Spider-Man Villain Tombstone Will Rule 2026 With a Triple-Threat Takeover

Well, 2026 is looking wild if you dig Spider-Man—or even if you don’t, honestly, because Sony and Marvel are going all-in. Three different Spidey projects are dropping in one year. Not just across movies, but also TV and animation. The weird part: all three will put the spotlight on a villain most mainstream audiences barely know, but deep-cut comic fans will instantly clock. Yes, 2026 is shaping up to be the year Tombstone finally shows up everywhere. No, not Green Goblin, not Doc Ock, not even Venom. I’m talking about the guy named after a grave marker—Alonzo 'Lonnie' Lincoln, better known as Tombstone.

So…Who the Heck Is Tombstone?

If you’ve never heard of Tombstone, you’re not alone outside comic circles. He first showed up in Marvel’s Web of Spider-Man #36, way back in 1988, cooked up by Gerry Conway and Alex Saviuk. Basically, he started out as an albino crime boss with a freaky set of filed-down teeth (not kidding—he literally did this to scare off other crooks). His best friend growing up? Robbie Robertson, the very same guy from The Daily Bugle. That’s the kind of old-school, small-world New York City coincidence comics love.

Lincoln climbed the criminal ladder, picking up the nickname Tombstone because, well, he left a lot of dead bodies in his wake. Later, he gets doused with a weird chemical gas, which gives him super strength and skin tough enough to bounce off bullets. He’s tangled with all of New York’s shadiest big shots: Kingpin, Hammerhead, plus he’s dad to Janice 'Beetle' Lincoln (who, yes, is her own supervillain). Recently, Marvel’s comics have positioned Tombstone as a central force in NYC’s organized crime scene—he even kicked off the 'Gang War' event in 2023 by surviving an attempt on his life.

If you caught The Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, he was 'The Big Man of Crime' there; in Insomniac’s Spider-Man Playstation games, he went from foe to slightly reformed ally. But let’s be real, none of that matches what’s coming up: the guy is about to get serious mainstream exposure in three big new projects. Different actors, different interpretations, and maybe (hopefully) a bit more than just a tough guy who scowls and punches stuff.

How Tombstone Is About to Take Over 2026

1. 'Spider-Noir' (May 2026): The Nicolas Cage-led series is bringing Spider-Man to the 1930s (think more pulp detective, less quippy teenager). Abraham Popoola is playing Tombstone—though for a while, there was confusion about who he even was. Posters for the show revealed Popoola suited up as a villain, and everybody on the internet started guessing: Hammerhead? Rhino? Turns out, artist Jorge Molina finally confirmed it: Popoola is Tombstone. Expect a version who’s a World War I vet, trying to muscle his way up the criminal food chain—maybe even eyeing Silvermane’s crown (Brendan Gleeson’s playing that guy). Fun tidbit: Lamorne Morris shows up as Robert Robertson, which is a neat call-back to the Tombstone/Robbie dynamic from the comics.
2. 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' (July 2026): Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is back in the MCU, and this one’s supposedly more 'street-level'—think less Thanos, more mob bosses. Tombstone in this round gets played by rapper/actor Marvin Jones III (Krondon). He’s actually voiced Tombstone before in Into the Spider-Verse, and if you watched Black Lightning, he played another albino villain. Marvel is still being super secretive about who the main bad guy is, but the fact that Tombstone’s in the mix (plus rumors of Hulk and Punisher?) suggests this version will stick pretty close to the ruthless crime boss from the comics.
3. 'Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man' Season 2 (Fall 2026): On the animated side, the Disney+ show is giving us a teenage twist. If you checked out Season 1, this version of Lonnie Lincoln is a high-achieving high school athlete who’s also become friends—and, let’s be honest, sometimes rivals—with Peter Parker. Voiced by Eugene Byrd, Lonnie gets wrapped up with the 110th Street Gang to protect his younger brother (which, if you know the history, tracks with the 'good intentions, bad methods' arc). By the end of the season, he’s the de facto gang leader—and, yes, has super strength and chalk-white skin, just like his comic counterpart, thanks to a science experiment gone obviously wrong. Season 2 is set to pick up with him adjusting to his new criminal status and, maybe, becoming the Tombstone we all know.

Three Versions, One Year—Why Now?

Here’s the funny thing: Marvel Studios has a history of putting some of Spidey’s biggest rogues—looking at you, Kraven—on the shelf because of film rights headaches. But Tombstone? Suddenly everyone’s using him, all in the same year, and apparently there’s no concern over overexposure. Maybe studio execs figured, 'He’s not exactly household name material—no one’s going to revolt if we triple up.'

If nothing else, 2026 is going to be a test case for how flexible these comic characters can be: same basic origin, wildly different vibes, no real need for consistency between projects. It’s almost like Marvel and Sony are saying, 'Go ahead, pick your favorite Tombstone.' Whoever you end up with, at least you can’t say you didn’t have options.

'All guided not by a need for continuity between titles, but by the different styles and stories the character can fit into.'