kill you dead! That's what I'll do to protect my family, Pete. You understand? | „ |
| ~ Toomes threatening Peter, should he stand in his way. |
| “ | How do you think your buddy Stark paid for that tower, or any of his little toys? Those people, Pete. Those people up there. The rich and the powerful. They do whatever they want. Guys like us, like you and me, they don't care about us. We build their roads, and we fight all their wars and everything. They don't care about us. We have to pick up after them. We have to eat their table scraps. That's how it is. | „ |
| ~ Adrian Toomes to Peter. |
| “ | If I knew who he was, he'd already be dead. | „ |
| ~ Toomes' most famous quote, as he chooses to keep Spider-Man's identity a secret. |
Adrian Toomes, also known as Vulture, is the main antagonist of the 2017 Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming and a minor character in the 2022 Sony Spider-Man Universe film Morbius.
He was the CEO of Bestman Salvage until he was unintentionally driven out of business when Tony Stark and the U.S. Government founded the Department of Damage Control, so he used the remains of Chitauri and Ultron Sentinel technology to become a black market weapons dealer and obtained a vulture-themed flying suit which he used to steal more dangerous technology to sell. To date, he is the archenemy of the superhero Spider-Man.
When Doctor Strange cast a spell to erase Peter Parker's identity from the MCU, a glitch caused Vulture to get pulled out along with Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Lizard, Electro and Venom. He ended up in Venom and Morbius's universe, where he decided to form a team with Morbius, presumably to try to return to his universe and defeat Spider-Man.
He is portrayed by Michael Keaton, who also played the title character in Beetlejuice, Carter Hayes in Pacific Heights, Peter McCabe in Desperate Measures, Trip Larsen in King of the Hill, Chick Hicks in Cars, Ken in Toy Story 3, Walter Nelson Sr. in Minions, Raymond Sellars in the 2014 RoboCop remake, Ray Kroc in The Founder and V.A. Vandevere in the live-action Dumbo remake.
Personality[]
Adrian Toomes was apparently a kind and hardworking man who did what was best for his family. However, after losing his job, he becomes bitter and disgruntled because Tony Stark bought out his company. He opens a salvaging business in New York City and arms himself with Chitauri technology, specifically a pair of mechanical wings from being muscled him out of his government deal by Tony Stark, and for other criminal purposes.
He comes into conflict with Spider-Man in the film and whilst simply seeing him as a nuisance initially, he develops respect for the superhero after the latter saves his daughter's life (despite still threatening to kill him as well as his family for intervening with his work). Even after being defeated by the hero, Toomes chose not to give away Spider-Man's secret identity that he deduced since Peter Parker had saved both his daughter and himself.
Toomes, despite being a criminal, does not limit his compassion towards only his family. He is very loyal to his henchmen, only firing Jackson after he got tired of his disrespect and lack of common sense. However, while killing him was an accident, he wasn't too concerned, merely throwing the supposed Anti-Ray-Gun to the ground and naming Herman the new Shocker (although this was likely because Jackson threatened his family).
Furthermore, despite disliking Peter for interfering with him, he was willing to spare him if he did not get involved due to him saving Liz's life. Overall, Toomes is a ruthless, yet honorable man, who is still able to show respect for others. After Peter saved his life, he shows his respect for him by not telling anyone (including his own henchmen/buyers) of his identity.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Winged Suit: Using reverse engineered alien technology, the Vulture mainly used a special flight harness to give him an edge in battle.
- Flight: The Vulture's winged harness enabled him to fly with ease.
- Strength: The Vulture possessed incredible strength when he is wearing the exo-suit, allowing him to overpower Spider-Man relatively easily. His wings and talons are also strong enough to the point that he can destroy concrete and lift heavy objects with little effort.
- Durability: When wearing his winged harness, the Vulture was capable of withstanding multiple blows from Spider-Man.
- Speed: The Vulture possesses terrific speed when wearing his harness, allowing him to fly in the air at high speeds.
- Agility: The Vulture possesses high agility when wearing his harness, allowing him to maneuver in the air with incredible agility, despite his harness' large frame.
Arsenal[]
- Talons: Befitting his name: The Vulture's main weapons are the razor sharp talons on his gloves that he could use in battle. They are also strong enough to the point that he can destroy concrete.
- Wings: The Vulture's wings are also razor sharp, being able to cut through Spiderman's suit and cut his skin.
Reception[]
Most critics and fans have considered Michael Keaton's Vulture to be one of Spider-Man Homecoming's biggest strengths [1]. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called Michael Keaton's performance as the Vulture "one of the strongest, most sympathetic villains of the entire series". Tufayel Ahmed of Newsweek stated that the Vulture is "robustly served in the script" and that Michael Keaton "elevates the part with a deft balance of considered dramatic choices and zany comic book fun". TT Stern-Enzi of CityBeat "Keaton’s sneaky and thoroughly menacing performance is what's needed for this film". Kristy Puchko of Comic Book Resources praised the Vulture as "the best MCU villain” since Loki.
Tim Brayton of Alternative Ending called the Vulture "the best villain in any E-ticket comic book movie since at the very least Tom Hardy's Bane in The Dark Knight Rises". Matthew Pejkovic called the Vulture "as domineering and intimidating a villain as seen in the Marvel Universe yet." and stating this is "thanks to Keaton’s menacing performance." Linda Cook of Quad City Times stated "Keaton is superb as a super-villain whose motives are complex but understandable." Allyson Johnson of Cambridge Day called the Vulture "the best villain of any Marvel film since Loki". Kyle Anderson of Nerdist said "Keaton as the Vulture is perhaps the best villain in the entirety of comic book movies, up there with Tom Hiddleston’s Loki or Heath Ledger’s Joker."
Robert Roten of Laramie Movie Scope called the Vulture "a more complex, believable villain than one usually sees in these kinds of films". IGN stated that the Vulture is "quite a timely villain" and that he "can be, in his own way, as relatable as Peter". However they also stated that the Vulture is "never really as fully fleshed out as he could have been", but finally stated that he "does manage to elude the Marvel movie villain streak of hampering a fine actor with a weak role".
Mike Ryan of Uproxx stated "Michael Keaton is at his villainous best" and says that "What’s interesting about Toomes is that he knows he’s a low-rent criminal that is under the radar of The Avengers. He’s not trying to take over the world, he just wants money so that he can buy his family nice things. That’s really it."
Screen Rant ranked the Vulture as one of the 8 Best MCU Villains, calling him a "criminal genius" and "a common man with a backstory that most can relate to". They also praised how "he has a personal connection to Peter Parker", Keaton's "menacing performance" and his "very cool costume".
Despite positive reception in Homecoming, his cameo in Morbius was met with far more negative reception, especially since the nature of his cameo contradicts the rules of Doctor Strange's spell in No Way Home. Although the spell was supposed to send multiversal visitors back to their native realities, it also somehow sends Toomes to Sony's Spider-Man Universe, and he has inexplicably reconstructed his Vulture suit even though his old suit was never teleported to the SSU, and the SSU presumably has neither Chitauri technology nor the people knowledgeable to manipulate it.
Trivia[]
- Michael Keaton appeared in movies from both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Comics thus far, having played Vulture and Batman, respectively.
- Mark Hamill showed interest in playing the character before Michael Keaton got the role. Indeed, Keaton originally turned down the role, but regretted it just in time and accepted the part before another actor could be cast.
- Toomes' alias, Vulture, is never explicitly said in Homecoming. It's first said by Ned when mentioning him in No Way Home. However, Iron Man called him "Flying Vulture Guy".
- Trailers for Morbius suggest Michael Keaton was originally not playing the Vulture of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but a variant native to Sony's Spider-Man Universe. The differences between his appearances in the trailer and the final film suggest that his cameo was hastily re-edited to match No Way Home, especially because the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the film's release from 2020 (before No Way Home) to 2022 (after No Way Home).
- Following the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, fans speculate that despite Morbius framing Toomes's appearance in Sony's Spider-Man Universe as a side effect of Doctor Strange's spell, it is actually a side effect of Earth-1610 Kingpin's collider.
- He is the fourth member of the original Sinister Six gang to appear in a Spider-Man film. Members who have previously appeared are Doctor Octopus, Sandman, and Electro.
External Links[]
- Vulture on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
- Vulture on the Sony's Spider-Man Universe Wiki
- Vulture on the Marvel Database Wiki
- Vulture on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
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