Countdown to Infinity War: Spider-Man Homecoming

I liked Toby McGuire as Spider-Man. I thought he did a good job, and at a time when superhero movies weren't anything to write home about. Actually it wasn't even that the superhero movies were bad, it's that there weren't any. In 2002 the other superhero movie that came out was Blade 2. The excellent X-Men movie was 2 years before... and aside from that, the abomination that was Batman and Robin was back in '97. Looking forward, there's the Aflac Daredevil... clearly not the golden age of superhero movies.

And then a decade later Andrew Garfield slipped on the PJs. And that was... well, repetitive, and not as good.



And when it was announced that Sony and Disney had made a deal for a new Spider-Man? And that we'd be shown Uncle Ben, and "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" yet again... I winced. I felt my faith in the MCU being tested again. We got an initial tease with Civil War... and... it was good! A wise-cracking kid trying to do the right thing, not actually wanting to hurt anyone. And yet... for the first time... I didn't see Homecoming in the theater. I didn't need to see Peter get bitten by the spider, I didn't need his origin story AGAIN.

Things we never need to see redone in a movie ever again:
Bruce Wayne watching her parents get shot
Baby superman landing in Kansas
Uncle Ben getting shot/Peter getting bitten by a spider

sigh

The shame will stay with me forever.

Because Homecoming was a blast. Once again Marvel took something that could have been awful and turned it into something great. Peter Parker is an honest to god KID, in high school, and it isn't a damned origin story!

What we got is a young Peter, being mentored (remotely) by Tony Stark, testing limits, wanting to do good, to join the Avengers, while Tony wants this 15 year old kid to just... be a friendly neighborhood Spider-man. And like any teen, Peter pushing things too far, and gets caught up in something bigger than he's really ready to handle.

He makes mistakes. He goofs up. He talks too much. He's a little insecure. He has fun with his abilities. Basically, he's everything a young Peter Parker should be.

And let's talk about Vulture. If ever there was a relatable everyman villain for Spider-Man to confront, this is the guy. A different take from the comic books, but one that fits in really well with the MCU. He's utterly believable, and you even want to root for him. Plus, there's the whole Michael Keaton is also Batman and Birdman.

Post Credit Scenes: Cap's PSAs are WONDERFUL!!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!! Aunt May (Yowza!!) catching Peter in his suit? "What the f-" was great...

Next Up: Thor Ragnarok!