After his big debut in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, 2017 saw the first solo film for Tom Holland’s incarnation of everyone’s favorite friendly neighborhood wallcrawler with Spider-Man: Homecoming. The film would expand upon the life of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker following the aftermath of Civil War and promised audiences a fresh take on the iconic character as he interacts with the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe and faces a villain never before seen in a Spider-Man film, the Vulture, played respectively by Michael Keaton.

 

Over the years, the Spider-Man fanbase has become divided over Holland’s interpretation of the character, often spitefully nicknaming him “Iron Boy Jr.” due to his reliance on technology given to him by Tony Stark- but does such a new concept in a post-origin Spider-Man story really have an effect on who Peter Parker is a character and how it impacts the decisions and personality of this Spider-Man?

 

No. No, it does not.

 

The story takes place not long after Peter is sent home from fighting alongside the Avengers and is warned to stay out of trouble- after all, he’s only a teenager and is not yet ready to accept the responsibility of saving the world. When Peter stumbles upon a team of criminals, led by Keaton’s Vulture, upgrading and selling stolen weapons on the black market, he sees it as his chance to do what’s right, and cannot help but feel that it’s his personal duty to stop them, despite his inexperience as a superhero.

 

Of course, Peter Parker is only a high school student, so naturally he deals with high school problems alongside his double-life as Spider-Man, which is where this movie truly shines. From struggling to ask out his crush Liz Allan to the homecoming dance, to wanting to help his team win the Academic Decathlon, many of the average situations Peter has to deal with feel like they’re ripped straight from the early comics, and are even reminiscent of the Spectacular Spider-Man animated series. 

 

Although Peter may have fancy new gadgets and a sleek Stark Industries-manufactured suit (neither of which he really knows how to use), it stays true to who Peter Parker is as a character, and the ‘Parker luck’ he experiences throughout this film is a prime example of that. No matter how hard he tries to balance his identity as Spider-Man with his everyday life, he always comes up short, and a lot of that is reflected at the end of the film, when Holland is forced to make some pivotal decisions, some of which will forever haunt his life.

 

Another element this film knocked out of the park was its villain. Michael Keaton’s performance as Vulture proves that he is not only one of the most intimidating Spider-Man villains, but one of the most well-written and interesting characters in the MCU as a whole. Not only did they make very clever design choices- even having Adrian Toomes fund his business through picking through the scraps of Avengers and alien technology, as a real Vulture would- but they also made the great decision to link Toomes’s character directly to Peter Parker, causing a collision between his personal and superhero life.

 

As we’ve seen in prior Spider-Man installments, the best written villains, such as Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus, always share a direct connection to the lives of both Spider-Man and Peter Parker, making Vulture one of the most dangerous threats Peter Parker has ever gone up against. 

 

If there are any real downsides to this film, it’s that more creative liberties could have been taken during the final fight. After Peter realizes that he doesn’t need a billionaire’s technology to be a hero, and that being Spider-Man is enough to stop the Vulture’s plan and do what’s right, he sets off after the Vulture during his big heist and the two end up having their epic confrontation on a beach… just outside a Coney Island amusement park. If the battle had taken place within the park, it not only would have been more high-stakes as Peter would have to protect innocent civilians, but also much more memorable. A fight taking place within a theme park hasn’t really been done within the MCU (at least from what I can remember) so the creative liberties they could have taken and the concept of Spider-Man swinging from theme park rides alone would have been incredible to see unfold.

 

Also, some may not be a fan of the high school-level humor that comes alongside Peter’s personal life and when he’s with his friends, as accurate to the personalities of real students as they may be. This is where viewers and Spider-Man fans alike need to take a look at what this film is really based on- the early Stan Lee and Steve Ditko run from the 1960s, which included:

 

-Early introductions of villains such as the Tinkerer and the Vulture

-Spider-Man desperately trying to launch his career by joining the Fantastic Four (substituted here with the Avengers)

-Cheesy dialogue and scenarios that unfold at Peter’s highschool and in his everyday life

-A colorful new suit that is reminiscent of Spider-Man’s original design found in the comics

 

Spider-Man and his colorful cast of characters can never be taken too seriously- (yes, even during his darker storylines) but the problems that Peter Parker encounters, as well as the feeling of responsibility he harbors after the loss of his Uncle Ben, is meant to be- and that’s exactly how we’re supposed to feel while watching a Spider-Man film.

 

Spider-Man: Homecoming offers something new and different from the previous big-screen versions of the character we’ve seen before. Will all fans be pleased with it? No. But that’s okay. True fans of the character will be able to see the bigger picture, and understand that although this isn’t a carbon-copy of a previously made movie, this is still a story about Peter Parker. He’s experienced his origin, lost his Uncle Ben, and feels obligated to do the most good with his powers as he is able to. While new elements are indeed introduced due to the circumstances of being in a greater universe of heroes- something we’ve never seen Spider-Man interact with on screen before- it doesn’t rob Tom Holland’s portrayal of Peter Parker of his character or personality. 

 

Spider-Man Homecoming serves as a slow, but perfect introduction to the MCU’s version of Peter Parker and starts off his character’s journey on a high note- ‘Nuff said!