Spider-Man’s impish cameo in Captain America: Civil War turned doubters into true believers. After two middling Amazing Spider-Man movies starring the unfortunate Andrew Garfield, Marvel managed to make the masked wall-crawler feel fresh again, merely by introducing him into a more colourful and diverse universe of superheroes where Spidey is no longer required to beat up Flash Thompson, or grieve for Uncle Ben, every second movie.
But can the Disney-owned studio restore the webslinger to his rightful position on the tallest plinth in the comic book movie pantheon when he no longer has dozens of former or future Avengers for company? Here are eight takeaways from our first look at Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Time is on the new Spidey’s side
As promised by Marvel, this is a genuinely green, high school-age wall-crawler. Unlike either of his big-screen predecessors – Tobey Maguire was 27 when he first played the role; Andrew Garfield 29 – at 20 years old, British actor Tom Holland looks like he really could still be a teenager. That marks Spider-Man: Homecoming out nicely from the rest of the rapidly-aging MCU and ensures the new Peter Parker needn’t be rushed into full-time membership of The Avengers.
Spider-Man is now a winged wall-crawler
Thanks to a previous teaser trailer, we already knew that the all-new, all-different Spidey is continuing to get tactical support from Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark following the events of Civil War. Presumably this Steve Ditko-inspired winged suit is useful when you’re taking on a menacing flying monster, otherwise known as Michael Keaton’s villainous Vulture.
Tony Stark is a hesitant mentor
Marvel’s ability to show Iron Man’s gradual transition from arrogant overreacher to chastened stick-in-the-mud over the course of a half dozen movies may just be one of the most impressive aspects of its pioneering cinematic universe. During his run as the power-suited hero, Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark has saved the world from alien invaders, then helped usher in an artificial intelligence that nearly destroyed the planet. The genius billionaire has fought alongside Captain America, then battled against the patriotic hero. So it should come as no surprise that he makes a rather hesitant mentor to Peter Parker, especially as Stark isn’t really the avuncular type. Where’s Nick Fury when you need him?
Marvel has semi-redacted Spidey’s superhero status
Stark suddenly seems unsure whether Parker’s ready for superhero duties, which seems a bit rich given he was ready to call on the MCU’s newest hero to battle the likes of Captain America, The Winter Soldier and Falcon during the events of Civil War. There has been some suggestion that Spider-Man: Homecoming might straddle the events of the earlier episode, rather than taking place after it, which would make sense of the older man’s cautious approach.
The Vulture looks the real deal
Bad villains have always killed Spider-Man movies, from The Amazing Spider-Man’s poorly-rendered Lizard to the awful triple whammy of Venom, Sandman and James Franco’s junior Green Goblin in Sam Raimi’s ill-fated final turn in the hot seat, Spider-Man 3. But Michael Keaton’s Vulture, all hellish insectoid carapace, freaky machine-mask and those infernal emerald peepers, already looks like an impressively scary specimen. He may not be the most famous of Spidey villains, but Keaton’s first comic book movie turn since 1992’s Batman Returns could change all that in a whisk of those matte-black wings.
Umm … Zendaya may not be playing Mary Jane Watson after all
The fanboy blogosphere (including myself) – and even the great Stan Lee – might need to ready ourselves for a giant egg-on-face moment. When usually reliable Hollywood trade bible The Wrap “confirmed” in August that the pop star and actor would be playing Peter Parker’s perennial paramour, the news generated scores of pieces praising the casting of an African American actor in the traditionally Anglo-Saxon role.
The only problem is, Zendaya doesn’t appear to be playing MJ after all: the distinctly non-red-headed young woman berating Peter Parker and his pal in the trailer is rumoured to be named Michele. Could she be Michele Gonzalez, room-mate and sometime love interest for Spidey in the comics? To be fair, Zendaya has continued to insist that she is not playing MJ, and it’s looking increasingly unlikely that this is yet another example of “I am Khan”-style smoke and mirrors.
But Marvel is addressing its diversity problem
Making Mary Jane mixed-race made sense because Queens, where Spidey lives and goes to school, boasted a non-Hispanic white population of just 26.2% in 2014, the date of the most recent census. But looking around the new Midtown high, this does seem to be a more realistic rendition than we’ve seen before in the Sony movies. Parker’s best friend Ned Leeds is played by the Asian American actor Jacob Batalon, while rumored love interest Liz Allan is portrayed by African American actor Laura Harrier. An even better known member of the Spidey supporting cast, Flash Thompson, will be played by The Grand Budapest Hotel’s splendid Tony Revolori, who is of Guatemalan descent.
Iron Man is far from retired
Regular Marvel observers wondered if Tony Stark might keep the power-suits firmly locked away for a while in the wake of Civil War’s bruising inter-superhero battles. But given the cost of hiring Downey Jr, it was probably inevitable that Iron Man would find himself swooping through the Manhattan skyline at some point. Is the Vulture simply too powerful for one teenage superhero to take down alone?
