Spider-Man: Far From Home just added Numan Acar (12 Strong) to the cast - and we think he may be playing the classic Spider-Man villain Chameleon. With Marvel Studios helping Sony reboot the Spider-Man franchise (again), the focus has been on incorporating new characters and stories instead of repeating what came before. This mantra was evident in Spider-Man: Homecoming and looks to be true again with its sequel - especially when it comes to Spider-Man's enemies.
In Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Marvel Cinematic Universe received several new villains from Spider-Man's rogues gallery. The main one was Michael Keaton playing Adrian Toomes a.k.a. Vultur, but he also brought his crew with him. The film featured Logan Marshall-Green and Bokeem Woodbine as different versions of Shocker, introduced Donald Glover as Aaron Davis a.k.a. Prowler, and even brought Michael Chernus in as The Tinkerer. There was also Michael Mando as Scorpion, who was teased as having big plans of his own. For Far From Home, Jake Gyllenhaal is reportedly taking the main villain role as Mysterio - and he may be joined by Chameleon.
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Details surrounding Acar's addition are sparse, but the key detail is that his name is "Dimitri." The spelling doesn't immediately register with any Spidey foes, but a small change to Dmitri aligns perfectly with famous Spider-Man villain. In the comics, Chameleon's real name is Dmitri Smerdyakov, an incredible spy and master of disguise thanks to his uniquely smooth and featureless face. If this is in fact who Acar is playing in Far From Home, it once again looks like Tom Holland's Spider-Man will be facing several villains. But this time, he'll be doing so overseas.
Chameleon is as strongly linked to Spider-Man as any of his villains, and actually appeared in the wall-crawler's very first solo issue, Amazing Spider-Man #1 in 1963. He gets his name from his ability to constantly and effortlessly change his appearance, oftentimes taking the place of other major characters. He's gone on to be a recurring villain of Spidey and even a member of the Sinister Six. However, Chameleon's links don't stop there. He is the younger half-brother to Sergei Kravinoff, better known as Kraven the Hunter. The two have regularly teamed up to try and best Spider-Man - something that could be in play in the MCU's future, especially if that rumored Kraven the Hunter spinoff goes ahead.
If Far From Home does bring Chameleon into the fold, his introduction could be part of a bigger plan. His immediate future could be big, as he'd be an ideal partner for Mysterio, thanks to the duo's shared masterful ability to escape any situation. Even if it is just a small role now, Acar then finds himself in a position where he could return in future sequels. If there is a future for him, then one for Kraven is also likely. There's been talk of Kraven as the villain in the third film, which could possibly then result in a potential fourth film tackling Sinister Six. That is still a distant possibility though, but Acar looks to be a great candidate to bring Chameleon to life in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
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Key Release Dates Captain Marvel (2019) release date: Mar 08, 2019 The Avengers 4 / Untitled Avengers Movie (2019) release date: May 03, 2019 Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) release date: Jul 05, 2018
