[Analysis & Review] Spider-Man: Homecoming [Impressions & Trivia]
Hello!
This time it’s thoughts, small details and predictions for Spider-Man, the 16th film in the MCU!!
*Warning:
There will be analysis. And spoilers for the whole MCU so far.
The Japanese cinema programme was a source for this one too!!
Plenty of photos in it as well — recommended!!
Contents
Small details & trivia
Miles Morales
Spider-Man questions a Black man in a car park at one point.
He’s a criminal, but he respects Spider-Man’s heroism and hands over some important information.
https://dengekionline.com/articles/50668/
His name is Aaron Davis.
In the comics he’s the Prowler, a former villain turned hero.
He seems to understand Spider-Man properly, so there’s a lot to hope for later.
And here’s the thing!
It’s a different Marvel universe (a parallel world), but his nephew is called Miles Morales, and he becomes Spider-Man.
http://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20110916/04/gj2008jg/b9/d3/j/o0480073811485832147.jpg
Miles joining the MCU would be wonderful.
Sony holds the film rights though, so whether he can turn up in a Marvel film is a bit doubtful….
And there’s more — Miles exists at all because of a single tweet from Donald Glover, the man playing Aaron Davis here.
The short version: Donald tweeted, half as a joke, that Spider-Man is always white and he’d like to see a Black Spider-Man too. A writer saw it, and Miles Morales was born.
Casting Donald as Miles’ uncle in this film. The love in that.
Pepper Potts
https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2471594/see-the-best-look-at-pepper-potts-avengers-endgame-transformation
Pepper Potts, the love of Tony’s life.
Things were good between them in Iron Man 3, but by Civil War they had fallen apart, and it cast a dark shadow over Tony.
And here she is at the end — a surprise appearance!!!!
The Avengers walking out on Tony was genuinely sad.
But in this film he ends up marrying her!!!!
Probably lol
Good for you, Tony!! (T_T)
What Homecoming means
In America a homecoming is a party, but there’s the sense of Spider-Man coming home to the Marvel films in there too lol
The Spider-Man suit
One of the hard problems in putting Spider-Man on screen is the eyes.
In the comics his eyes open and narrow with real expression, and a live-action version needs a proper reason for that.
This film handled it well.
Making it a suit Tony built, loaded with all sorts of functions, slots it in without a single false note.
And the web wings!
Used in Washington DC this time — wonder what they get used for next.
Also, the programming language the suit runs on being object-oriented is so realistic it got a laugh out of me.
The training wheels function being written into the code that plainly was funny as well lol
MJ
In the old series and in the comics she’s the heroine, and she even marries Peter Parker. (Undone later.)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Kirsten_Dunst_Cannes.jpg
Right up to the last scene it looked like she simply wasn’t in this film.
And then it turns out at the very end that the girl in Peter’s after-school club goes by MJ!!
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Zendaya_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg
Genuinely startling!!!!
So thaaat’s how they were doing it lol
Main heroine from the next film onwards, presumably.
And while we’re at it, the business with Mephisto would be good to see too.
Flash Thompson
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Tony_Revolori_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg
Say Flash to anyone into American comics and they’ll know it means Flash Thompson.
Flash was the boy who bullied Peter in high school.
But as the years go by he becomes Peter’s closest friend.
Sadly he serves in the Iraq War and loses both legs saving his comrades.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/SecretAvengers23cover.jpg
Then a chance lands in his lap.
He’s offered the job of hosting an alien creature called a “symbiote” and working for the government.
He accepts.
Symbiotes have produced vicious villains like Venom and Carnage in the past, but Flash had the makings of a hero, so it worked out fine.
And so Flash becomes the hero Agent Venom and fights alongside Peter and the others.
That’s the comics version.
Here he needles Peter with his brains, and honestly he’s small fry lol
Does he become Agent Venom later? Something to look forward to.
Liz
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Laura_Harrier_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg
The heroine of this film, and astonishingly, Vulture’s daughter!!!
What a shock!!
Peter falling for her was lovely.
Fully expected her to work out that Peter = Spider-Man by noticing that the hand she held at the tower felt the same, same warmth and all, as Peter Parker’s — and no, nothing of the sort lol
Sadly the whole business ends with her transferring to another school.
In the comics she’s Flash’s girlfriend, so the odds of her coming back in Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 are high.
Just hope she doesn’t go looking for revenge for her father…
Principal Morita
The principal of Peter’s high school.
And there’s a photo of his ancestor (his grandfather, most likely) in his office.
Obvious now, isn’t it.
The ancestor is Jim Morita, one of Cap’s comrades in Captain America: The First Avenger.
【考察・レビュー】『アベンジャーズ/インフィニティ・ウォー』(原題: Avengers: Infinity War)【感想・トリビア】
Spider-Man is the character with the close ties to Iron Man, but he has a connection to Captain America as well.
Detail that fine is genuinely moving.
Karen
The AI in the Spider-Man suit is called Karen.
Her voice comes from an actress called Jennifer Connelly.
And in real life she’s married to Paul Bettany, who plays Vision lol
Casting notes like that are part of the fun.
Captain America
After Civil War, Captain America and the rest are apparently seen by the public as war criminals.
Setting that aside, Captain America — or rather Steve Rogers — being used in an educational video for schoolkids was hilarious lol
Telling everyone to follow the rules. Dripping with irony lol
The opening song
The opening of this film!!
Cried immediately!!
That music means Spider-Man!!
Never expected to hear it again. I cried.
It played in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man and in The Amazing Spider-Man too!!
Cindy
One of Peter’s club mates!
Say Cindy and it means Silk!
In the comics she’s called Cindy Moon, and she’s a superhero called Silk.
Silk was bitten by the same spider as Peter Parker, and she shoots webbing from all ten fingers — abilities that outstrip Peter’s.
With Flash and Miles and Silk all turning up, the odds of a Spider-Verse storyline down the line have gone right up!!!
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/44/Spider-Verse_Spider-Men.jpg
Ned
Peter Parker’s best friend.
Properly nerdy and very funny lol
The LEGO Death Star — have thought about buying that one myself lol
The school is highly selective, so his hacking never feels unnatural. Nicely handled.
He’s the type to let a secret slip, and he gets more and more likeable as it goes on lol
Now, in the comics, Ned means the third Hobgoblin!!
http://kohno-k.com/wp-content/uploads/041.jpg
The Hobgoblin is a copycat of the Green Goblin.
The third one was brainwashed into becoming the Hobgoblin.
Maybe Ned ends up as the Hobgoblin too lol
The villains
Plenty of villains besides Vulture in this one.
1. Phineas Mason / the Tinkerer
[Spider-Man villain guide]
The Tinkerer
An inventor, and a crook who lends criminals a hand. He mass-produces autonomous robots to serve as his henchmen, so his knowledge and skill are surprisingly solid. Runs away fairly quickly once Spider-Man finds him. pic.twitter.com/pzX0pn3Ays
— American Comics Trivia (@hero_zatsugaku_) 7 September 2016
In the comics the Tinkerer supplies villains with weapons.
In the film he’s deep into alien technology.
He’s never shown being caught, so a return is on the cards.
2. Herman Schultz / Shocker
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Bokeem_Woodbine.jpg
That boxing-style way of fighting looked great.
3. Mac Gargan / Scorpion
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Michael_Mando%2C_March_2015.jpg
https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/0/3548/108772-193082-scorpion.JPG
Near the end there’s a criminal who asks Toomes (Vulture) about Spider-Man’s identity.
His name is Mac Gargan, and he’s a villain.
In the comics he’s the villain Scorpion, and he puts Spider-Man through hell with acid and the rest of it.
The way this one ends, the odds of him showing up as a villain in the next film are high.
That injury to his left eye — is there a reason behind it?
The scene that never happened
That shot of him flying alongside Iron Man was trailer-only.
Respect for the older films
The first one
Spider-Man holding a splitting ferry together.
Apparently they really did split a boat to shoot it!
This scene is an homage to the train sequence in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man 2!!
The second one
Vulture’s wing suit has an autopilot as well, and it wrecks pillars and puts Spider-Man through it.
That way of fighting is very much a nod to the Green Goblin fight in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man!!
Thought Vulture might actually die, and he lives!!
Thoughts
On Peter Parker
Tom Holland’s work on the role, the muscle he put on for it, was incredible!!
And he apparently did nearly all the stunt work in the Spider-Man suit himself.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Marisa_Tomei_TIFF_2012.jpg
Aunt May is seriously beautiful as well lol
The two of them fumbling through how to tie a tie turns into a scene worth crying over once the reason lands: there’s no adult man in that house.
Unlike previous Spider-Men and previous MCU films, this one is a teenager.
Unlike the other heroes, his life out of the suit matters just as much, and unlike the other heroes he keeps his identity hidden.
He’s so uncommitted to school for the first half that dropping out looks likely, and then late on he decides to be “your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.” That was a grown-up decision.
MCU heroes mostly operate on a global scale.
Spider-Man mainly solves crime in New York, and the film draws that difference clearly.
It might look like a familiar sort of story, but it’s an important film that opened up new possibilities for the MCU.
The comics put him through a lot of painful things. Curious about what comes next.
Tony Stark / Iron Man
In Civil War the Avengers, Happy, everyone close to Tony walked away from him.
Genuinely felt sorry for him. Doing his best by his own lights and getting no recognition from anyone.
So seeing him getting on well with Happy and Vision this time was a relief.
And Pepper.
She comes back, and they get married too — Tony getting hold of “family” instead of “wealth” or “fame” is a happy thing.
With Peter he’s very protective, probably because Peter is a child and because of Rhodey being left paralysed in Civil War. The suit has plenty of functions, including a distinctly dodgy-sounding instant kill mode, and he kept them hidden.
Training wheels mode, to keep Peter out of dangerous situations lol
And he apparently listened to every one of Peter’s frankly pointless voicemails (catching a bike thief and so on).
Moving, too, that he was always ready to go the moment Peter was in danger.
He’s also one of the very few people who believed everything Peter said. Sending the FBI to that ship, for instance.
He’s a mature hero, and this is his first rookie. Doted on him completely lol
Tony with no children and Peter with no father made a good combination.
Marisa Tomei, who plays Aunt May, is an ex of Robert Downey Jr., and that inside joke was funny lol
And a glimpse of Dum-E and U, Tony’s handful of robot-arm friends, was lovely too.
Happy Hogan
Like a big brother to Peter lol
That toilet scene at the end was hilarious lol
Head of security is an important job, but the unreliability is still fully intact lol
Adrian Toomes / Vulture
The main villain.
Played by, of all people, Michael Keaton!!
A serious veteran who has taken plenty of awards for films like Birdman.
The Adrian Toomes-ness of him here is off the charts!!
Hats off to a performance that never feels wrong for a second.
Making Liz Black was honestly too clever a piece of writing.
Nobody was ever going to connect Liz’s father to Vulture.
The conversation between Vulture and Peter in the car has the same tension as the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) conversation in the Sam Raimi version.
He warns Peter and then comes to kill him for real — a professional crook.
And yet he keeps Spider-Man’s identity secret, so he isn’t a cruel one.
Running the business for eight years without being caught is impressive lol
Earning without getting caught is the priority, and revenge on Tony is a nice-to-have — another thing that sets him apart from other villains.
To have alien technology that well in hand…
His crew are loyal to him as well. Telling the first Shocker to leave quietly at first shows a big-hearted man.
The Vulture design is great too.
In the comics he was an old man in a power suit lol
http://fs-news.jp/wakuwaku/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/BZZ1m_s.jpg
This one is by the manga artist Yusuke Murata!!
The coolness of this film is pouring off it!!!
Might buy the figure if one comes out lol
Predictions
No Venom, no Carnage
Sadly Sony still holds the film rights.
So a lot of Marvel characters, Venom and Carnage among them, can’t join the MCU.
A Venom spin-off is coming, but it isn’t MCU.
Characters with history with Venom, like Flash, turning up here might change that though.
Would love to see them share the screen.
【考察・レビュー】『スパイダーマン・ホームカミング(原題：SPIDERMAN HOMECOMING)』【感想・トリビア】
The Iron Spider
At the end Tony almost hands him a new suit!
That’s the Iron Spider, and presumably it’s built for combat.
He’s wearing it in the Infinity War trailer, so it must be the one he puts on when things get serious.
Peter’s parents
In the comics Peter’s parents are, of all things, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Sadly they were killed by the Red Skull.
No live-action version has told that story, but Homecoming 2 will probably deal with it.
The spider bite and Uncle Ben might get a mention as well.
At a recent Comic-Con Tom Holland said he wants Tobey Maguire, the previous Spider-Man, to play Uncle Ben — so maybe that happens too!!! lol
The Sinister Six
http://marvelhero.angelfire.com/sinister6second.JPG
This film establishes that villains like Vulture and Scorpion are out there.
Which means the odds of the villain team “the Sinister Six” — hugely popular across the Spider-Man series — turning up have gone right up!!!!
The MCU has plenty of villains of its own, so it might get built out of villains from other films!!!
Spider-Man: Homecoming 2
Finally, predictions for the second film. Below is a summary of what the director and the people involved have said, plus what this film sets up.
• Aunt May finds out his identity.
• MJ appears
• Vulture and Scorpion
• It starts a few minutes after Avengers 4
• Spider-Man takes over Iron Man’s position from here on
The well-known fact about Peter is that his job is professional photographer. Although in recent comics he somehow ends up running a huge company.
Tony handing the company over to a genius like Peter is a possible turn as well!
And Silk and Miles and Flash forming the Web-Warriors would be a thrilling direction too!!!
【考察・レビュー】『スパイダーマン・ホームカミング(原題：SPIDERMAN HOMECOMING)』【感想・トリビア】
Can’t wait!!! So much fun!!!!!!!!
With great power comes great responsibility
Ben Parker
