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Spider-Man: Homecoming |OT| MCU's Sweet 16 - SPOILERS

Tizoc

Member
I doubt Scorpion will be the main villain of the next movie.
He'll probably be the Shocker for someone bigger.
Bruh the mext apidey movie is totally gomma be sinister six

Also i was rooting for vulture the entire movie.
 

Mauddib

Banned
You're not getting a 50s-era jock bully in a Bronx High School of Science-style school.

What exactly does the movie gain from having Flash be a stereotypical bully?

Having the dickhead of the film be a brown kid isn't appealing. I'm kind of sick of brown folk being depicted as villains in all hollywood movies. We see that shit everyday and it makes our children hated in school.
 

Sadist

Member
The fun thing is, he just wants to be a friendly neighbourhood kind of guy

Next year he will be pummled around by Thanos
 

Zen Aku

Member
Having the dickhead of the film be a brown kid isn't appealing. I'm kind of sick of brown folk being depicted as villains in all hollywood movies. We see that shit everyday and it makes our children hated in school.

Oh its this shit again.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
Having the dickhead of the film be a brown kid isn't appealing. I'm kind of sick of brown folk being depicted as villains in all hollywood movies. We see that shit everyday and it makes our children hated in school.

Are you really saying this about a movie where most of the cast is POC?
 

Seesaw15

Member
Having the dickhead of the film be a brown kid isn't appealing. I'm kind of sick of brown folk being depicted as villains in all hollywood movies. We see that shit everyday and it makes our children hated in school.

Bruh this isn't The Last Airbender. Minorities can play antagonist. It only becomes a problem when that's the only roles they're given.
 

Mauddib

Banned
Are you really saying this about a movie where most of the cast is POC?

You mean the movie in which they made a hispanic kid say 'durr I don't know how jobs work', to making a famous black actor (that the internet wanted to see play Spider-Man) be a drugged out thief, to the movie that used the half black girl's race to pull the shock surprise angle? That movie wouldn't be ignorant enough to portray a brown person as yet another criminal? And I'm wrong here?
 

Rean

Member
I really love how they didn't kill off Vulture at the end. So many Spider-Man movies end with the villians killing themselves or just dying for some reason.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I just walked out of the theater with 3 other disappointed Spiderman fans. We wanted a standalone film that brings a sense of magic and wonder to the character (Hello Ramiverse), but it's simply bogged down by MCU cruft. It literally begins by digging up alien spacecraft from Avengers 1 and referencing Civil War scenes. The plot is driven by meetings with Stark yapping about the Avengers and giving him permission to use technology (Other M??). And it's stuffed with distracting wink-nod cameos from the whole galaxy of Thors and Captain Americas.

People try and tell me these CU connections don't matter and are just for fun, but they plainly do matter. This movie was completely subservient to the connections to other films. It felt like an episode of a TV show, not a film that works by itself. It felt small and with no sense of magic. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who isn't already in love with this universe.

I'm glad other people enjoy this. This one's for you, MCU devotees. But this whole CU stuff continues to ruin the potential of superhero films for me.

The only part I liked much was Keaton. He always delivers.
 
Having the dickhead of the film be a brown kid isn't appealing. I'm kind of sick of brown folk being depicted as villains in all hollywood movies. We see that shit everyday and it makes our children hated in school.

I agree which is why most of the racially diverse cast aren't depicted as villains. Most of the actual villains are basically blue collar white guys.
 

Zen Aku

Member
You mean the movie in which they made a hispanic kid say 'durr I don't know how jobs work', to making a famous black actor (that the internet wanted to see play Spider-Man) be a drugged out thief, to the movie that used the half black girl's race to pull the shock surprise angle? That movie wouldn't be ignorant enough to portray a brown person as yet another criminal? And I'm wrong here?

Jacob Batalon who portray Ned is Filipino ya idjit.
 

Seesaw15

Member
You mean the movie in which they made a hispanic kid say 'durr I don't know how jobs work', to making a famous black actor (that the internet wanted to see play Spider-Man) be a drugged out thief, to the movie that used the half black girl's race to pull the shock surprise angle? That movie wouldn't be ignorant enough to portray a brown person as yet another criminal? And I'm wrong here?

Ned's filipino and the movie portrayed him as a genius but also a sophomore in high school making a joke.
 

Shambala

Member
I just got out of the movie. These are my immediate impressions. I'll probably develop my thoughts over the coming days as I chew over the scenes in my mind.

I'm reviewing this movie as a person who would identify as a pretty huge Spider-Man fan. I have over a 700 comics of this character alone and he's easily my favourite fictional character.

Overall I thought it was a great start. It's true to Peter Parker like no other movie before it. In fact it feels so much like a Spider-Man comic (particularly like a Dan Slott issue). Do I think it's as good as Spider-Man 2 as a film? No. But that's not a problem. They are two different takes on Spidey which are both (for the most part) very respectful of the background and origin of the character.

Some things to note:

The Norman Osbourne-ing of Vulture:
What do I mean by this? Well when Norman Osbourne was first revealed to be the Green Goblin, who happened to be Peter's best friend's dad, it was a huge twist, especially for the audience. Raimi decided he didn't really want to go that route with the first Spider-Man film (which is odd), and so the audience knows about Norman's descent before the characters do. In contrast, the Vulture reveal scene was pulled off perfectly. The audience actually gasped - it was probably the first time I've heard a collective surprise reaction from an entire crowd in the cinema. It was pulled off really well, and Keaton's delivery over the next 20 minutes was flawless. Seriously, one of the best super hero villains to date.

Not much of an emotional core:
So this is something that Raimi's films got right. Although Spider-Man comics have always had a light touch to them, at the core they are very melodramatic comics. Right from Amazing Fantasy, Peter was worrying about finances, his aunt, his dating life. And it was always presented dramatically. Stan Lee himself would compare the emotional core of Spider-Man comics to Russian Literature (let's not get into his actual scripting involvement). The point is that, the dramatic components in Spider-Man's life are not presented in a light hearted manner. They're deep conflicts that completely envelope him, even when he was in high school.

Homecoming doesn't really seem to understand that. Everything is really light hearted. Well, until it's not and he has to pick up this thing:

latest


So when it happens, the emotion and struggle doesn't feel entirely earned. The movie doesn't really allow Peter to have quiet moments like Raimi's Peter does. It's so caught up in moving him from comedic scene to set piece to an MCU building scene that I'm not presented with a moment to relate to Peter.

He's kind of awkward, sure. And yes, Liz originally was crushing on him in the comics too, so I can't say that's wrong. But the only real struggle in the entire movie is him not having his costume. Where are the conversations of his Aunt struggling to make money? Or his conscience eating him whole? Where's the guilt?

Uncle Ben..
I would have at the very least liked them to acknowledge him in some way or another. Instead we get a throw away line about May having gone through a whole lot. I'm not very comfortable with Tony Stark taking up the replacement role, if they aren't at least going to mention Ben.

Action Scenes
Not sure if this was intentional, but the action scenes don't at all look as good as they do in all previous Spider-Man films. It was probably to maintain the tone of the movie, so there are no sweeping shots of him web slinging, which is a staple of the character as far as his film history is concerned. I didn't really actually mind the mostly low-key presentation of his acrobatics. I'm sure they'll play this up in subsequent films.

Rejecting Stark
I was really happy with the final decision. Looks like the MCU understands the character a lot more than the brains behind Spidey's involvement in Civil War (Quesada, Millar, Straczynski).
Bro this is the best Spider-Man hands down. Even Raimi spidey was my favorite but now I'll never watch those again. This movie was just right.
 

Sadist

Member
But Uncle Aaron doesn't want Chitauri weaponry in the neighbourhood of his nephew?

Seemed like a decent guy towards his family.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
And I'm wrong here?

Yes, very.

What the fuck?

[edit]

Like others have pointed out, Ned isn't hispanic and he was making a joke. I can't even imagine what problematic thing you're imagining this joke to be.

They made Donald Glover one of the most important characters in Miles Morales' life. Would you rather they cast a white actor to play a black role? And drugged out? What?

The twist with Liz has NOTHING to do with her race, that reveal could still have worked if he was white. Again, would you rather they cast Peter's love interest as a white person?
 
Great comedy and an amazing cast make this film. Michael Keaton & Tom Holland are so so good in their roles. Even some of the more controversial choices (Tomey, Zendaya, etc) are very good and fit this movie perfectly.


Also, whoever did the coloring/cinematography really succeeded in differentiating this visually from the other MCU movies. It looks more colorful, more luminous, more... young?

Other than that, it was close to being better than Civil War and one of the two actually good MCU movies. Still a little by the numbers of course, and the "heavy" action was a CGI snorfest, but a good reboot nevertheless.
 

Zen Aku

Member
But Uncle Aaron doesn't want Chitauri weaponry in the neighbourhood of his nephew?

Seemed like a decent guy towards his family.
I think he's probably another guy like Keaton who is down on his luck, has to resort to crime but lack the sophistication and creative engineering skill that Keaton has. He still loves his family and he recognizes that our regular weapons are dangerous as it is. They didn't need alien weapons tech in the neighborhood. Especially ones that could level an entire building in a blast. Probably still haunted by happened during the Invasion.
 

Seesaw15

Member
I just walked out of the theater with 3 other disappointed Spiderman fans. We wanted a standalone film that brings a sense of magic and wonder to the character (Hello Ramiverse), but it's simply bogged down by MCU cruft. It literally begins by digging up alien spacecraft from Avengers 1 and referencing Civil War scenes. The plot is driven by meetings with Stark yapping about the Avengers and giving him permission to use technology (Other M??). And it's stuffed with distracting wink-nod cameos from the whole galaxy of Thors and Captain Americas.

People try and tell me these CU connections don't matter and are just for fun, but they plainly do matter. This movie was completely subservient to the connections to other films. It felt like an episode of a TV show, not a film that works by itself. It felt small and with no sense of magic. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who isn't already in love with this universe.

I'm glad other people enjoy this. This one's for you, MCU devotees. But this whole CU stuff continues to ruin the potential of superhero films for me.

The only part I liked much was Keaton. He always delivers.

It's 2017. Can we stop comparing things to TV shows as if its a pejorative. Self-contained stories are great but so are long form stories.
 
Sure. You get all kinds of kids in every school. Just talk to any teacher about type diversity.
I actually know a lot of teachers. A few of them also teach at gifted science/tech schools and the jocks are not nor, really, been for a long time these weird stereotype bros who are 6'2 and 220 pounds at the age of 15.

They're the wealthy kids, the witty kids, the cruel kids who just bully because they can.

I dunno when - or where - you went to school so can't speak to your experiences but the kind of bully that Flash was in the comics barely exists anymore, let alone in schools like Peter's.
 
Really quite a wonderful, enjoyable romp. As many have already discussed, Tom Holland is the perfect Spider-Man; funny, quirky, athletic and capturing everything I want out of a teen Peter Parker. It's going to be a joy watching him and the character evolve for presumably the next ten plus years. The rest of the cast is great, too; this is only the second acting credit for Jacob Batalon but he is a scene stealer, and everyone else does great with what they're given (some not quite enough, but more on that later). And it is hilarious; the John Hughes influence leads to the funniest MCU film to date.

Special mention needs to be given to Michael Keaton, who for my money, turns The Vulture into at least the second best MCU villain to date. He has understandable motivations, well-written dialogue, and Keaton brings his own flair to it. He is 90% of the way to being a truly great character, missing just a bit more time to stand up to the giants. That said, everything from his reveal as Liz's father (a true audience gasping moment) onward is just phenomenal. Keaton achieves a level of menace that is very rare for a modern day comic-book film. The car scene is a standout for the whole year, let alone the film.

One of the cleverest aspects of this film is its total subversion of the typical Spider-Man origin story, while still operating as precisely that. Instead of forcing us to see Uncle Ben gunned for the nth time, the film is about a young and impatient Spidey realizing he cannot forgo the Peter Park part of his life. He may be the only Avenger with a secret identity, but it is the young kid that can make him the best and most relatable of them all, the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Another great element: this film is a poster child for multi-ethnic casting that does not remotely feel forced.

The largest negative of the film is simply put, the amount of the film spent on each element. Tony Stark, Aunt May, the high school segments, Liz, Michelle, etc. I enjoyed all of these, but just like The Vulture, additional time for each (ok, perhaps not for Stark depending on how you feel about the character) could have elevated this to true greatness. It's almost sacrilege to suggest it in the age of bloated blockbusters, but this film could have benefited from a 2.5 hour runtime.

The other negative that came to mind is that the action scenes are, overall, not terribly impressive. Perfectly acceptable with some degree of inventiveness, but nothing in comparison to the Doc Ock fights in Raimi's first sequel. This fits with the Peter Parker in this one, but it is still something that I was longing for. The mid-credits villain tease suggests Homecoming 2 will deliver the goods on this front.

This was probably the most fun I have had at the theaters since John Wick 2. That a film made in a partnership between two studios with no less than six credited writers works as well as this is a minor miracle.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
Hello Peter, I'm an antiquated stereotype and I'm here to beat you up and shove you in a locker, NERD!
 
The other negative that came to mind is that the action scenes are, overall, not terribly impressive. Perfectly acceptable with some degree of inventiveness, but nothing in comparison to the Doc Ock fights in Raimi's first sequel. This fits with the Peter Parker in this one, but it is still something that I was longing for. The mid-credits villain tease suggests Homecoming 2 will deliver the goods on this front.

The action was a huge disappointment IMO. Unfortunately there is the Raimi standard out there, and the expectation of what a Spiderman action scene means (one of the reasons Spiderman has such a huge audience is how exhilarating the action is in the comics), and the movie handled the action scenes as the usual Marvel production, with too little creativity.
 

Zen Aku

Member
Hot Aunt May felt totally wrong.
No it doesn't. Give in to it.

Peter yelling for help after the warehouse collapsed was heartbreaking.

Also, the final line was spectacular.
Yeah it really was. At that point it's when I was reminded that he's still only just a kid. But he realizes that his impatient and recklessness got himself into this situation. Tony isnt going to come flying in to help bail him out anymore. It's a growing up moment. One that he desperately needed to get to where he wanted to go. Which is having more responsibility of being an Avengers. Which is why the ending was so great, that he realizes there is so much he needs to learn and experience. That he wasn't ready yet. I love that we have an Spider-Man with not a lot of experience. That we can watch him grow.

Which I can let's it pass why the action scenes weren't amazing save for a few shots. He's still a very inexperienced fighter.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
It's 2017. Can we stop comparing things to TV shows as if its a pejorative. Self-contained stories are great but so are long form stories.
You are right in that TV shows these days are quite sophisticated and are often like long form films.

But these connections between chapters in the MCU, is it going to add up to one cohesive work of art? It won't. Breaking Bad this ain't. So it's a shame that the individual film doesn't work on its own either.

I want films that can work by themselves. They could have made a very standalone film that ties into the MCU tangentially, but they didn't even care to here. I think the drama felt very small and and with no sense of majesty and awe (As Raimi delivered in spades), because it's packed into this universe where Spider-Man is fundamentally unremarkable. It's constantly reminding us of this by virtue of the rest of the MCU events pushing into this film and actually guiding the plot (i.e. alien weapons, Stark's spidey suit, etc)

People rationalize Fox having the license to X-men by saying "it kind of makes sense that they'd be separate because the mutant drama depends on them being islolated examples of superheroes". Well, that's true for Spider-Man too. He's a greater character if he's in his own world.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
This year we're 2 for 2 for great villains, can they do it again in Ragnarok!? I think they finally figured it out.
 
Bruh the mext apidey movie is totally gomma be sinister six

Also i was rooting for vulture the entire movie.

I hope they don't jump straight to the sinister six.

Have the next movie build them up some more and focus on one or two villains instead. I'd quite like to see what Marvel can do with Kraven.

Mysterio might be another villain I'd like to see. Maybe have both of them in the sequel.
 

Sojgat

Member
Character with some of the longest running team-up books works better in his own world. I've heard it all now.
 

WillyFive

Member
I still don't like the degree to which Stark figures in the story, but it's made up for. I loved the allusion to this climactic moment from the Lee/Ditko run (spoiler tagged for anyone who hasn't read the comics and doesn't want to know; click to see the images)



I thought that the film did it much better, though.

I noticed a couple people didn't like the voice over for that scene in the film, but compared to the comic, the movie version is practically completely silent and it's all expressed by Tom's acting. They did a pretty good job. Also, major props to Giacchino's score during the scene.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Character with some of the longest running team-up books works better in his own world. I've heard it all now.

Comic characters usually stick to themselves anyway, with crossovers being a rare treat, but these MCU movies seem to shove heavy crossovers into every film, and they're only 2 hours long.

Comic book geeks want the films to behave like comic books. Crossovers and continuity galore. And that's fine. I get it. It's the longtime dream of many.

But I want adaptations of comic book characters to films, not a 1:1 transaction of comic universes. And I see how being under the weight of a story group, having to maintain a certain tone set by Favreau/Whedon, having to devote time to catching up on MCU subplots, and even revolving the story around MCU continuity, is completely destroying the notion of these as adaptations from page to real life. They're live action comics, not films that take the core of a character and make the best possible film.

I mean the conclusion of this movie is centred on establishing Avengers mansion. I'm sorry but if I'm here for Spiderman, why do I give one shit? I'm not here for that. It has fuck all to do with Spiderman's internal character arc.
 

WillyFive

Member
Comic characters usually stick to themselves anyway, with crossovers being a rare treat, but these MCU movies seem to shove heavy crossovers into every film, and they're only 2 hours long.

Comic book geeks want the films to behave like comic books. And that's fine. I get it. It's the longtime dream of many.

But I want adaptations of comic book characters to films, not a 1:1 transaction of comic universes. And I see how being under the weight of a story group, having to maintain a certain tone set by Favreau/Whedon, having to devote time to catching up on MCU subplots, and even revolving the story around MCU continuity, is completely destroying the notion of these as adaptations from page to real life. They're live action comics, not films that take the core of a character and make the best possible film.

I mean the conclusion of this movie is centred on establishing Avengers mansion. I'm sorry but if I'm here for Spiderman, why do I give one shit? I'm not here for that. It has fuck all to do with Spiderman's internal character arc.

Hang on a second. Happy Hogan taking Peter to the mansion with the other Avengers was literally the one main thing Peter has wanted since the movie began. It's literally Peter's main motivation throughout the entire movie, to become an Avenger. And when he decides to reject them and be his own guy, that is the main conclusion to his story arc for the movie. That wasn't a tacked on MCU scene, it was literally the climax of the film's character arc.

You were so distracted trying to dislike the fact that it takes place in the MCU that you didn't realize that what it was MCU Spider-Man's origin story.
 
Good movie, I'd give it an 8-8.5 range. The CG looked off when he's jumping around and swinging at times and some of the humor was too forced. I put spiderman 1 and 2 over this so this is easily the third best. But I will give this movie props, Holland acted the shit out of that scene when he was stuck in the rubble, probably my favorite mcu scene to date. Also no one saw that vulture dad twist coming and the whole theater gasped. One guy yelled "oh my God!" dramatically like some soap opera that got me to laugh. I think this was a great base and can only go up from here.
Oh yeah, I was mad as shit when nacho had one line on the boat just to seemingly be killed off immediately but I'm so happy he seems to be getting a huge role in the sequel. Dude is fantastic in better call Saul.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Hang on a second. Happy Hogan taking Peter to the mansion with the other Avengers was literally the one main thing Peter has wanted since the movie began. It's literally Peter's main motivation throughout the entire movie, to become an Avenger. And when he decides to reject them and be his own guy, that is the main conclusion to his story arc for the movie. That wasn't a tacked on MCU scene, it was literally the climax of the film's character arc.

You were so distracted trying to dislike the fact that it takes place in the MCU that you didn't realize that what was MCU Spider-Man's origin story.

The Avengers aren't in this movie, and an exploration of how Parker relates to the Avengers and why he wants to be one isn't in this movie. There was a way to do it ("with a team of others I could save more people... like Uncle Ben"), but they didn't put it in this movie.

If the answer is that this follows Parker's character in Civil War, that really only adds to my point (needing other movies to fill in the blanks of another movie is a cinematic wrong).

And if "wanting to join the Avengers" is indeed Parker's prime motivation, that adds to my point even more (this isn't a character who stands on his own, he is subservient to a greater universe of films and his central conceit is the worship of characters who aren't even in this film).

This movie doesn't work without other films, and isn't a complete movie unto itself, and that's not what I want. It's not like I don't have the counter-example right on my DVD shelf to back up what I do want: Spiderman 1 and 2. Complete films that work by themselves.
 

Sojgat

Member
Comic characters usually stick to themselves anyway, with crossovers being a rare treat, but these MCU movies seem to shove heavy crossovers into every film, and they're only 2 hours long.

Comic book geeks want the films to behave like comic books. Crossovers and continuity galore. And that's fine. I get it. It's the longtime dream of many.

But I want adaptations of comic book characters to films, not a 1:1 transaction of comic universes. And I see how being under the weight of a story group, having to maintain a certain tone set by Favreau/Whedon, having to devote time to catching up on MCU subplots, and even revolving the story around MCU continuity, is completely destroying the notion of these as adaptations from page to real life. They're live action comics, not films that take the core of a character and make the best possible film.

I mean the conclusion of this movie is centred on establishing Avengers mansion. I'm sorry but if I'm here for Spiderman, why do I give one shit? I'm not here for that. It has fuck all to do with Spiderman's internal character arc.

The ending isn't centered around establishing the new Avengers base, it's used as a backdrop. The scene is centered around Peter's decision. It has everything to do with his internal character arc.

The continuity between movies is a big part of the selling point for many people, and it detracts nothing from Homecoming IMO. If anything, it adds to it. You can't explore Peter's long running ambition to become an Avenger if they don't even exist in the world of the movie. I can understand not wanting to invest time in following a cinematic universe (even though the connections are fairly intuitive), but luckily, you already have five standalone Spider-man movies to watch.
 

Nev

Banned
Dude this is completely on you. You were expecting Raimi or Nolan (as in, self-contained movies focusing on the character and not a cinematic universe) and it was clear as day it was a MCU movie. I can't see how you didn't get this from the trailers alone. Your disappointment sounds forced.
 

WillyFive

Member
The Avengers aren't in this movie, and an exploration of how Parker relates to the Avengers and why he wants to be one isn't in this movie. There was a way to do it ("with a team of others I could save more people... like Uncle Ben"), but they didn't put it in this movie.

If the answer is that this follows Parker's character in Civil War, that really only adds to my point (needing other movies to fill in the blanks of another movie is a cinematic wrong).

And if "wanting to join the Avengers" is indeed Parker's prime motivation, that adds to my point even more (this isn't a character who stands on his own, he is subservient to a greater universe of films and his central conceit is the worship of characters who aren't even in this film).

This movie doesn't work without other films, and isn't a complete movie unto itself, and that's not what I want. It's not like I don't have the counter-example right on my DVD shelf to back up what I do want: Spiderman 1 and 2. Complete films that work by themselves.

I'm not entirely sure that this movie doesn't work by itself. A lot of stuff from Avengers 1 and Civil War is in it, yes; but you don't need to have seen those movies to know what's going on. The movie is written in a very specific way so that the other Avengers are basically the equivalent of comic book heroes in a different realm of life from Peter, because he has no contact with them (this was a major part of the movie). You don't need to have seen Avengers 1, because the relevant part (the existence of other heroes and the way business for blue collar people in NYC changed because of their destruction) was introduced in the opening scene. You don't need to have seen Civil War because it's events are reshown in first person immediately after the opening logo. You don't need to have seen the Captain America movies because his role is literally that of any other celebrity who has done school tapes, but him being an MCU characters adds something for fans that does not take away from new people.

This is a very complete movie, it seems you are upset because it is not segregating its characters and ideas by your own existing expectations of comic book publications. Which is absurd, because comic book publications are ten times more willing to mix up their characters with one another in every single issue. Homecoming does a phenomenal job of standing on its own, it just happens to use stuff that fans of the MCU will recognize originated in other movies.
 

Mr. Sam

Member
I don't think "You want to dislike this movie" posts are helpful.

I do think Peter wanting to be an Avenger is explored pretty explicitly. The way he relates to Stark, the way he fills Happy's phone up with texts and calls, even when Ned asks him if he's an Avenger and he replies, "Uh... yeah." It's then significant when Tony offers Peter everything he's been looking for on a plate and Peter chooses to walk away. I've criticised films like Fast and Furious 7 for having story beats that have absolutely no significance if you've not seen six other films but it is possible for a film to both have a self-contained story and be part of a broader universe. The film explains the parts of the universe that are relevant to Peter's story.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
The ending isn't centered around establishing the new Avengers base, it's used as a backdrop. The scene is centered around Peter's decision. It has everything to do with his internal character arc.

The continuity between movies is a big part of the selling point for many people, and it detracts nothing from Homecoming IMO. If anything, it adds to it. You can't explore Peter's long running ambition to become an Avenger if they don't even exist in the world of the movie. I can understand not wanting to invest time in following a cinematic universe (even though the connections are fairly intuitive), but luckily, you already have five standalone Spider-man movies to watch.

I would argue it distracts greatly from Homecoming, in particular. I don't mean that any movie technically connected to the MCU is necessarily a non-standalone experience (GotG is pretty standalone), but Homecoming in particular leans on MCU characters and events to a shocking degree.

I actually kind of know about the MCU so in some sense, I'm not lost. I knew that the alien ships they're digging up were from Avengers 1. I knew that Parker's cellphone camera diary is like an alternate view of the events of Civil War. But even if I "get it", I fundamentally don't like what it means because I can't enjoy Spiderman just being about Spiderman. It's all about this bloated soap opera.

I do agree that I have 5 standalone Spideys already. I think the Raimi ones are pretty much want I want..... but I just wonder if the CU trend precludes "real films" from being made about these characters ever again. If you told me the CU would retire about 5-10 years and they'd go back to cinematic standalones later, I'd definitely leave this topic alone and let people enjoy their crossover sandbox. I'm just worried this is the trend that means I never get a Spiderman 1 and 2 or TDK ever again.
 

excaliburps

Press - MP1st.com
I watched this yesterday with the wife, and fantastic movie. Best parts are definitely Tom Holland's portrayal of a young Peter Parker, the jokes, and the pacing.

So, regarding Michelle, she's the new MJ or is just a nod to the character and she won't be it at all? I've seen stuff online where they say that it's just a nod to MJ, while I assumed that she was MJ after the reveal. I gather, maybe naming her Mary might be too much of a giveaway?

Also, Keaton might possibly the best villain the MCU has, no? I mean, Loki has his moments, but Keaton brings a certain kind of grounded menace to his performance, and at the same time, him not outing Parker at the end, kind of gives you some degree of respect for him.

Just a fantastic movie and I'm surprised at how much "non-Spidey" the movie is. There's no wide angle shots of Spidey swinging around NY doing acrobatic shit, no overly cool fight scenes that depict how much of a badass he is, no Spidey Sense moment, no damsel in distress thing, and I could go on.

I know people might not like it, but the best part of the MCU for me is how it changes the Marvel comics cannon and usually for the better. Heck, even how the MCU handles superpowers is better. Knowing Cap was taking it easy on Spider-Man? Yeah, that totally makes sense and shows how much of a rookie Peter is.

Just hope Sony doesn't fuck this up by being greedy or doing anything stupid. This Amy Pascal Sony exec always gives antagonizing interviews regarding the franchise and almost always hints at Sony taking control or whatever, which I presume she wants.

Marvel only took one shot at Spider-Man and nailed it. They made the last two Spider-Man movie franchises seem try-hards and they did it without doing an origin story even!

PS: Aunt May is F-I-N-E
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Dude this is completely on you. You were expecting Raimi or Nolan (as in, self-contained movies focusing on the character and not a cinematic universe) and it was clear as day it was a MCU movie. I can't see how you didn't get this from the trailers alone. Your disappointment sounds forced.

Oh I knew all about this potentially being what it was. I don't watch MCU movies in the theatres generally because I don't like this kind of thing.

But Spiderman is my jam, and this purports to be a singular movie about him, so they got me. Maybe it would be a movie that had tangential connections to other MCU films, and I could ignore those and like it for what it was?

But no, this was an MCU-ass MCU movie and I was actually kind of surprised by how not standalone it was at all. It was my worst fear in regard to being bogged down by continuity.

I don't think "You want to dislike this movie" posts are helpful.

Thanks. There is a thing that I want (reasonably standalone narratives), and a thing I definitely don't want (continuity obsessed narratives), and I went into this movie hoping for the former and getting the latter.

I do think Peter wanting to be an Avenger is explored pretty explicitly. The way he relates to Stark, the way he fills Happy's phone up with texts and calls, even when Ned asks him if he's an Avenger and he replies, "Uh... yeah." It's then significant when Tony offers Peter everything he's been looking for on a plate and Peter chooses to walk away. I've criticised films like Fast and Furious 7 for having story beats that have absolutely no significance if you've not seen six other films but it is possible for a film to both have a self-contained story and be part of a broader universe. The film explains the parts of the universe that are relevant to Peter's story.

I see what you mean.
 

WillyFive

Member
I would argue it distracts greatly from Homecoming, in particular. I don't mean that any movie technically connected to the MCU is necessarily a non-standalone experience (GotG is pretty standalone), but Homecoming in particular leans on MCU characters and events to a shocking degree.

I actually kind of know about the MCU so in some sense, I'm not lost. I knew that the alien ships they're digging up were from Avengers 1. I knew that Parker's cellphone camera diary is like an alternate view of the events of Civil War. But even if I "get it", I fundamentally don't like what it means because I can't enjoy Spiderman just being about Spiderman. It's all about this bloated soap opera.

I do agree that I have 5 standalone Spideys already. I think the Raimi ones are pretty much want I want..... but I just wonder if the CU trend precludes "real films" from being made about these characters ever again. If you told me the CU would retire about 5-10 years and they'd go back to cinematic standalones later, I'd definitely leave this topic alone and let people enjoy their crossover sandbox. I'm just worried this is the trend that means I never get a Spiderman 1 and 2 or TDK ever again.

But having stuff that first appeared in other films is not a problem. It doesn't stop it from being a "real film". This is a real Spiderman movie, with the best adaptation of the character on film yet. The only difference is that it takes place in a New York with other superheroes that came before him, and that informs his character. There is no functional difference between the Avengers in this movie and the wrestlers from the first Raimi movie, except that more people know the Avengers.

You recognizing stuff from other stories in there does not mean it's not a standalone movie, because it's story is standalone with a beginning, middle, and end, with no need for supplemental material from past movies. The issue here is that you are conflating Spider-Man 1, 2, and TDK as "movies that did not have characters from other comic books" with "good/real movies".
 

Mr. Sam

Member
My main concern about the MCU isn't that the films are intertwined, it's that a lot of the films in it come out similar and generic. Sometimes they're tinged with some eccentricity but you can see the same template underneath. For example, you can feel little bits of Edgar Wright poking out of Ant-Man but it's overwhelmed by that MCU flavour, or Doctor Strange has fun sixties psychedelia but is basically a re-telling of Iron Man. Even Homecoming has touches of John Hughes (and even feels a bit like Mean Girls at times) but is afraid to stray too far. There are, of course, exceptions: both Guardians films are very much their own thing, and I don't think Iron Man Three could ever be mistaken as being by anybody else but Shane Black.
 

Nev

Banned
But no, this was an MCU-ass MCU movie and I was actually kind of surprised by how not standalone it was at all. It was my worst fear in regard to being bogged down by continuity.

You were surprised by how not standalone it was? Did you see the poster in which Iron Man was at the front and Tony Stark was far bigger than Peter Parker?
 

Sojgat

Member
I would argue it distracts greatly from Homecoming, in particular. I don't mean that any movie technically connected to the MCU is necessarily a non-standalone experience (GotG is pretty standalone), but Homecoming in particular leans on MCU characters and events to a shocking degree.

I actually kind of know about the MCU so in some sense, I'm not lost. I knew that the alien ships they're digging up were from Avengers 1. I knew that Parker's cellphone camera diary is like an alternate view of the events of Civil War. But even if I "get it", I fundamentally don't like what it means because I can't enjoy Spiderman just being about Spiderman. It's all about this bloated soap opera.

I do agree that I have 5 standalone Spideys already. I think the Raimi ones are pretty much want I want..... but I just wonder if the CU trend precludes "real films" from being made about these characters ever again. If you told me the CU would retire about 5-10 years and they'd go back to cinematic standalones later, I'd definitely leave this topic alone and let people enjoy their crossover sandbox. I'm just worried this is the trend that means I never get a Spiderman 1 and 2 or TDK ever again.

The larger MCU events referenced are used as setup for certain things in Homecoming, but the relevant information is all conveyed within the movie itself. It's a real film whether you like it or not.
 
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