Marvel has unveiled a new take on Sandman, marking the third live-action version of the iconic Spider-Man villain. The reveal may come as a surprise to fans, especially after the character's 2021 re-appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but this iteration heads in a completely different direction. Notably, this Sandman won't be facing Tom Holland's Spider-Man in the MCU, entering a new era for Flint Marko.
Alongside Nicholas Cage's Ben Reilly / The Spider, Jack Huston is set to play a new version of Sandman in Amazon Prime Video's Spider-Noir, reimagined as a 1930s-era "hired muscle" rather than the traditional superpowered villain.
This is now the third iteration of Sandman in live action, but of course, this version will be less traditional than usual. Spider-Noir showrunner Oren Uziel is not shying away from this alternate take on Spider-Man and his rogues gallery.
Even though he likely won't be using his powers to become a giant, human-looking sand storm, early looks at Flint haven't been without his iconic sandy look. Some close-up's of Huston's character reveal a sandy face, displaying the villain's potentially hidden abilities.
Sandman will likely support the antagonist to the main villain and NYC mob boss, Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson).
Rather than the flashy, large-scale battles seen in past films, a noir setting would likely lean into Sandman's abilities in more subtle and sinister ways. His powers were shown on a poster at CCXP, highlighting that Flint will likely be able to transform into sand, making him a very elusive traveler in this series.
Sandman, originally created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, first appeared in Marvel Comics in the 1960s and most recently in live action in Spider-Man: No Way Home, when Thomas Hayden Church returns (mainly through voice-over work and reused footage).
Prior to that multiversal return, Church played Flint in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3, one of a few villains in that team-up movie against Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker.
This is the most recognizable iteration of the character, given the film's popularity and the first time the character was ever brought to the big screen. In Spider-Man 3, fans get to see Sandman perform all types of tricks, including becoming an enormous version of himself, nearly killing Spider-Man in the process.
The most forgettable, or confusing live action iterarion of Sandman is from Spider-Man: Far From Home.
In Far From Home, the version of Sandman seen on screen was entirely a fabrication orchestrated by Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio (Jake Gylenhaal). Using holographic projectors and drones, Beck constructed a convincingly realistic creature made of earth and sand, supported by a backstory that the monster was one of the so-called "Elementals" from a parallel universe.
While Sandman was never real, the drones operating beneath the illusion were capable of causing genuine physical destruction, making the deception all the more dangerous.
This is the version of Sandman that most fans tend to forget entirely, which is understandable given that the character never truly existed in the story.
Of all the Spider-Man villains, Sandman has been one that fans would possibly want more of. Joining the return of Sandman in Spider-Noir are familiar characters like Robbie Robertson (Lamorne Morris), Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li), an alternate take of Black Cat, and Electro (Joe Massingill).
2026 is a huge year for Spidey fans, with this new Into the Spider-Verse spin-off series releasing on May 27, then Holland's fourth MCU solo outing coming in July. With Spider-Man: Brand New Day on the horizon, fans might be wondering if they'll ever see the MCU Peter Parker go up against his own Sandman.
Will Sandman Ever Join the MCU?
Tom Holland's Spider-Man is facing a wide variety of villains in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. This includes Scorpion (Michael Mando), Tombstone (Marvin Jones III), Tarantula, Boomerang, and a few other mysteries. It's also very likely that Spider-Man faces off against the return of Savage Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), even though they likely won't be enemies forever.
With all these villains and a wide spread of characters, including Jon Bernthal's Punisher, it might make fans wonder if No Way Home removed a few villains from Holland's potential list of enemies.
The fear is that villains like Green Goblin, Electro, Doc Ock, Lizard, and yes, Sandman, will not get proper MCU iterations because their original live-action versions already reappeared in No Way Home, and Holland's Spider-Man has already faced them.
This trend is seemingly already happening in Brand New Day, with none of those villains set to appear in the movie. If Holland ultimately gets another trilogy in the MCU, it would be a shame not to include iconic characters like the Osborns or Doctor Curt Connors.
No Sandman would also be a shame. Having recently appeared in PS5's Spider-Man 2, the character is a great setup for some really unique action set pieces.
Hopefully, the full arsenal of Spidey villains is still on the table, and not just in alternate universe spin-offs like Spider-Noir.
