Tombstone, a fan-favorite Spider-Man villain, has been reappropriated for El Muerto, a spin-off film that nobody asked for, and people are understandably a little upset with the studio’s decision.

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Spider-Man fans are pretty easy to please, all they want is some news on Spider-Man 4, nothing else, just Spider-Man, please. Of course, Sony is trying to set up a franchise here, so it’s chosen to focus on spin-offs. Alongside the upcoming Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web movies we also have El Muerto, a super-powered Luchador on a quest to kill the wrestling God. It could be interesting, but Sony hasn’t exactly been delivering on its spin-off Spider-Verse movies lately and the projects’ already struggling at the first hurdle, so we’ll just have to wait until it’s released to decide if it’s any good.

Unfortunately, fans are already pretty angry with the upcoming film as rumors suggest that Tombstone will be El Muerto’s main antagonist for the film. Whilst there’s nothing wrong with Tombstone, many have taken issue with the villain appearing in another hero’s movie. Fans would much rather see him fight Spider-Man and they’ve taken to twitter to vent.

Instead of an El Muerto movie, Tombstone should be in a Spider-Man movie (some turf war between Tombstone and Kingpin, and Spidey is in the middle), or — at the very least — have him in a Heroes For Hire series on Disney+

This is madness, Sony.

— Charles Lee (@Goofyfan_Chuck) April 26, 2023

Tombstone will supposedly be played by Marvin Jones III aka Krondon. He’s most well known for his role as the villainous Tobias Whale from Black Lightning. Many agreed with the casting choice and were excited to see Krondon in the part; the issue is just with Sony’s transparent attempt to use him to drum up hype for a hero that not many are excited about. Whilst El Muerto is relatively unknown, Tombstone is a villain that many know and recognise and it’s clear Sony is hoping that he’ll attract fans who wouldn’t otherwise watch. 

great casting but if Tombstone makes his cinematic debut in El Muerto😭

— Micycle but as Louisa Ferre (again) (@micyclle) April 26, 2023

The CW’s Arrow show frequently did this with Batman villains too, it just reeks of a lack of confidence in the source material. El Muerto has a villain and he has his own quest so why not focus on that?

Of course, it’s early days for the movie which hasn’t even begun filming yet so things could and probably will change. Hopefully Sony will listen to the fan response and make the wise decision to give El Muerto his own villain.