Spider-Man Villain Actor Reveals His Future In The Franchise Is Looking Bright
Thomas Haden Church played Sandman in Spider-Man 3, and following his No Way Home appearance, he's excited about returning as the super-powered convict.
Since the days of Sam Raimi‘s classic Spider-Man trilogy, the iconic hero’s film outings have always been defined by the quality of their villains. Jon Watts’ 2021 film Spider-Man: No Way Home cemented this theory by giving us practically every villain we’ve ever seen the web-slinger take on in live-action, from the likes of Willem Dafoe‘s Green Goblin and Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus to the lesser known villains who anchored films past such as Sandman and The Lizard. According to a write-up in The DisInsider, Thomas Haden Church is hopeful that his run as the Spider-Man villain Sandman is not over yet, with expectations of returning for another outing with the franchise sometime soon.
While discussing his role as convict-turned-sand monster Flint Marko, Thomas Haden Church explained that most of his work on Spider-Man: No Way Home was done remotely, with CGI and reused assets from his appearance in 2007’s Spider-Man 3 filling in the blanks. Church expressed a deep understanding and enthusiasm for the character, whose emotional arc anchored the Sam Raimi film through his impactful performance. When prompted about his feelings toward returning to the franchise, the Ned and Stacey actor confirmed that there are already talks of bringing the Sandman back for another outing.
Given the time and scheduling restraints that prevented Thomas Haden Church from appearing on set for much of Spider-Man: No Way Home, there wasn’t much of an opportunity to let his character shine, though there were allegedly talks of the villain having much more to do in an original draft of the film. Church has stated that he’d be open to returning to the role to provide more closure for the character in human form, as the events of No Way Home saw Marko returning to his timeline cured of his sandy ailment. The film’s ending also has potentially massive implications for every villain who reprised their roles, as some were cured of their ills, while others had deaths reversed, likely returning them to their universe with unfinished business and a newfound respect for Spider-Man.
At this time, the ownership of Thomas Haden Church’s character is still in the air, begging the question of what Spider-Man universe a future Sandman appearance could end up in. Church claims that he’s been in talks with Marvel head Kevin Feige to return (though technically, the character is still licensed to Sony) and he could even see appearing in a more tangential project such as Morbius or the upcoming Madame Web. Additionally, Sam Raimi has expressed interest in returning to direct another Spider-Man film if asked, but only if Tobey Maguire agrees to star, causing fans to wonder if this character allegiance would extend to a standalone Sandman film if one such film enters production.
For now, Thomas Haden Church’s future with the Spider-Man franchise is uncertain, though it seems almost inevitable that the character will return in some capacity based on his recent comments. With the character’s touching father-daughter relationship anchoring much of the emotional weight of 2007’s Spider-Man 3, many fans would be happy to see the character’s arc resolved, regardless of what the studio chooses to produce.
