Casting Details Hints at “Spider-Man: Homecoming” Sequel’s Villain

The Hashtag Group is reporting some rumored casting criteria for the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, giving some hints that may point to Norman and Harry Osborn appearing in the film.

According to the rumors, casting director Sarah Finn is looking for fill two different parts. One, described as the villain, is to be played by someone between the ages of 30 and 45; interestingly, word is that Finn is considering both men and women for this part. The other part, described as a high school student like Peter, is a male between 18-24 who needs to be a “leading man” type, able to hold his own with Tom Holland’s version of Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

In the case of the latter character, Spidey fans may immediately gravitate to Harry Osborn, a leading character in the franchise who has been absent from the Marvel Cinematic Universe until now. A rich, popular friend of Peter’s, their close bond becomes strained by the revelation that Harry’s father, scientist and corporate tycoon Norman Osborn, is actually the Green Goblin, one of Spider-Man’s biggest adversaries. Could this be the older figure looking to be cast?

Aside from the strangeness of Norman possibly becoming a Norma, there is another flaw in this theory: the Osborns were already heavily featured in both Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Marvel Studios probably wants to avoid rehashing those stories. It’s also worth noting that MCU!Peter has a different best friend, Ned, who is (more or less) a new character invented for the movie.

The gender ambiguity of the first character is quite puzzling; Spider-Man is rather bereft of female villains, though Marvel could be planning a gender flip. Fun fact: when Venom was being created for the comic, “he” was originally intended to be female before instead becoming Eddie Brock. Maybe they intend to correct that change? Or perhaps it’s Doctor Octopus; in the comics he was temporarily replaced by a female student of his, sometimes called “Lady Octopus,” so maybe Finn wants to try out both genders and then pick which character she uses?

There are also rumors of Gwen Stacy and/or a femme fatale being in the movie, who is presumably different than either of these two characters. It’s also said that the film will begin immediately after the events of Avengers 4.