Sandman (Spider-Man Films)

Sandman (real name: Flint Marko) is the secondary antagonist turned anti-hero of Spider-Man 3. He is an escaped convict. Sandman is seen as a tragic villain because he is portrayed as decent, understandable and honorable. A far cry from the Sandman of the comics.

He was portrayed by actor Thomas Haden Church who also played Lyle Van de Groot, Dwayne LaFontant, and Tal Hajus. 

Flint Marko's main weapon of choice was his own body, which he distorted to fit whatever purpose he wanted, although his main firearm was a Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver, which he used in his robberies prior to getting his powers.

Character Biography

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 new-found powers to rob numerous banks, but he was thwarted by Spider-Man, who was growing increasingly unstable as a result of the symbiote, and washed him away down a drain. Sandman didn't know it, but Spider-Man 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 Spider-Man kills Venom with one of the Green Goblin's pumpkin bombs, Marko sadly reveals to Spider-Man 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 him to steal the car and slapped Marko on the shoulder, startling him and causing him to jolt and accidentally pull the trigger. Marko tried to help Ben, but Carradine abandoned his partner. 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 redeemed Sandman lets the wind carry himself.

Trivia

• He was the only villain in the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy who did not die or commit suicide.
• He is also the fourth villain in the films to be redeemed.
• He is very similar to the 2004 film version of Doctor Octopus; they were both tragic villains turned anti heroes, but Marko didn't die.
• Just like Venom / Eddie Brock, his alias "Sandman" was never mentioned in the film. He was always known as Marko.