In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Mac Gargan makes his long-awaited return after last crossing paths in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming. Now suited up as The Scorpion, the villain first appears in the film during a sequence that pays homage to 1995's Spider-Man Adventures #2.
After battling the web-slinger while under Jean Grey's control, Mac proves himself a formidable threat, even in a story that doesn't necessarily have room to delve into his motivations and how he acquired armour that matches his tattoo (beyond his hatred for Spidey, of course).
Before Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrived in theaters, promo art and toys revealed a version of The Scorpion featuring a more heavily armoured suit and a see-through, scaffolding-like tail. That was ultimately swapped out for a more comic-accurate effort, though his costume also took a step back from the source material and was a little more grounded.
As expected, the version of Scorpion seen in that early artwork and merchandise was based on early character designs that changed between pre- and post-production.
"The filmmakers really liked the tail designs I did for [Spider-Man: Homecoming]," Concept Illustrator Josh Nizzi says in the "Art of" book for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. "There were a lot of fun explorations making it more high-tech with a military look."
"I did some explorations with a more traditional comic-book-looking costume and the solid tail, but my idea was that the individual segments and tubes would make it lighter and enable it to move and get longer in battle but to fold up into his backpack when needed."
"The spike had to look formidable," the artist continued, "but I also imagined that maybe other blades could come out like a Swiss Army knife so he has more options when it comes to combat."
It's interesting to hear that Scorpion's divisive original tail design had a practical purpose, though when and why it was dropped for the version we got in the final cut of Spider-Man: Brand New Day hasn't been revealed. That does feel like the stronger version of the competing designs, though.
It remains to be seen whether we've seen the last of Scorpion in the MCU, but Marvel Studios could still choose to take the villain down the Venom route if Spider-Man returns from Battleworld with the Symbiote. We'll see, but you can check out some early Scorpion designs below.
In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, it's a Brand New Day for Peter Parker. Fighting crime full-time as Spider-Man in a world that doesn’t remember him—and the pressure of seeing his old friends move on without him—sparks a change in Peter he may not have the power to control.
But that transformation might also be the only thing that can stop a shocking new threat to the city and those he loves - a powerful villain no one can even see. The world may have forgotten Peter Parker, but he hasn’t forgotten them.
In our review, we concluded by saying, "Spider-Man: Brand New Day is everything fans could want. Emotional, hilarious, and heartfelt, it’s an action-packed love letter to the comics and one of Spidey’s best big-screen adventures. Spider-Man has never been more amazing."
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now playing in theaters.