Re-Visiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Spider-Man: Homecoming

 "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017)

When Spider-Man was announced to be joining the MCU with "Captain America: Civil War," nerds everywhere rejoiced. Spider-Man is a flagship Marvel character and it felt right for him to be alongside the Avengers and the other MCU heroes. After getting a taste of Tom Holland's take on Peter Parker, I was definitely ready for him to get his first solo MCU movie. I didn't have to wait long. 2017 was a pretty big year for the MCU. Along with Spider-Man getting his movie, 2017 was the first year that we saw three MCU movies released in one year.

Principal photography on "Spider-Man: Homecoming" began in June 2016 and concluded in October 2016. The film starred Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes/The Vulture, Marisa Tomei as May Parker, Jon Favreau as Harold "Happy" Hogan, Zendaya as Michelle, Donald Glover as Aaron Davis, Jacob Batalon as Ned, Laura Harrier as Liz, Tony Revolori as Eugene "Flash" Thompson and Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man. The film was written by Jonathan Goldstein, Jon Francis Daley, Jon Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. It was directed by Jon Watts. "Spider-Man: Homecoming" was released on July 7, 2017.

Big stretch

Until, "Spider-Man: Far From Home" was released, this was the best Spider-Man movie released, no shade to the Tobey Maguire movies and a little shade to the Andrew Garfield version.

The plot of "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is as follows:

Peter Parker is initially riding high after his work with and against the Avengers in "Captain America: Civil War." He gets to keep his fancy new Spider suit and Tony Stark appoints Happy Hogan as his point person. Peter clearly believes that he is on the fast track to becoming a full-time Avenger but as his texts to Happy and reports of neighborhood crime go unanswered it becomes clearer that may not be the case. When a robbery involving some alien weaponry in the hands of small-time goons goes wrong, Iron Man tells Peter to steer clear, but he can't. He gets involved fighting Adrian Toomes, the man peddling the weapons who moonlights as the Vulture. Peter defies Iron Man again and maybe learns a valuable lesson in the process.

Tom Holland, y'all. I know that I probably mentioned this in my "Captain America: Civil War" review but Peter Parker was the role that Tom Holland was born to play. This is my favorite version of Peter Parker, too. He's in high school. Trying to figure things out. Making mistakes. Learning. Growing. Cracking jokes. Lusting after unattainable girls. Holland really encompasses. He's super charming and even though he is pretty handsome and ripped (thank you Marvel for these shirtless scenes. Giving the people what they want), he is believable as this awkward nerd. Holland's likability is super high which is perfect since there is a lot of Peter solo time. Whether he is doing his friendly neighborhood Spider-Man bit or chatting in the warehouse with his suit AI, Karen voiced by Jennifer Connelly. 

The diversity in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is off the chain. It feels representative of a New York City high school in ways that a lot of films/tv shows don't when presenting the same thing. One of the things I enjoy the most is the update to Flash Thompson. Instead of being a jock bully, he's a rich, Latinx douchebag who is also a DJ, because of course he is, who refers to Peter as Penis Parker. It's great. One of the biggest laughs of the film comes when Peter in his janky, original, Spider-Man costume steals Flash's car and wrecks it because Peter can't drive.

Not a regular Vulture, a cool Vulture.

I've talked a lot in these MCU posts about the "MCU villain problem." Luckily, Spider-Man has one of the deepest and most colorful Rogues Galleries this side of Batman. Speaking of Batman, Michael Keaton, Batman himself, portrays The Vulture. This isn't your granddaddies Adrian Toomes. He's not a super old hunched over crotchety dude. He's a blue collar businessman trying to keep things afloat after his clean up contract following the Battle of New York is usurped by the government run, Damage Control. Hey, Tyne Daly. Toomes works as a villain because you have empathy from him. He owns a business. He has a crew he's looking out for. He won this contract fair and square and then it is just taken from him. Keaton and Holland play off each other really well. The revelation that Toomes is Liz's father is amazing and one I didn't see coming. That whole scene is so intense and Holland and Keaton do a lot of face acting which is great. Their confrontation in the car once Liz leaves is so freaking intense. 

The mentorship between Tony and Peter is great and tinged with sadness knowing what we know is coming. It's funny because I'm pretty much on Tony's side the whole time. Of course, I want Peter to be a hero and be Spider-Man and be an Avenger, but Tony's reasons for keeping Peter small-time make so much sense and he ends up being right. I think it's a product of being older. If I was a teen or even in my early 20's, I probably would have been fully Team Peter. Also, can we talk about how Tony and Pepper get engaged at the end of the movie to justify the press conference after Peter bails? It's like kind of a throwaway for a major moment in the Universe and for the characters.

The actions scenes are top notch. Spider-Man can do things that a lot of MCU characters can't and it's nice to see the filmmakers interpret that on screen. Each major set piece is thrilling and breathtaking from the van chase to the Washington Monument sequence to the ferry to the big final showdown with the Vulture on the plane. For me, the most impressive one is the ferry sequence with Peter weaving a web to keep it from splitting apart and then literally trying to pull it back together himself. So freaking good.

There's a ton here for Spider-Man fans. Marissa Tomei continues to kill it as an Aunt May for a new generation. She's hot and boho. I love her seventies chic style wardrobe and how everyone keeps commenting on how attractive she is. We get drop ins from some classic Spidey villains, two Shockers and Mac Gargan aka the Scorpion. In fact, Gargan gets another moment to shine in the mid-credits scene when he confronts Toomes and asks him if he knows Spider-Man's secret identity which Toomes claims he doesn't. Interesting.

The post credits scene is another Captain America video that we've seen periodically throughout the film. It is a nice little meta moment with Cap talking about waiting around for something and it not being really worth it. It was worth it for me, Cap!

Do you love "Spider-Man: Homecoming?" Do you agree it was the best Spider-Man film up to this point? Tell me what you love or don't love about it in the comments? Do you stan Tobey or Andrew as Spider-Man? Let me know that in the comments too.

Next up Thor meets a new family member and loses a hammer.