News & Speculation For ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’

 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR finally came out last week, and with it we finally got our first look at Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. With the studio aiming to develop a more youthful interpretation of Parker, Holland fits the bill perfectly, as he’s a good deal younger than either Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield were when taking on the part. And most reviews agree that in addition to being a youthful fit, Holland did quite well in his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Now all eyes will turn toward Holland’s coming solo project, SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, which is set for a July 2017 release. On IMDB the would-be synopsis is simply written as “plot unknown,” so clearly we’re largely in the dark as far as what this debut Marvel Studios Spider-Man project will be about. But based on what we’ve already seen as well as a few other factors at play, we do have a few major guesses about what the film will look like.

A New Take On The Cast

In a new Spider-Man film, you expect Peter’s friend Harry, an elderly Aunt May and perhaps Uncle Ben, as well as a love interest named either Mary Jane Watson or Gwen Stacy. As of now it looks like this film will give us none of those. As was revealed in CIVIL WAR, Aunt May this time around is far younger (and more attractive), specifically being played by Marisa Tomei. There’s no Uncle Ben so far as we can tell, nor is Watson, Stacy, or Harry in the picture. What we do have are mystery roles for Zendaya and Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori as Peter’s friend Manuel, and Robert Downey, Jr. bringing Tony Stark into the picture.

The potential Stark-Parker mentor-mentee setup hinted at in CIVIL WAR would make for a wonderful way for Parker to ease into the MCU, and would be a very fresh take on the Spider-Man origin story we’ve seen played out by two franchises in the past decade and-a-half. The interesting thing will be whether or not there’s any hint at romance between Stark and Aunt May. He seemed quite attracted to her in CIVIL WAR, as well as bothered by a rift with Pepper Potts so deep that she didn’t appear in the film.

A New Villain?

Many might expect that the Green Goblin will inevitably be the chief villain in SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, given that he’s become the de facto Spidey bad guy for younger generations. He was in both film franchises, and has become as thoroughly linked to Spider-Man as the Joker is to Batman or Lex Luthor is to Superman. Even one of the most prominent Spider-Man games, featured at the casino platform on Gala Bingo, is as much about the Goblin as the web-slinging hero. It’s called “Spider-Man: Attack Of The Green Goblin,” and invites players to take the Goblin down by way of special features in an arcade slot machine. This game echoes other Spider-Man gaming appearances in which the Goblin takes a central role.

However, games, casinos, and past films appear to have little influence on Marvel Studios as there have been some pretty firm indications that the Goblin will not be rehashed again. So where does that leave us? Well, according to Den Of Geek in its own reveal about what we know so far about HOMECOMING, there are some strong indications that Adrian Toomes (aka The Vulture) will be the main baddie this time around. Toomes is traditionally an older man who invents a set of wings and wreaks havoc, positioning himself as Spider-Man’s nemesis. Michael Keaton was rumored for the role, but those negotiations have evidently fallen through, leaving the role wide open. Den Of Geek also suggested that a younger sub-villain might also be involved, and played by a person of color, and still others have hinted that Kraven the Hunter could be the main bad guy. Frankly, we jus t don’t know, but at this stage Vulture seems like the odds-on favorite.

A Hint At The Story?

There’s already quite a bit of buzz being made of the fact that we have no idea what HOMECOMING is all about. The studio and those involved are being tight-lipped, other than to assure us that this isn’t just another origin story. Kevin Feige, the creative boss at Marvel Studios, has been quite clear that he understands fans have gotten a grasp on the basic origin story thanks to two previous franchises. Thus, while HOMECOMING will likely be its own type of coming of age story, as Parker grows into his role as a superhero and Avenger, we’re not going to see the spider bite or the clumsy sequences in which he figures out his powers and knits his own costume.

But what will we see? Screenrant has pointed out that the title “HOMECOMING” suggests a connection to a 1984 Spider-Man comic (specifically THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #252) in which Spider-Man returns to Earth after the SECRET WARS mini-series. That seems like a very doubtful foundation for this story, and indeed one wonders if the title could be directly misleading by Marvel. However, the other interesting thing from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #252 was that it introduced Parker’s black suit, which is something the film might consider doing to set itself apart from previous franchises. We pretty much know that Stark will be assisting Parker with his costuming and equipment, so perhaps he’ll develop a cool black suit for him as well.

And that’s about all we’ve got at this stage! Speculation will be mounting in the next few months, and chances are Marvel will tease us with a few more images, casting decisions, or even teasers in the near future. But at this point, this is about as far as we can go with news about the upcoming movie.