With the big reveal this weekend of DC Entertainment’s first full-length trailer for Justice League, Marvel Entertainment promoted one of its own movies, releasing three new posters that seem to appeal to pretty much everyone. In a year full of new superhero movies–Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, Wonder Woman, and, yes, Justice League, what if the come-from-behind underdog triumph of the year is Spider-man: Homecoming?
Marvel saturated audiences with Spider-man, first with Tobey Maguire’s webspinner in 2002’s Spider-man, then with similar sequels in 2004 and 2007. After a brief break Andrew Garfield was rebooted as Spidey in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-man followed by a sequel in 2014. Neither version of Spider-man was integrated into Kevin Feige’s new world of Avengers movies.
Only two years later–2016–in Captain America: Civil War were we introduced to Tom Holland’s new Spider-man within the context of the grand Marvel Cinematic Universe. His banter with Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark, and his scenes in the main fight sequence of the film, were the best parts of that movie. It’s impossible not to draw a comparison to Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne meeting Ezra Miller’s new Barry Allen in this weekend’s Justice League trailer. The chemistry and charisma of the DC duo is just not the same. Superhero movies with heart are the ones we remember. Spider-man: Homecoming may be next in line.
The marketing for Spider-man: Homecoming proves Marvel knows how to position Spider-man in its pantheon of superheroes. Holland’s put-upon, voice-changing teenager appeals to the fun we’re all looking for, the kind the classic Spidey was known for, the kind we saw in Ant-Man, even in Deadpool, and from a nostalgia standpoint, fun like the original Christopher Reeve Superman (still the best), and Michael Keaton’s first stint as Batman. And speaking of Keaton, he is playing the villain in Spider-man: Homecoming, a baddie called Vulture. We can’t wait. If you missed the three trailers released for the film so far, check them out here.
Spider-man: Homecoming is in theaters July 7, 2017.
C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com
