Flint Marko a.k.a Sandman is the secondary antagonist of the Spider-Man trilogy, as an unseen antagonist of Spider-Man and the secondary antagonist of Spider-Man 3, and one of the two tertiary antagonists (alongside Lizard) of the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Spider-Man 3[]
Flint Marko originally appeared in the comics but was a main character in Spider-Man 3. Marko was a down-on-his-luck father of a child named Penny with cancer. In an effort to support her, the unemployed Marko was forced to rob banks and numerous other places to pay for her cancer treatments. One night, the robbery failed and Marko fled outside the city limits, trying to escape from the police, who were in hot pursuit. Marko fled into a gigantic chamber filled with sand at a remote testing facility. Marko didn't know it at the time, but it was an experiment that was testing if sand could protect against radiation. Marko successfully hid from the police in the pit, but the sand was blasted with radiation, and Marko's genes were blended together with the sand. Marko discovered that he could still be a normal man, but was invincible, as he was now made of sand. Marko realized that his sand makeup allowed him to grow in size and make weapons with his body. Marko used his newfound powers to rob numerous banks, but he was thwarted by Spiderman, who was growing increasingly unstable as a result of the symbiote, and washed him away down a drain. Sandman didn't know it, but Spiderman was actually Peter Parker, a mild-mannered photographer for the Daily Bugle, who discovered that Marko killed his beloved uncle, Ben. Venom later comes to Marko and forms an alliance with him, although Marko is slightly reluctant. After Spiderman kills Venom with one of the Green Goblin's pumpkin bombs, Marko sadly reveals to Spiderman that he never meant to kill his uncle. He told Ben, who was waiting for Peter, that he needed his car to get away. Ben attempted to talk Marko out of it, but before Marko could turn back, his accomplice, Dennis Carradine, ran up to Marko to steal the car and caused the Colt Python revolver in his hand to go off. Carradine was later pushed out a window by Parker that same night. Marko later surrendered to the police, stating that he spent "a lot of nights wishing I could take it back", and begs for Peter's forgiveness. Peter forgives Flint and, having finally come to terms with what he has done and at peace with himself, a successfully redeemed Sandman lets the wind carry himself.
Trivia[]
- He is portrayed by Thomas Haden Church.
- Thomas Haden Church was a fan of the comics as a kid.
- Sandman is the only villain in the Spider-Man films who didn't die.
- Sandman is also the fourth villain in the films to be redeemed.