It wouldn’t be an inaccurate statement to say the world’s most popular superhero was in limbo after Sony’s “Amazing Spider-Man” franchise reboot crashed and burned in 2014. While critics and fans have been reassured of Marvel Studios’ handling of Spider-Man due to Tom Holland’s (“The Impossible”) scene-stealing, plucky presence in “Captain America: Civil War” there has been enormous pressure on Marvel and Sony to get Spider-Man right this time. Such pressure would be enough to intimidate most directors, especially those who jump immediately from indie films to big budget, tent pole productions, but “Spider-Man: Homecoming” director Jon Watts (“Cop Car”) appears to have kept a level head while making the film.
Watts has stated what surprised him the most about ‘Homecoming’ was despite only his second feature film (and an expensive high profile production) “it’s still just one frame, one shot at a time. At the end of the day, it’s still just two hours, it’s still the fundamentals of storytelling even though the names are bigger and the budgets are higher. The same things that are important to a small movie are just as important on a big one.” Such a pragmatic approach to the stressful environment of blockbuster filmmaking bodes well to Watts’ abilities as a director and (hopefully) the quality of “’Homecoming.’
One of the most interesting aspects of “Homecoming” is it will introduce a shift in scope to the MCU. The film will bring a ground-level, (relatively) ordinary person perspective to the MCU while focusing on the high school antics and wisecracking aspects of Spider-Man/Peter Parker harkening back to the 1960s-era Spider-Man comics. “We’ve seen the Marvel Universe from the very dramatic penthouse perspective of Tony Stark; now we see what it looks like on the ground through the eyes of a fifteen year-old,” says Watts.
READ MORE: New Trailer For ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Sees Peter Parker Going From High School To Hero
However, that doesn’t mean we won’t be getting lots of heroic antics and tech. Trust Tony Stark to design a superhero suit, containing everything from multi-setting webshooters to a detachable drone chest piece, which would put the handy-dandy Swiss Army knife to shame. The go-go-gadgets of Spider-Man’s new suit have ties to Spider-Man’s earliest days in the comics. Watts has stated “there’s actually a precedent for a lot of these ideas in these comics…we would always joke about that because there’s web skis, and a web boat, and a web shield.” Well, it sure beats Shark Repellant Bay-Spray!
Whatever the reception of “Spiderman: Homecoming” may be, its pretty damn cool that Watts, who as a sophomore at NYU in 2002 was able to look out his dorm window and see Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” being filmed on the Brooklyn Bridge, has helmed the latest Spider-Man film. Life works in mysterious ways after all. By the way, as we’re sure you’ve heard, Kevin Feige has said “Spider-Man” only has four films within the MCU, ‘Homecoming,’ both upcoming ‘Avengers‘ films and the ‘Homecoming’ sequel. After that? Thats “as far as it goes for now,” he said. Fingers crossed that Spidey stays within the MCU walls for a few years longer. [LA Times/Entertainment Weekly]
