Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

[JessePinkman]

 

Spider-Man: Homecoming is the second reboot (boo) of the Spider-Man franchise. But now integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (yay). In an, I believe, unprecedented turn of events Sony and Marvel Studios have decided to share the character with Sony handling distribution and Marvel's Midas touch handling creative development. According to numerous reports and 

the fact that Spider-Man will premiere in Captain America: Civil War

 this is not going to be another origin story.

 

The cast includes Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May (de-aged by several decades, this blasphemy) and...that's all we know for character names. The film will be directed by Tom Watts (whose most prominent work is directing segments for The Onion News Network so that's something).

 

Michael Keaton (my Batman ::heart eyes::) is possibly up for a villainous role in the film. Disney Channel star, Zendaya has been cast in an as yet unknown role (though there are some rumors as to who she might be portraying) but we're assuming a fellow high school classmate of Peter's. And the latest editions to the cast are also likely high school students, Grand Budapest Hotel’s Tony Revolori (possibly playing Flash Thompson) and former The Online Network One Life to Live soap star Laura Harrier in a prominent role (love interest maybe, I'd die if she was Mary Jane). It's also very cool to note that all of Peter's contemporaries cast so far are people of color.

 

Since they're not doing an origin story and I'm praying they don't bring in Green Goblin, what story would everyone like to see?

[Bruinsfan]

My dream story would be the Marvel Team-Up story where Red Sonja possessed Mary Jane and helped Spider-Man fight Kulan Gath, but there's no chance in hell of that ever being adapted.

[JustaPerson]

I came to ask if it was going to be another origin story. Thank god it's not. Tobey and Andrew (still sucks he was unceremoniously dumped like that) already did a good job establishing the Peter Parker ~brand~ we don't need another rehash. 

 

I'm not all that enamored with Zendaya (showing my age, but probably her DC show was around when I outgrew them) and she doesn't seem like much of an actress.

[Kromm]

On 4/18/2016 at 9:46 AM, JessePinkman said:

The cast includes Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May (de-aged by several decades, this blasphemy)

I've decided I'm kind of okay with younger Aunt May. Why? Because unlike in movies or TV when changes are made for no reason, I can see a concrete reason for this one. And it's not as out of line with other versions as people are acting. 

For example, it's almost like people are forgetting about Ultimate Spider-Man's Aunt May. Now I'm aware a lot of people just dismiss the Ultimate line totally, maybe because they hate Bendis, maybe because they only read Spidey in the 60s or 70s, or were weaned on various TV cartoon versions (which also go all over the map with how they portray things--but the early ones traditionalists remember from the 1960s and 1970s had old Mays). But May in Ultimate didn't look TOO much older than Marissa Tomei (who is 51)--maybe a decade. So it's a starting point to let go of feeble old May.

May in Ultimate is shown as having white hair, but it is really strongly implied she's a ton younger than the classic one.  I'm going to post a photo, but note that USM went through different artists who portrayed her slightly differently. Some gave her wrinkles that could put her in her late 60s, while others showed her smooth as a baby and other than the hair color could have put her anywhere from her mid 50s (if she was prematurely gray) to her mid 60s, IMO.



Then there's the TV Ultimate Spidey TV show, and that May is arguably even younger.  Like the Ultimate Comics version, she dresses stylishly, wears makeup, this one wears long painted nails too, is shown dealing flawlessly with technology like smartphones, doing yoga, etc. And the artwork, while still showing white hair, I'd argue makes it even more possible she's simply a pale blond, because the eyebrows match perfectly (which doesn't always happen when people simply go gray early). This version could BE Marissa Tomei's age. She doesn't have to be, but it's not totally outrageous to think she might be.

 

Then there's Sally Field Aunt May. Admittedly Field doesn't wear her years as well as Tomei, and was mid-60s when she did that, but it opened the door for May with dark (not gray) hair. 

 

I believe even the version in the animated series before Ultimate Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, had a somewhat younger May even if not QUITE as young. The drawing style here is part of her looking younger, but you can see the trend.

 

Storywise it all makes sense, because May's age was always confusing anyway. In the very earliest books, she looked like this:

 

She was this idealization of an older relative who could have been freaking 90 from that art. But even if she was 70, it was kind of ludicrous given that Peter was supposed to be 14-15. And she wasn't a Great-Aunt--it was made clear that Richard Parker and Ben Parker were siblings, not nephew and uncle, so May Reilly Parker (who technically isn't even genetically related to Peter, by the way) shouldn't have been THAT old. In artwork showing Peter's parents in flashbacks Richard and Mary Parker seem to be late 20s or possibly somewhere in their 30s. Even if Ben was MUCH older, would it be credible him being more than a decade and a half older (then add in 12-13 years after they die)? No matter how you mix it, Ben was unlikely to be older than in his 60s when Peter was a teenager, and while May COULD have been older than Ben, I don't believe that matches with stories they had in the comics about May and Ben's courtship. 

That's a really long way around saying that numerically, when Peter was shown mid-20s, a May in lets say her 70s made a certain amount of sense. But a Peter who's in his mid-teens would need a 60-something May, and as much as a decade younger is still perfectly credible. 

Edited May 18, 2016 by Kromm

[Bruinsfan]

Remember that back in the 1960s you didn't see all that many vital, young-looking retirees taking yoga classes and competing in triathalons. What looks like an octogenarian nowadays might not have been out of place for working class people in their 60s back then, which could fit pretty well age-wise if Peter's father were an "oops!" baby who was 15 or 20 years younger than Ben.

[HoodlumSheep]

I'm fine with young Aunt May. Most 15-yr olds probably have aunts and uncles around her age. It doesn't bug me. It could also mean she could possibly be more active through out the film as well, instead of just sitting around worrying about Peter or asking him to pick up some milk, etc.

but I suppose that would be deemed blasphemous by those who worship the comics. 

my oldest aunt is 60ish yrs older than I am, so when I was 15 she would have been in her 70s.

Young, old; it doesn't bother me.

Looking forward to Peter/Tony/AuntMay interactions!!

[methodwriter85]

I remember watching Aunt May and Tony, and then thinking, "Wait, Marisa and Robert did a romantic comedy together back in the 90's called Only You." That was SUCH a dusty memory. How is it that they've actually gotten even better-looking in their 50's? Geez.

[greenbean]

Well my main concern is Tom Holland as Spiderman. I'm not convinced he'll be good, but of course we'll have to wait and see. I didn't mind Garfield's Peter, but the second film had a poor story.

[Kromm]

3 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I remember watching Aunt May and Tony, and then thinking, "Wait, Marisa and Robert did a romantic comedy together back in the 90's called Only You." That was SUCH a dusty memory. How is it that they've actually gotten even better-looking in their 50's? Geez.

I dunno. Have you seen Marisa's nude scenes in various movies?  It would be hard for her to get better looking than she did in many of those  The woman had a seriously incredible body at least into her 40s--the last such movie I can remember her getting naked in was The Wrestler, which was about exactly a decade ago. Not that Aunt May is likely to get naked for us to compare... I'm just saying it was a sure method to see that in her 40s she looked better than some do in their early 30s.

Edited May 19, 2016 by Kromm

[SeanC]

The most pressing question:  will Tony romance Aunt May?

I agree with those saying the de-aging is fine by them.  Marissa Tomei is much more in line with what you'd expect the aunt of a teenager to look like, and frankly, the classical Aunt May was pretty much just an ancient old biddy who existed for Peter to worry over.

Edited May 19, 2016 by SeanC

[HoodlumSheep]

^ honestly I wouldn't mind a Tony/May romance (or just flirting) if it did happen, because at this point I'm over Pepper (I've lost interest in her character, probably because we haven't seen her since Im3)...but I think it might be a little rushed on Aunt May's side. Uncle Ben didn't die too long ago in terms of the timeline.

*shrugs* I have the same opinion about it as I do Aunt May's age. It wouldn't bother me if it did happen. Wouldn't bother me if it didn't.

[Sweet Tee]

I'm still holding out hope for Tony/Pepper.  I don't really like Paltrow but I thought they had great chemistry and honestly liked Pepper as a character.  

But, if that's not gonna happen, then fine, pair him up with May.  Now that people have mentioned it here, I do remember seeing Only You a long time ago.  Kind of a cool reunion.

[HoodlumSheep]

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/spider-man-michael-keaton-villain-1201770783/

so we still might be getting Michael Keaton as The Vulture! And then there's the Tinkerer and possible web wings!!!

it's interesting that the good/bad side seem to mirror each other in a way. You have Spider-man vs Vulture; both have someone that helps upgrade their suits (Tony and the Tinkerer). 

Edited May 20, 2016 by HoodlumSheep

[nobodyyoucare]

At most the age difference between Richard and Ben Parker would be perhaps 20-30 years. My mom has nephews and nieces older then she is and I have first cousins twice removed that are my age. In the old days when parents had to have ten kids so they had some spares, you often had the oldest being twenty to perhaps thirty years older then the youngest. If the mother was younger then eighteen when she tarted having kidds, you could have more then thirty years difference between oldest and youngest.

 

As long as they don't do what Millar did and reveal that Aunt May is really Peter's mother who had an affair with Richard Parker and the family covered it up like they did in the old days. Marissa's age and appereance shouldn't anger that many people if her performance is good and she stays true to the ideal of what Aunt May is.

Edited May 20, 2016 by nobodyyoucare

[Ubiquitous]

I don't mind too much about the changes to Aunt May, but I really don't want them making Peter Parker a teenaged high school freshman.

[AimingforYoko]

It pretty much looks like they're going with Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man.

[Kromm]

17 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

It pretty much looks like they're going with Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man.

That's hardly a bad thing. While a lot of the Ultimateverse was garbage, the Bendis' USM wasn't.

3 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

I don't mind too much about the changes to Aunt May, but I really don't want them making Peter Parker a teenaged high school freshman.

Why not? It's the version of Peter we haven't seen done to death. No filmed version of him has been younger than college age other than the most recent Animated Series (where he was about the age he's going to be in this). 

Edited May 29, 2016 by Kromm

[JBC344]

I have to say there is a part of me that is very delighted about the conversation of a "young Aunt May".  I also find it very subversive in the best way that we are referring to Marissa who is 51 as young.  Yes, I understand that the "young" part of it comes from the general comparison to the much older "traditional" Aunt May.  It is usually almost unheard of to have this specific conversation about an American actress in their 50's. 

One of the best things that I loved about the Andrew Garfield Spiderman was Andrew and Sally Fields relationship, and her portrayal as Aunt May.  To this day one of my favorite movie scenes is when Sally's Aunt May is frantic and adamant over Peter being her child and belonging to her in The Amazing Spiderman.  One of the most poignant scenes I've ever witnessed in a superhero movie.

I hope we get more of that type of relationship with Marissa and Tom's portrayel.  From what was shown in Civil War, I think that they are off to a good start.

[Trini]

10 hours ago, Kromm said:

Why not? It's the version of Peter we haven't seen done to death. No filmed version of him has been younger than college age other than the most recent Animated Series (where he was about the age he's going to be in this). 

Both versions of movie Spiderman have been high school age.
But anyway, I'm slowly drifting to middle-age, and I'm just not interested in high school stories. (Yeah, yeah; I know that's not the only part of the story)

[JBC344]

I think the consensus is that with both of the previous movies, high school wasn't a big part of the story.  Also Peter Parker was sort of exiting high school in both of them (Tobey's Peter graduated in the beginning of the first movie, Andrew's in the beginning of the 2nd) 

This new incarnation, high school will actually be a big focal point with Peter being around 15.  The synopsis is that the movie will follow more of a "John Hughes" aesthetic, where Peter's adolescence is the driving factor as opposed to adulthood in the previous movies.

[Ubiquitous]

I don't mind him being about to graduate from high school, but being barely out of junior high just doesn't interest me.

[VCRTracking]

 Some fans reviews online thought Peter was too young in the movie but they were still like twenty somethings who could no longer identify with him. I'm at the age where I see Tom Holland's Peter and feel both parental concern and pride over! I was watching the movie "Way to go kid!" and then when he gets hit by Giant Man's hand it was "Oh no is he okay?"

[JessePinkman]

The rush to get Peter out of high school can be looked at as a failing of the previous movies, because that was Spider-Man's whole thing when he started, he was a teenager dealing with teenage problems while juggling superherodom. Other than Billy Batson (who transformed into a grown man when he fought crime) there weren't many, if any, lone teenage superheroes. I think they're trying to tap into that, to really strengthen SM and his core concept. 

That said I wonder how many movies they can get out of him in high school because the MCU operate in real time. He's 15 now, will be 16 next year and the Spider-Man movie following Homecoming will come out no sooner than 2019 so he should be graduating by then. So ACTUALLY this Peter isn't any younger than the others, at least not within the story. Maybe a year younger.

My point is moot. Bye.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I thought Peter was already 16? I think someone in Caotain America alluded to his age?

[JessePinkman]

47 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I thought Peter was already 16? I think someone in Caotain America alluded to his age?

He's 15 according to the director.

[Kromm]

On 6/1/2016 at 1:16 PM, JessePinkman said:

The rush to get Peter out of high school can be looked at as a failing of the previous movies, because that was Spider-Man's whole thing when he started, he was a teenager dealing with teenage problems while juggling superherodom. Other than Billy Batson (who transformed into a grown man when he fought crime) there weren't many, if any, lone teenage superheroes. I think they're trying to tap into that, to really strengthen SM and his core concept. 

That said I wonder how many movies they can get out of him in high school because the MCU operate in real time. He's 15 now, will be 16 next year and the Spider-Man movie following Homecoming will come out no sooner than 2019 so he should be graduating by then. So ACTUALLY this Peter isn't any younger than the others, at least not within the story. Maybe a year younger.

My point is moot. Bye.

That's assuming the film's timeline will be in real time. I doubt it. Holland was cast in part because they felt he could pass for younger for longer. Probably the only thorn in things is that unless they exclude him from the films, they're going to have to sync up his timeline with future Avengers films, and I can't see Infinity War being set TOO soon after Civil War. 

My assumptions are that Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 are going to both be enough on their own that their chronology relative to the rest isn't easy to pin down. Spidey Homecoming, I think, won't be set more than a few months after Civil War. Thor: Ragnarok will again be mostly on it's own--clearly set after Age of Ultron but it likely wouldn't commit them to a more specific time other than that. Black Panther sounds like it's going to maybe have some setup elements for Infinity War, however, so that progresses the timeline (perhaps it also could be a few months after Civil War, but it means that Infinity War itself is more than that). 

Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel are going to be between the two Infinity War films. I don't know if that's because time will be passing between the two parts of Infinity War, or if it's simply that those two films won't pretend they're perfectly in sequence. 

In theory it sounds like the Homecoming sequel could be the first film after Infinity War Part 2. I think whether it actually refers to Infinity War and is affected by it depends on if Spidey is actually in those films. Now I'm not saying we won't see him in other films besides his own again, but they could just be using him for cameos in the non-event films (he'd be a natural for a cameo for the Ant-Man & Wasp film, for example, since the tone of that is more likely to be comedic).

Anyway, that's a really long way around to saying that I think the Homecoming sequel could comfortably happen with him still as young as a Junior in High School, assuming he's being represented as a High School Freshman in Civil War (average HS freshman ages being between 14 and 15--so he'd actually be on the high side for that admittedly). It just really depends on him perhaps not being part of Infinity War, no significant time progression between those two films, and/or the Homecoming sequel not directly addressing the events of those films.

 

EDIT - actually, I think the latest was that since the Inhumans film is either dead or delayed, then the spot opening up will be the one that film had in the Marvel schedule--November 2018. Homecoming is going to be July 7, 2017. Thor got bumped from around that time to a November 2017 release. Black Panther is February 2018. Infinity War 1 is supposedly early May 2018. Ant Man July 2018. And Captain Marvel not until March 2019. That leaves a hole at the end of 2018. I think some people had some wishful thinking that a deal could be brokered with Fox for Fantastic Four, and that was what would appear then instead of Inhumans (possibly being combined with it), but it seems from Fox's recent statements about FF that's not happening. So I think Homecoming's sequel will be dropped in that slot instead. It works in terms of production time too (if they have a script already written by the time Homecoming comes out for the sequel, and start pre-production within 2-3 months after, Marvel Studios now can crank out films in a year with no big issues). 

Edited June 3, 2016 by Kromm

[JessePinkman]

I was thinking that most of the MCU films have happened in real time but I actually...don't know. I know some have happened simultaneously but I think I recall General Ross saying in Civil War that Iron Man debuted 8 years ago? That would seem to say that the movies have happened in real world time. But that could always change and what you're saying makes sense, the idea of the Spider-Man sequel sequentially (lol) happening after IW: Part 1.

[thuganomics85]

 Donald Glover has been cast in a unknown role for Homecoming, which brings back memories of all that "controversy" over him daring to be considered for Spider-Man years ago.

Edited June 14, 2016 by thuganomics85

[Kromm]

2 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

 Donald Glover has been cast in a unknown role for Homecoming, which brings back memories of all that "controversy" over him daring to be considered for Spider-Man years ago.

The obvious role for him to be playing is Prowler.

But then you get into an interesting decision deciding if he's Hobie Brown or Aaron Davis.  Brown in the classic character with the heritage. But Davis is the Uncle of.... Miles Morales. 

And it's more than a casual decision. Because say they decide they want to pass the Spider-Torch to Morales after a trilogy of Peter Parker movies. Wouldn't you ideally want Morales' origin already set via his Uncle already being part of the Spider-verse?

[JBC344]

There have been some theories going around that the reason the studio isn't releasing character names is that they will be mixing the characters from both Parker and Morales's Spiderman.  Now I don't know if the goal is to try and capture all fan basis with this particular reboot or if they are in fact setting things up to introduce Miles down the line, but I guess we will find out when they release who everyone is playing.

[JessePinkman]

I wanted to make a post about all the recent casting on the movie but I'm not sure the site has the bandwidth...like I'm pretty sure if you're reading this you're in the movie.

[JessePinkman]

Here are some set photos (spoilers: a new costume appears)

Spoiler

I can ONLY imagine this is for stunt purposes because it doesn't look defined or polished at all. But the colors look right. I don't know about the seemingly random black lining on the blue parts. I do enjoy seeing Spidey with a Jansport though.

 http://www.looper.com/17116/exclusive-spider-man-homecoming-set-photos/

[JessePinkman]

Tyne Daly and Garcelle Beauvais have been cast in unspecified roles. I was starting to sideeye all the castings of men so this is really nice. This movie is going to have SO many characters.

[Kromm]

This is only people TALKING about the footage and not the footage itself (which apparently not even sneaky cellphone videos of are up yet for), but Comic-Con had Homecoming footage aired there. 

[Kromm]

What they describe though is VERY encouraging.

[BetterButter]

Tony Revolori Will Play Flash Thompson In SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

[Kromm]

9 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Tony Revolori Will Play Flash Thompson In SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

I am now very confused.

Not that Flash has to be blond and white, but you'd think it fairly necessary that he be a jock/obvious BMOC.  The skinny foreign looking guy is certainly a new way to go, and they're going to have to flesh this out a lot for him simply to be more than someone with the name but not the qualities.  Flash is two parts. The part that is a Spider-Man superfan. That part is easy to farm out to a different seeming version. But Flash also has to be Peter's tormentor--at least at first. Flash's traditional storyline is a domestic violence angle, and that pushing him to be a BMOC. Is that sustainable if he's not the traditional white boy football star, who's a physical bully but an emotional mess?

Edited July 26, 2016 by Kromm

[Bruinsfan]

It's... really odd for that character to be someone that Peter Parker was probably tougher than before getting his powers.

[Kromm]

It also confuses me long term if they intend to let Sony spin off a Venom film and think about using the Flash Thompson version of that character  I mean since you'd think Venom as a hero would be slightly more viable for a comic book film than one who's a monster.

[JessePinkman]

It's actually kind of nice that they're getting away from that angle, that the jock/football star type guy is the bully. That was basically Americana for 60 years but I doubt it holds as true anymore. From the description I heard it sounds like Flash might be Peter's intellectual rival.

26 minutes ago, Kromm said:

It also confuses me long term if they intend to let Sony spin off a Venom film and think about using the Flash Thompson version of that character  I mean since you'd think Venom as a hero would be slightly more viable for a comic book film than one who's a monster.

 

That's what redemption arcs are for!

[benteen]

It doesn't matter to me what nationality Flash is but Flash Thompson is supposed to be a jock and a bully and that guy looks like an elementary school kid could beat him up.  Not sure what they're doing with that casting.

[angora]

I'm curious but not worried.  These days, social media is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think "bully" - lots of ways to harass someone without beating them up.

[Ubiquitous]

Quite frankly, I am sick and tired of the "bully" meme. It's such a jaded cliché now.

[BetterButter]

‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’: Zendaya’s Role Revealed

[Trini]

<---- *is skeptical*.

I don't really have a horse in this race, but the reporting seems sketchy, to me.

[Kromm]

22 minutes ago, Trini said:

<---- *is skeptical*.

I don't really have a horse in this race, but the reporting seems sketchy, to me.

I dunno. It makes a ton of sense to me that this is who Zendaya would be playing. I didn't speculate it here, but I swear I'd been thinking it as a possibility all along. "Michelle" was just a lame code name for the media.  People fished for a really minor Spidey-verse character to fit the name, but it never made sense.

The role they're now attributing to her is one who only looks the way she does in the comics by convention, and I don't think her appearance looking a certain way is nearly as iconic as Peter Parker looking a certain way. It is a sensible adjustment casting a very pretty It-Girl of the moment, race blind, to a role I suspect that's right up her alley otherwise.

[Spartan Girl]

If she is MJ, good for her. It doesn't matter what she looks like as long as she's the fun, sassy, strong awesome Cool Girl she was in the comics....not the shrill, whiny, bitch queen that Sam Raimi and Kirsten Dunst forced on us.

[Morrigan2575]

I'm so bored with MJ wish they had gone with Gwen Stacy again (minus her ultimate comicbook fate).

[Kromm]

1 minute ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I'm so bored with MJ wish they had gone with Gwen Stacy again (minus her ultimate comicbook fate).

Gwen Stacy has more story baggage. Even if you ignore her fate, she ties you a bit tightly to fairly predictable storylines with her father.  MJ is more of a blank slate.  The only essentials are really that she's overtly a party girl, and you can use a whole bunch of variations starting from there.

[JessePinkman]

You're right about Gwen, at this point she basically has to die no matter what they do with the character and that's just a big no thanks. I wouldn't even say MJ has to be a party girl, my only requirements are spitfire and very pretty.

If Zendaya is Mary Jane then it looks like they're going for the full John Hughes treatment because the character she's playing in Homecoming was described by people who saw the trailer at comic con as a sort of Freaks and Geeks Linda Cartellini type. So we're probably in for the full last minute makeover. And I don't know how I feel about that.

Edited August 19, 2016 by JessePinkman