When I look at the yearly list of summer blockbusters, I find that I can’t let myself get too excited about some of the upcoming franchise intros, reboots or sequels. I’ve been let down too many times before. But this summer, there’s an air of hope, at least when it comes to the superhero genre. It looks like DC may finally have a critical success on their hands with Wonder Woman. And it looks like there will finally be a great Spider-Man movie with Spider-Man: Homecoming.
To be fair, the Sam Rami Spider-Man trilogy featuring Toby Maguire, wasn’t terrible (though I’m one that felt that the second was not that great, and the third was not that bad). But certainly, at this point, they feel a little outdated and not in line with modern superhero movies. And the Amazing Spider-Man series was just a hot mess.
So, yes, this time it looks like they got it right. Bring the web-slinger into the already established Marvel universe. They did a great job of teasing him in Captain America: Civil War. And though Homecoming is his first solo flight, Iron Man (Robert Downy, Jr., in case you forgot) will be there to help him, and apparently scold him. Though people have been teasing the overuse of Iron Man in the posters, I’ve confidence that in the end, Spidey will hold his own.
The big plus in this series is taking Peter Parker back to being a kid. And I think Tom Holland is perfectly cast as both Peter Parker and his alt-ego. The idea of a teenage loser suddenly becoming a superhero, but still having to deal with growing up and all that craziness… well, it worked very well for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series, so it should be a no-brainer to stretch out the teen years (as the comics did). Something the other versions seemed to rush through.
My one dismay is Aunt May. She appears to be getting younger and younger with each incarnation of Spider-Man. Marisa Tomei may be in her 50s, but, as Tony Stark noted, she is still hot. Seems like an odd choice for Aunt May. Aunt May was always the older patriarch who worried about Peter, and vice versa. Perhaps a little conservative, she saw Spider-Man as a menace. So Peter could not confide in her. Having a cool and younger aunt would have me wondering why Peter Parker doesn’t “come out” as Spider-Man to her. We’ll see how Marvel plays this card.
And I will miss JK “not my tempo” Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. There is an internet push to get him back in the role, and I’d be absolutely OK with that. Not sure if the character is even in this film, but whoever takes over, they’ll had some big performances to fill.
Then there’s the bad guy. The Vulture, played by Michael “I’m Batman” Keaton. So excited to see him take on the roll of the villain. Looks like he’s a guy who has a grudge with the Avengers and goes to post battle sites to collect the technology to build wonderful toys. Bet Spider-Man is the thorn in his side he wasn’t expecting. It’s going to be fun watching him fly and fight Tom Holland.
But the biggest question about Spider-Man: Homecoming is… What Spider-Man t-shirt are you going to wear to opening weekend? Here’s some fun ideas, true believers!
Written by Tom Misuraca
I am an award-winning playwright/novelist/screenwriter/blogger. I enjoy comics (Batman, Fantastic Four, X-Men), movies, music (Gothic, Industrial, 80s), reading and yoga.