NEW YORK – After taking part in the first wave of comic book films that graced movie screens in the 1980s and ‘90s, Oscar-nominee Michael Keaton is back on familiar turf.

Only this time, instead of playing the hero, he’s stepping into the villain’s shoes as the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

“It was inventive and an interesting way to go,” he says sagely.

Keaton’s Adrian Toomes becomes the Vulture after his cleanup crew loses their jobs helping get rid of the debris following the aftermath of the Battle of New York in the first Avengers film.

Broke and unable to provide for his family, Toomes and his friends turn to a life of crime, selling weapons and robbing banks just to keep afloat. They aren’t motivated to take over the world, they just want to survive below the radar of heroes like Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/ Iron Man.

“This person has a legitimate gripe,” Keaton says. “I just thought the simplicity of making this person approachable is timely.”

When the Vulture crosses paths with Peter Parker/ Spider-Man (played by Tom Holland), he becomes the type of villain the web-slinger can beat to elevate himself to Avengers status.

“I’m not familiar with a lot of the comic book lore, dig it? So for me, I was trying to catch up,” Keaton says. “But it was a fun gig.”

Vulture is the first Spidey villain to show up in Marvel’s cinematic universe after Marvel and Sony reached a deal that will see the character appear in two upcoming Avengers films and two solo adventures.

Sony’s previous attempt to reboot the wall-crawler in 2012 and 2014 featured the Lizard (Rhys Ifans), Electro (Jamie Foxx), Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan) and Rhino (Paul Giamatti).

At first, Spider-Man star Tom Holland wasn’t sold on the Vulture as Homecoming’s primary antagonist.

“I remember when I had my first conversation with [director] Jon [Watts] and he told me it was going to be the Vulture,” Holland says. “Immediately I went straight to the comics and started reading about the character and I remember thinking, ‘Hmm, the Vulture is kind of lame. He even looks lame.’ But then they sent me concept art and I was like, ‘Holy s---, this is amazing!’ The suit they designed is so cool and [Keaton] is so amazing.”

Along with Christopher Reeve’s Superman, Keaton was one of cinema’s first modern-day superheroes. He famously played the Caped Crusader in two Batman films – 1989’s Batman and 1992’s Batman Returns. After he turned down a lucrative payday to return for a third go-round as the Dark Knight, Keaton moved on to other roles, including Ron Howard’s The Paper, Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown and voice work on Disney/ Pixar’s Cars.

But there were notable misses (Jack Frost anyone?), and Keaton became a tertiary star until he returned as a former cinema superhero in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman in 2014.

Since then, the 65-year-old has enjoyed a steady mix of work as a grizzled newspaper editor in Spotlight (which won Best Picture at the 2016 Oscars) and playing Ray Kroc – the man who helped create McDonald’s – in this year’s The Founder.

“I’ve been able to play tiny things and bigger parts,” he muses.

Next up, Keaton will re-team with his Batman (and Beetlejuice) director Tim Burton with a live-action remake of Dumbo.

Keaton is preparing to play Vandemere, the ruthless circus boss who exploits the flying elephant and his mother in the Disney classic.

“I’m telling you man, you just wanna be around that guy,” Keaton said in a separate interview with Good Morning America. “You wanna be in his sphere because he’s original and unique, and an artist.”

Dumbo will also co-star Colin Farrell, Eva Green, and Keaton’s Batman Returns castmate Danny DeVito.

So after playing the hero and the villain, which did he prefer?

“They’re both fun,” he smiles. “Actors tend to be drawn to villainous characters because it gets interesting. Usually, the reality is, the lead or hero has to represent a thing, whereas the supporting characters are more dimensional.

“A lot of times, I think everyone, or most of us, had some experience where you’re playing a role and you’re looking at some of the minor roles, and you’re thinking, ‘Oh man, I’d like to have a bite of that! It [looks] so much fun.’”

But playing the hero wins the day.

“One is more iconic,” he says. “And you make a hell of a lot more dough being the big league guy.”

Spider-Man: Homecoming opens Friday, July 7.

Twitter: @markhdaniell

MDaniell@postmedia.com