Completing the Lead Up to No Way Home: Day 7 – Spider-Man: Homecoming

We are officially in the Tom Holland/MCU section of this Lead Up. With one day to go until I see Spider-Man: No Way Home, I couldn’t be more excited to be talking about these movies.

Jack’s Score – 93/100 | Rotten Tomatoes – 92% | Audience – 87% | IMDb – 7.4/10

Tom Holland delivers my favorite adaptation of Peter Parker in this movie. He is what a high school student would be if they just got super powers. The mini movie that opens this movie really showcases his personality and how much of a dork he is just fighting in that Civil War battle. It also highlights his internal conflict for the movie – a desire to be greater than the street level hero he is, to be an Avenger. As soon as he’s back in Queens, he’s asking Tony about the next mission, and when he’ll here from the Avengers again. A common critique of this movie is that this aspect of his personality is not true to the character, but when you are introducing him as a kid who just got his powers that is entrenched in a world of heroes, you have to make some changes. Still, a perfect example of his personality is his turmoil over showing up as Spider-Man at Liz’s party. His character arc in this movie works excellently and helps his “street level” work make sense for the future.

Homecoming takes its time to highlight Peter’s high school experience, a detail the previous iterations didn’t touch on much. The montage of him going through a normal day is a fun and relatable sequence that also shows off Peter’s intelligence. It makes sense that Peter would be trying to make web fluid in chemistry, since he wouldn’t have access to equipment or chemicals he would need outside of school. Then, when the dismissal bell finally rings, he can’t wait to hit the streets and be Spider-Man. This sequence is also great – specifically helping the the old lady with directions and the churro – it’s definitely something very Spider-Man.

Peter’s relationships are also the best of any live action Spider-Man. I am not a fan of Peter Parker as a total loner. His friendships in previous iterations haven’t extended beyond Harry Osborne, who is frankly an unlikeable character. Here, Ned Leeds and Peter’s other classmates bring some fun levity to the movie and allow the high school sequences to feel more realistic and flow more naturally.

Michael Keaton gives a masterful performance as the Vulture. He’s menacing without being a world-ending threat and his attitude and demeanor help make his decisions compelling and understandable. He’s not a monster who wants to destroy the world, he’s a man who got stepped on one too many times and now is doing what he thinks he needs to. The twist of him being Liz’s father was done to perfection. It was set up in a way that makes it believable, yet totally unexpected.

Then, that car sequence where he pieces together Spider-Man’s identity is full of tension and anticipation. Keaton’s facial expressions and slow sentences convey his impeding realization in a perfect way. When Toomes keeps Peter in the car and threatens him before letting him go into the dance, he feels incredibly dangerous as a street level thug. Additionally, the fact that Peter leaves his phone in the car means that he made up his mind about following the Vulture then and there. This is a scene without a single punch thrown or bullet fired and it’s one of my favorites in the entire MCU.

A couple critiques I have are about the Washington Monument sequence and the final battle. I don’t feel like there was a need to take Spider-Man out of New York, and, as a result, we haven’t seen too much of Spider-Man in New York yet – something I hope we get in No Way Home. It’s a fun sequence but it feels somewhat out of place in this movie. Then the final battle is crazy dark and cut to hell, so of course it suffers from that, as many Marvel movies do. The fighting is barely visible, so not nearly as vivid and enjoyable as it should be.

Coming off the heels of my Into the Spiderverse review, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Aaron Davis easter egg. Played by Donald Glover, Davis is the guy who was trying to buy weapons from Vulture’s crew and later interrogated by Spider-Man. He even drops the line, “I don’t want those weapons out there. I got a nephew who live here.” Some people have speculated that Miles Morales might appear in No Way Home. Personally, I’d rather him get his own origin later, but I can’t wait for his appearance in the MCU.

Spider-Man: Homecoming kicks off a stellar run for Tom Holland in the MCU. I can’t wait to see it culminate tomorrow and progress and improve with his next trilogy.

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