7 facts you need to know before watching Spider-Man: Homecoming
Need a little review on all things Spider-Man before tomorrow's big opening? Young Post brings you up to speed on Peter Parker's triumphant return to the neighbourhood in his first solo film
Tom Holland is the next friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.Ever since his super-cameo in last year’s Captain America: Civil War, fans have been clamouring for more of the wisecracking and slightly awkward teenage webslinger. Well, the big day has arrived as Spider-Man: Homecoming is set to open in Hong Kong tomorrow. Young Post has compiled a handy recap of all the things you need to know about Homecoming before you swing over to the cinema.
1. Third time’s the charm
Tom Holland is the third actor to take the mantle of Spider-Man, and the youngest: he was just 19 when he appeared in Civil War. Tobey Maguire was 27 when heplayed the webbed crime fighter in the first of three successful films from 2002 to 2007, while Andrew Garfield was 29 when he starred in The Amazing Spider-Man, and went on to star in a sequel.
2. No origin story here
Marvel has decided to skip the origin part of the story in this reboot, as it’s something that everyone has already seen twice in previous movies. No radioactive bite scene, super surprised “I’ve got superpowers” mirror scene, or training montage of funny mishaps here. Just straight into the action.
3. More micro than macro
As Tony Stark suggests, “Can’t you just be a friendly, neighbourhood Spider-Man?” Homecoming has a narrower focus on Peter’s normal life as a high school student and isn’t about saving the whole world Avengers-style. With real-life problems, like how to ask his crush out to the homecoming dance and keeping up with training on the school’s decathlon team, this movie has a smaller, more intimate scale.
4. Peter’s suit is Stark tech
We’ve already seen a bit of what Peter can do with the upgraded suit that Stark provides him with in Civil War. But what you don’t know is that that’s only a fraction of what the Spider-Man suit is truly capable of. Stark has deliberately locked away many of the cooler features until Peter is ready. After he completes his training, we will get to see web grenades, taser webbing, web wings and much much more.
5. No weird icky biological webbing
The web-shooters that Peter invents by himself are the only thing that Stark keeps from Peter's original homemade suit. The high-tensile strength webbing was also manufactured by Peter, and is a far cry from the biological webbing that miraculously shot out of Tobey Maguire’s wrists in the first movie incarnation.
6. Iron Man’s the sidekick?
Taking more of a supporting role in this one, Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark is more of a mentor/fairy godmother to Peter Parker. Though he does step in to save the day early on and shows off some cool new tech of his own, the focus isn’t on Iron Man. In a parallel of the maturity process that Iron Man himself went through as he transformed into a superhero, Stark provides some much needed guidance to his young protégé.
7. The Vulture’s the villain
Blue-collar salvage company owner Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) isn’t out to conquer the world. He just wants to make sure his employees can make a decent living and feed their families. So when he’s put out of business when the government forms its own salvage department, he keeps the alien tech from the Battle of New York in the first Avengers and becomes the Vulture. Armed with a flying suit of his own, nothing will stop him from protecting his workers.
Bonus: Every hero needs a rival
Rumour has it that Parker’s longtime rival from the comics, Flash Thompson, will make an appearance in the movie. Though Flash eventually becomes the superhero Agent Venom in the comics, there is no evidence thus far that the Venom symbiote story arc will be part of Parker’s first solo movie. But Marvel is known to set up future plotlines far in advance, so stay tuned.
Spider-Man: Homecoming opens in cinemas tomorrow.