Major Spider-Man Villain Tarantula Confirmed To Return Ahead Brand New Day

Finally, it's time for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to prepare itself for Spider-Man villains that are kind of a big deal in the Marvel Comics space, but that may not have been popularized before now.

Plenty fall into that category but, thanks to Tom Holland's Spider-Man: Brand New Day, some like Tarantula have a fighting chance of becoming as much of a household name as Doctor Octopus.

And, speaking of Tarantula, the good news is it appears the world won't have to wait until the global release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day on July 31 to get a taste of what he brings to the table and why he's routinely been one of Peter Parker's biggest headaches in comics but, first, a quick reminder of where you've seen Tarantula; and maybe you missed it.

Huge Tarantula Easter Egg in Spider-Man Trailer

At roughly the 2:10 mark in the record-setting initial trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Parker is seen battling a villain dressed in the same comic-accurate outfit as Tarantula, a scene that's already been mostly proven to be directly from the source material: the cover of The Amazing Spider-Man #134.

Here is the still shot followed by the original cover art from 1974, a special kudos to director Destin Daniel Cretton for doing his homework.

But who exactly is Tarantula? No one can answer this better than his creator, the late Gerry Conway, with a description offered up more than 50 years ago (yes, that's how long it's taken for Tarantula to hit the mainstream).

Tarantula Crawling His Way Back Into Marvel Comics

"During the political upheavals in South America during the 1970s, there was a real sense that we, the United States, were somewhat culpable, both for supporting the repressive regimes that were in power, and in the case of Chile, actually assisting in the overthrow of the democratically elected government," Conway said at the time. "So, in that environment, a character like the Tarantula was inherently political. But the real reason I wanted to write that particular story was something said by my good friend Don Glut, who was also writing for Marvel at the time.

He continued: Don once asked, "'Why aren't there international heroes from smaller countries, a third-world, or old-world Captain America, like say, Captain Serbo-Croatia?' We laughed, but I really liked that notion: Just because the United States came up with their guy, why stop there? Why stop with the larger countries, the superpowers?"

That brings us to now, and Free Comic Book Day Spider-Man story, where a symbol-less Tarantula was spotted in the panels of as an all-new Venom, tassels and claws showing prominently along with his telltale red top and black mask, gloves and pants. This makes for what can only be described as a foregone conclusion that Tarantula is back, fully, and ready for crossover mania in Marvel Comics as the character also prepares to try and take on Holland's Spider-Man in the MCU this summer.

Conway would and should be proud of how far Tarantula has come, even if it took the world more than a half-century to give him a chance.