Film of the Week: Spiderman: Homecoming

We have yet another reboot of Spider-Man. First it was Tobey Maguire trilogy, which still has one of the best superhero films of all time, Spider-Man 2, quickly followed up by Spider-Man 3, which didn’t receive that good reviews from both fans and critics. That films performance basically killed off that version of Spider-Man, and in order for Sony to keep the rights, they needed to make another film. Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man series was created, which received mixed reviews.

When it was announced that Spider-Man would appear in the MARVEL Cinematic Universe, which means yet another reboot, I wasn’t at all sighing with boredom from too many reboots, but instead was looking forward to seeing what different direction they would be taking with the character.

They certainly delivered on preventing people from getting annoyed and bored when they stripped out basically everything that the previous films did and rebuild the franchise from the ground up. No origin story – because we know what how Peter got his powers. This film takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War, and even then he already had his powers for about a year, so we were entering Peter’s life mid-swing. The story isn’t centred around being a cheesy lover story or with Peter being an awkward teenager, but instead is someone who is only but trying to balance his two lives as best he can. Spider-Man is best known for his wit, second only to Deadpool, a trait that we barely got to see in the previous films, but something we got plenty of and was written and used well to make it enjoyable instead of over the top and would eventually get annoying.

To be fair, I believe this Spider-Man is the most down to Earth version we’ve seen, yet. We only see a glimpse of Peter in university during the trilogy, and again only but a few scenes with him in high school during the Amazing Spider-Man films, however, Spider-Man Homecoming focuses on both his school life and his secret life. Seeing Peter trying to bring balance to both his lives create a refreshingly new dimension to the character on screen, an aspect that’s more closely related to the comics that the previous films. Also, instead of having Peter’s standard love interests, Mary-Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy, we see a new character, Liz (played by Laura Harrier).

They also made sure that Spider-Man was surely within the MARVEL Cinematic Universe by how the main villain, Vulture, was born from being denied to work on the wreckage left behind during the events of New York way back in 2012. Tony Stark also serves as a mentor to Spider-Man, a new angle that hasn’t been explored, adding yet another layer to the character. His appearance wasn’t overused at all – only in the scenes he needs to be in, leaving Peter to do the rest, allowing his character to develop naturally instead of being spoon fed, a thought I will admit of having before seeing the film. I’m happy I can dismiss that.

Spider-Man: Homecoming may be a reboot of a reboot of an adaptation, but this has certainly done its very best to make sure it’s an original creation, with new angles explored, and with it being a firm member in the universe, it didn’t at all feel boring. It was enjoyable, funny, and the action sequences were done just right, putting Peter out of his comfort zone, leaving him alone with nothing left but his sheer will to make things right and defeat the enemy – a mark of a true hero, and one who does deserve to be in amongst the Avengers.

Throughout the film we’re introduced to a mysterious character, Michelle, who, at the very end, said that people call her M.J. It would be weird if the filmmakers made her have the same initials as the main love interest of Peter’s in the comics and not be Mary-Jane Watson. Zendaya’s portrayal of the mysterious character stole every scene she was in. A no-nonsense character, who will knock you down a few steps if you think you’re above yourself. If it is revealed that she really is Mary-Jane Watson, it would not only be vastly different from the damsel-in-distress character we saw in the Spider-Man trilogy, but also would lay a new path down for future superhero films to have a strong supporting woman/love interest, instead of someone who always need saving. I believe Spider-Man: Homecoming has introduced us to a new era of superhero films.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)