After a long time waiting (ok like 7 months) we've finally gotten our first look at Marvel's upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming reboot. I've talked before on what would be cool to see in the film or future films, or even where Spidey should go next. Personally, I lobbied for him to pop up in other films and TV shows before getting his own film. However, that's not what happened and for better or for worse, we're getting a brand new Spider-Man film next summer. We can safely assume that it's for the better because the trailer looks freaking great, Robert Downey, Jr is in it, and Tom Holland is already being touted as the best version of the character thus far. In my opinion that's a bit premature but I think we're on the way to a great version of Spidey, one that works well with the other MCU stars.
As a lifelong Spider-Man fan, and as a fan of the previous 5 films, (six if you count Captain America: Civil War) I've got a certain wish list of things I've always wanted to see in a Spidey film that I haven't gotten to see yet. What are they? Well . . . I'm glad you asked!
NO LOVE INTEREST
This one may already be happening, based on what little we know of the film, but this is something that I definitely think needs to take a backseat. Two of the best Marvel films to date are Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. You know what those two have in common? They don't have a love story. Guardians is kind of about creating your own dysfunctional family and Winter Soldier is more about trusting yourself and learning to trust those closest to you, with a slight hint of bromance. I love those movies and they work very well without a love story or even so much of a hint of a love story. Sure Quill flirts around and Widow keeps trying to set Rogers up, but it doesn't really happen. The film works fine without pay offs to those threads.
The past 5, that's right FIVE, Spider-Man films have been about Peter being in love with Mary Jane (who treated him like shit in all those movies) or Gwen (who he treated like shit in those two movies). I think we're done with that for a while. Peter has had a great many love interests in the comic books from MJ to Gwen to Liz Allan to Betty Brandt to Black Cat to Kitty Pryde (in the Ultimate Universe) and so on and so forth, but I think we as the audience need a break. This film needs to be about Peter learning to love himself and his powers as Spider-Man. The love story can wait. It's been done . . . let's move on!
AUNT MAY
Marisa Tomei is Aunt May. While that may seem like an unconventional choice given her age, I think she can pull it off. But let's think about this - Tomei is an Academy Award winning actor. GIVE HER SOMETHING TO DO. One of the issues I had with the Amazing Spider-Man films was that Sally Field was criminally underused as Aunt May. When she was on screen she was damn near perfect and kicked a lot of ass, well emotionally, but she didn't get to stretch as much as Rosemary Harris did in the original Spider-Man films. As it goes with superheroes, their parents are often the most important characters in the films one way or another. Batman loses his and tries to embody his father's ideals, Superman is a man from two worlds and chooses to embrace both of them going forward, and Spider-Man has his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Ben gives him the "great responsibility" speech (more on that later) and May is his lighthouse when he loses his way. She's the cool mother everyone needs. She always knows the right thing to say. When she has nothing but the shirt on her back, she'd give it to Peter to keep warm without a second thought. She's the most kind hearted woman in the world and loves Peter like he was her own son. Harris brought that to life for me in the original films. I think Field did as well, she just wasn't given the screen time because those films focused on Peter's father (who's a douche). Let's get back to the here and now. Aunt May is there for Peter here and now. She loves him so much and would do anything for her boy. That's the May I want to see.
TONY STARK . . . BUT NOT LIKE A LOT OF TONY STARK
I think we can all agree that one of the highlights of Captain America: Civil War was Tony meeting Peter. Granted, it doesn't make a lot of sense unless Tony is also recruiting other teenagers with powers to be Avengers but let's not think too much on it! Either way, Downey and Holland worked well together and had good chemistry. It's going to be a cool, sort of passing the torch, moment for Peter and Tony in Homecoming I think. Not that Tony is going anywhere any time soon, but we've got to assume that Downey is on his last couple of Marvel movies. Between this one and the next two Avengers films, Downey's time as Stark is limited. So let's make the most of him in Homecoming while we have him.
BUT don't over do it. I mean, as much as I love seeing RDJ as Tony Stark, I don't want him to overpower the film. I felt he had a good balance in Civil War. He clearly was the co-star and not the main attraction. That film worked because his time in the film was utilized perfectly. Let's do that again, but maybe just a smidge less. I know there has already been an image of Iron Man flying next to Spidey, but let's not make it the Spider-Man/Iron Man team up film. Peter needs to have a journey in this film and that's going to be hard to do if the audience is waiting for Tony to show up every other scene. Instead, Tony needs to be the pseudo-Uncle Ben in this film. He'll help Peter when he needs it but he won't do the job for him. That's going to be very important. Obviously, Tony is no Uncle Ben but I think he will fancy himself as Parker's mentor. I think three or four solid scenes of Tony mentoring Peter or whatever is all we really need. Plus . . . the villain is the Vulture. I mean, how much help is Peter going to need with that guy? Not much . . . Not much. Speaking of which!
A GOOD VILLAIN . . . PLEASE MARVEL, PLEASE!!
Next to Batman, Spider-Man has comic's best rogues gallery. Most of the previous films have made good use of them but now we get to see a Spidey villain that we've never seen before - the Vulture. While he's not my favorite, I can get into it because it will allow for some pretty awesome aerial fights that we haven't seen yet in a live action Spider-Man film. Plus he's being played by one of my favorite actors ever Michael Keaton.
There's just one little problem - Marvel has a tendency to cast wonderful actors as the bad guys and then give them next to nothing to do. I'm hoping this will not be the case with Michael Keaton. Kevin Feige, Marvel's Head Honcho, said that he wanted to tell a tale of two ordinary guys that get their hands on powers and how they each deal with it. Those two guys are Peter Parker and Adrian Toomes, the Vulture. Now, if it was up to me, I would have cast Michael Keaton as the Green Goblin or at least as Norman Osborn because I think he would excel at that role, but this is what we got. If that's the case and Keaton is going to be a one off villain then let's at least make him memorable. One of my favorite parts of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was that Electro had nothing to do with Peter Parker. He hated/loved Spider-Man and wanted to get at him. I hope they go a similar route with Toomes in Homecoming. There's no need for Peter to have yet another mentor that betrays him or something like that. I'd like to see a bad guy that hates Spider-Man just because he's in his way. That's more fitting with the Vulture from the comic books anyway. He has no beef with Peter Parker, he just wants to steal shit and hates it when Spider-Man gets in his way. Let's do more of that! And let's also not waste Michael Keaton in this film!
GREAT POWER, GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
The main theme of any good Spider-Man story is always this quote, "With great power comes great responsibility." It's wonderful to see it come to life in the way Peter uses his great power and the way his villains use their great power. Of course Peter uses it for great responsibility but his enemies always find ways to avoid that part. In Civil War, Peter has a great line where he says that, "When you can do what I can do and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you." I'm paraphrasing slightly but you get it. In his first moment in the MCU, Peter has already learned his greatest lesson. He knows that he has these powers for a reason and he has the power to stop bad things from happening to the world around him. Spider-Man's greatest stories have always revolved around this lesson. True, it gives Peter the biggest guilt complex in the world, but it helps him be a better hero. The needs of the many outweigh the needs/wants of the one. This was best shown in Spider-Man 2. Peter tries to deny his powers and he sees the big ramifications of it, the apartment building on fire, and the small ramifications, the young boy disheartened by Spider-Man's disappearance. I hope we get to see Peter learn this lesson again and try to teach it not only to his enemies but to Tony Stark and the other Avengers as well.
NEW CHALLENGES / FEATS OF STRENGTH
You wanna know what has secretly bugged me about Spider-Man's powers in the comics? They are somewhat undefined. I mean, sometimes he's lifting a car like it's super heavy, other times he's facing the Hulk head on and holding his own. I mean . . . what's the deal? I think Peter does hold back quite a bit in the comics, in fact when Doc Ock took over his body he said as much, but Spider-Man should be one of the heavy hitters. Maybe he can't take on the Hulk without a little back up but he should be able to hold his own and get a few jabs in right? I think Spidey's powers should be tested and then verified. Don't make him super strong in one scene and the next he's barely holding his own against the freaking Vulture!
The trailer shows Peter struggling to hold together a cruise ship that's been blown in half. I think this is the perfect scene to set up just how strong Spider-Man is. If he needs to let loose, let him let loose! If he needs to be more restrained like against the Avengers Thieves, then make a point to acknowledge that. It doesn't have to be said in every single scene, but I wouldn't mind it if Peter calls attention to his limits and tries to test them. Hell, isn't that what Tony is supposed to help him with?
MORE COMEDY, LESS TRAGEDY
I said once that I think the best Batman stories are tragedies. I still believe that. It works well for Batman. It does not work as well for Spider-Man. The main problem I had with the Amazing Spider-Man films is that they seemed to have to include a Stacy funeral or they weren't doing their job right. While yes, Spider-Man is technically born in tragedy, as most great heroes are, I don't think he needs to be constantly defined by it. Uncle Ben's death is what motivates him to be a more proactive hero. That's it! That's all we need! I'm tired of seeing Spider-Man villains and allies killed off in every single film. Seriously! Think about it! Every single Spider-Man film has had at least one person die, usually more than that. Let's give it a rest or before you know it, they'll be killing off Tony Stark in this film!
Now despite the Amazing films having a Stacy death in the third acts, as mandated by law apparently, one thing they got absolutely right was Spidey's humor. When Peter puts on the costume, he lets loose all his inhibitions and becomes a witty, sarcastic, albeit annoying crime fighter. It's pretty much his trademark. He's the Friendly Neighborhood Wall Crawler but he's going to talk your ear off the whole time. Whether it's intentional humor of him telling a cheesy joke or something funny happening to him, Spider-Man is definitely one of the funniest characters in comic books today. I certainly hope we see more of that in this film because that's one of the reasons I loved Spidey so much as a kid. I thought he was hysterical and he always got himself into hilarious situations. The film should almost be a comedy in my mind. It will definitely help separate it from the other films before it.
These are just my thoughts on what I want to see next summer during Spider-Man: Homecoming. I love Spider-Man so much. Spider-Man 2 remains one of my all time favorite films. I'm hoping that this one will either top it or at least match its quality. I don't think that's too much to ask for right? . . . Right???!!!
Till Next Time!
JJ - the Comic Junkie!
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