An MCU concept artist revealed a scrapped early design for Tombstone in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. New York mob boss Lonnie Lincoln, aka Tombstone, finally entered the MCU with Spider-Man: Brand New Day's time-skipping opening montage. The summer blockbuster highlighted the heroic spree that Tom Holland's Peter Parker has been on since No Way Home, including taking down Tombstone, played by Black Lightning star Marvin Jones III (Krondon).
Concept artist Ian Joyner unveiled the first look at the Tombstone design that he was commissioned to create, inspired by a "classic [comic] cover." The concept reveals a very different, much scarier design for Marvin Jones III's Tombstone from what appeared in Brand New Day's final product.
Brand New Day set out to recreate several famous comic covers featuring Scorpion, Tarantula, Boomerang, and Tombstone. For Lonnie Lincoln, Jones III was placed at the heart of a recreation of Spectacular Spider-Man #142, one of Tombstone's first appearances, in which he dangled Spidey from a rooftop.
Of course, Marvel Studios followed through on its plans to bring Tombstone into the MCU, even if it was for under a minute and not the "very crucial" villain role that rumors indicated on the run-up to release. However, the Brand New Day team opted for a completely different look for New York's Big Man.
The conceptual Tombstone enhances its fear factor with an almost supernatural design, appearing closer to a zombie or vampire than the hulking mob boss he resembled in the movie, while he also traded a black suit for a brown one.
Joyner visualized Tombstone very similarly to his most iconic comic aesthetic, particularly copying his usual black suit that Marvel Studios ultimately rejected.
Brand New Day is actually rapper/actor Krondon's second stab at Tombstone, as he also voiced the character in 2018's Into the Spider-Verse and will do so again in next year's Beyond the Spider-Verse. The version portrayed in Brand New Day is perhaps more similar to the animated flick than Ian Joyner's original concept art.
Why Spider-Man 5 Needs to Focus on Tombstone & Mob Bosses
Marvel Studios is reportedly planning for Tombstone to be a "Thanos-level [overarching]" villain in the MCU's next Spider-Man trilogy. However, as reports also suggested that Tombstone would play a larger role in Brand New Day than the cameo he ultimately received, it's unclear whether that was accurate.
While Brand New Day has been widely praised by fans and critics, some weren't sold on the decision to use X-Men characters Jean Grey and William Metzger as its main antagonist instead of pulling from Spidey's rogues' gallery. The studio could rectify that for Spider-Man 5 and 6 by giving foes like Tombstone, Mr. Negative, Kraven the Hunter, or Hobgoblin a chance at main villain status.
Marvel Studios' goal for the coming Spider-Man movies is allegedly for the web-slinger to finally "cross paths" with Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin. One path to that could be a gang-war-centric storyline featuring mob bosses Tombstone, Kingpin, Hammerhead, and Silvermane fight for control of New York's criminal underworld while Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Punisher work against them.
