Pop quiz: How do you reboot a superhero franchise that already got a reboot five years ago?
For Marvel and their newly rejuvenated Spider-man franchise, the answer is simple: Go back to basics while introducing Spidey to the larger Marvel cinematic universe.
“Spider-man: Homecoming,” directed by Jon Watts, skips the whole superhero origin story without losing a sense of discovery to the whole endeavor. It’s a teen comedy-drama with tights and it’s got the funniest ending to a superhero movie since the first Iron Man movie.
"Homecoming" has one foot in Marvel superheroics and another on the mundane. Spanish quiz, detention, homecoming dance and secret handshakes – these are not the usual subjects of superhero movies. This is not “amazing” or “spectacular” Spider-man: this Spider-man is already imbued with great power, with matching red and blue underoos. It’s the great responsibility part that he has a tough time learning.
The movie starts with the aftermath of the first Avengers movie as Adrian Toomes (a marvelously malevolent Michael Keaton) and his crew try to salvage the wrecked Chitauri technology left over from the Battle of New York eight years ago.
Enter Tony Stark’s Department of Damage Control (a nod to the Marvel Comics limited series) as it takes over Toomes’ operation, and leaving him without a means to earn back his investment. Toomes hatches a plan to use the salvaged technology to make weapons and earn a profit. He’s a literal Vulture salvaging for alien tech scraps and not even a certain wall-crawling superhero will stand in his way. Keaton has had a resurgence in his career after his roles in “Birdman” and “The Founder” – his Vulture is probably the best Marvel villain since Loki.
Also by way of introduction, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) takes a video diary of his time in Berlin – fighting the Avengers in the Civil War movie. Right off the bat, the story establishes that he’s already got an in on Tony Stark’s team but not quite ready to be an Avenger. It’s the valley moment right after his mountain top experience: one moment, Peter Parker is sparring with Captain America, and the next he’s taking a train to Queens and playing Lego.
Holland’s Peter Parker is full of youthful energy, eager to show off his prowess while tinkering with the various features on his Spider-suit. This Peter Parker isn’t quite the wallflower of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Spider-man origin story on Amazing Fantasy No. 15. He melds the best of cinema’s two previous versions of the wall-crawler and gives it a joyful spin.
He’s brainy and his powers are already kicking in, but he still doesn’t have the guts to ask his crush, Liz, out on a date. He has a funny best friend Ned Leeds, played by Fil-Am actor Jacob Batalon, who gets all the best lines. He also gets picked on by class bully Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori) but it is the latter who loses out as head of the decathlon team when Parker decides to join.
When Parker finally stops a dangerous bank robbery where stolen alien tech is being used, he knows it’s time to raise a warning to Stark and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), Stark’s former head of security. It’s a scene every youngster has to face: a potential life-threatening situation met with slight indifference by the very adults who are supposed to fix the problem. The movie mines the gap between Peter’s good intentions and the near disasters that follow because of his inexperience.
When the situation spirals out of control, Peter gets his first lesson in humility – he may have sounded the warning but he’s not quite equipped the handle the load. Peter’s hero journey then is finding that inner strength, to handle the responsibility revealed by his great power.
Spider-man makes some hard choices in this movie and while it is not as momentous as, say, overcoming his grief and anger over his uncle’s death, it does show him the stakes involved in any superhero’s journey. When the movie ends, you’re left wanting more of this cast – Holland, Zendaya (Michelle), Batalon, Marisa Tomei (a criminally underused Aunt May) and even the bit players such as Donald Glover and Hannibal Burress get some amusing cameos. Also to its credit, Robert Downey Jr. gets some excellent zingers as Tony while Chris Evans (Captain America) has the best after credits scene for any Marvel movie.
Well played, Marvel, and welcome home, Spidey.