After close to a decade, theMCUhas finally done something with a Marvel villain the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies seem to have forgotten about. Withthe MCU timelinenow 17 years into its runtime, it’s not surprising that some stories have been left to the wayside as the franchise continues to evolve. Balancing so many different narratives and making sure they intersect has always seemed a tricky act to pull off, and this has only become more true following things likeAvengers: Infinity War’s Snap changing the on-screen world for every character within it.
With that said, these seemingly abandoned storylines can be a point of frustration, since they often mean major characters and arcs are left lingering untethered toupcoming MCU moviesor shows to wait for a follow-up that may never come. One of the best examples of this is the way the MCU has handled a key Spider-Man villain who was introduced early only for their follow-up story tease to be left unexplored for many years. With that said,2025’s Marvel releaseshave led to the MCU at least finally doing something with the character after this long waiting period.
The MCU’s Scorpion Storyline Has Seemingly Been Forgotten
Spider-Man: Homecomingset the Scorpion up as a figure who seemed perfectly primed to play a role in later Spider-Man stories, with Peter defeating Scorpion and having him arrested midway through the movie, and Mac Gargan being shown at the end of the movie talking to the Vulture about getting revenge on Spider-Man. This appeared to position the two antagonists to potentially create the Sinister Six - a group of Spider-Man villains who famously face off against him in the comics.
However, 8 years later, things look very different. While the long wait itself seemed to challenge the idea that this setup would actually pay off in the franchise, 2022 made it seem even more impossible, as the Sony Spider-Man Universe’sMorbiusprovided an impediment of sorts by having Michael Keaton’s Vulture be transported over to the Sony universe in the movie’s mid-credits scene, suggesting forming a team to Michael Morbius himself. Though this initially seemed to be further set up for a potential Sinister Six film, nothing came to pass, potentially because ofMorbius' own poor reception.
After the events ofSpider-Man: No Way Homesent everyone back to their respective universes - a move that also sent Venom back to the Sony Spider-Man Universe at the start ofVenom: The Last Dance- it seems that Vulture too would have returned and could potentially now team up with Scorpion, but this awkward mid-point of the story seems like it may have sabotaged its feasibility, since the character hasn’t appeared sinceMorbius. As such, Scorpion’s story chances also seem scuppered in the main MCU, especially given audiences haven’t seen him on-screen in just shy of a decade.
2025’s New Spider-Man Show Brings Scorpion Back In A Major Way
While Scorpion’s story in the mainline MCU isn’t looking like it’ll feature his return anytime soon,the MCU has brought back the character in 2025’s alternate universe MCU showYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which introduces a new version of Scorpion into its world. SinceYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s world is very close to the main MCU timeline - even having theCaptain America: Civil Warairport fight sequence, as is shown in episode 4 - it’s perhaps not surprising that its version of the villain is pretty similar, with some small alterations.
Here, Mac is introduced as the leader of The Scorpions, who are a New York gang. This is especially notable because said gang is in direct conflict with the 110th Street Gang that Lonnie Lincoln is forced to become a part of earlier in the series, and because he’s described as starting gang warfare just because he finds it fun.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manepisode 5shows this version of Scorpion is just as unhinged as his MCU counterpart, as the character incites a gang fight against the 110th Street Gang and then brings a knife to a fistfight to try and kill rival leader Big Donovan. While this murder attempt fails - with Lonnie tackling Mac and being stabbed in the arm for his trouble instead - this only serves to reinforce Scorpion’s ruthless nature, as he immediately goes to kill the high school age teen before having to flee because of the arrival of the police.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Shows Why The MCU Needs To Bring Back Scorpion
BothSpider-Man: HomecomingandYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s Scorpion share a mutual bloodthirst that is made clear in each story.Homecomingsees Mac Gargan detail some creatively unpleasant ways to deal with Spider-Man when talking to the Vulture, and the show’s Gargan seems to revel in the violence he doles out and the fear he inspires in others. Ultimately, the parallels between these two iterations meanYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manserves as a reminder of the potential that Scorpion holds in Spider-Man stories, and in Marvel stories in general.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manalso underlines that Scorpion can work as a more inherently serious Spider-Man villain, which could make him useful even as a side villain forSpider-Man 4, since it’s set to explore Peter going it alone afterSpider-Man: No Way Home’s ending. Big Donovan also explains that Gargan “used to find people for a living”, and that he makes a hobby out of hunting those he considers opposed to him essentially for sport, reinforcing the idea that the character is often characterized with a deep love of violence for violence’s sake.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Manseason 2 and 3 have been greenlit, which could encourage more long-term stories for the show and its heroes and villains.
While theMCUhas done effectively in making many of its villains understandable on some level - and even having motives audiences can empathize with on some level - Scorpion is all the more useful for the franchise because he’s often characterized as more straightforwardly cruel. As such, movies likeSpider-Man 4could benefit from him reappearing and wreaking chaos, since his chaotic motives can be used to justify almost any misdeeds, and his more ruthless nature can be used to contrast with other antagonists while also helping the universe feel cohesive by bringing back a familiar face.
