While filming on Spider-Man: Homecoming has been underway for nearly a month already, casting for the Marvel and Sony Pictures co-production is continuing to take place. Per Deadline, Orange Is the New Black actor Michael Chernus has been added to the ensemble in the villainous role of The Tinkerer. We actually heard rumors about this character back in May via JoBlo, and now Deadline confirms that The Tinkerer will indeed be in the Spider-Man pic, with Chernus bringing the character to life.
Michael Keaton plays the film’s main villain, Vulture, but as we learned at Comic-Con, Vulture’s suit is entirely tech-based. This fits into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which itself is very tech-centric as opposed to more mystical or organic, but Vulture needs some help in putting this flying suit together. That’s where the character of The Tinkerer comes in, and that’s likely where his involvement in the picture ends—if the role could be cast in the middle of production, it’s likely not a huge part of the movie.
Chernus is best known for playing Taylor Schilling’s brother on Orange Is the New Black, but also had turns in Aloha and the TV series Manhattan. He joins Tom Holland, who plays the titular webslinger, as well as Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., Angourie Rice, Hannibal Buress, Donald Glover, Zendaya, Tony Revolori, and Martin Starr who fill out the rest of the ensemble.
It certainly seems as though Spider-Man might be a bit more comedic in tone than the most recent Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, which would be in keeping with the high school setting, teen-centric story, and overall John Hughes vibe that director Jon Watts has been teasing. Chernus isn’t the most formidable or scary of performers, but the comics iteration of The Tinkerer was similarly unassuming, so perhaps he's more formidable than he appears.
For more on Spider-Man: Homecoming, click here. The film opens in theaters on July 7, 2017.
