Spider-Man is back, but is he really more Spider-Man than ever?
That’s the question we’re asking ourselves after watching the new preview for Spider-Man: Homecoming. The new preview gives us our best look yet at the movie’s characters, plot and action, but none of those elements seem terribly focused on Spider-Man himself. Instead, the film seems more interested in how this new version of Spider-Man – played by Tom Holland and introduced in last year’s Captain America: Civil War – fits into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The trailer highlights Peter Parker’s eagerness to grow up, but that aspiration takes the form of joining the Avengers and, specifically, impressing Iron Man. And while it looks like an important part of Spider-Man’s journey is getting over his starry-eyed naïveté and becoming a hero on his own personal merits, one can’t help but marvel (pun intended) that his character arc might consist entirely of undoing the nature of his introduction in Captain America: Civil War.
Also: All 60 Live-Action Marvel Movies: Ranked From Worst to Best
In that film, Spider-Man was rocketed to the front lines of the MCU by Tony Stark, given a top notch costume and going toe-to-toe with some of the most formidable superheroes in the world. But it seems as though Spider-Man: Homecoming is arguing that that was too much, too soon, and that Spider-Man needs to go back to basics in order to work properly as a character.
And if that’s true, maybe the best solution would have been to introduce him properly in the first place, instead of spending all this time and money to undo what you only just recently did. Especially considering the whole point of this version of Spider-Man is to undo the damage done to the franchise by the underwhelming Amazing Spider-Man movies.
In any case, Tom Holland still seems spot-on as Peter Parker, the action looks cool, and we’re still very much interested. But if the human drama exists entirely to negate the way Marvel first introduced the character, and if we really are going to spend an entire film getting him back to basics, we can’t help but wonder if maybe they should have thought of that while they were making Captain America: Civil War.
Spider-Man: Homecoming comes to theaters on July 7, 2017.
The 15 Funniest Superhero Movies:
Top Photo: Columbia Pictures
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
The 15 Funniest Superhero Comedies
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15. Sky High (2015)
The son of a successful superhero winds up in shameful sidekick school in this surprisingly funny family comedy, which features tons of great roles for geek icons like Kurt Russell, Linda Carter and Bruce Campbell.
Funniest Moment: Campbell, in just about any scene as the gym teacher, "Coach Boomer."
Photo: Buena Vista Pictures
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14. Tank Girl (1995)
The Australian post-apocalyptic hero (and fashion renegade) got her own, highly underrated movie starring Lori Petty and Naomi Watts, who romance kangaroo people and wage war against douchebags of all kinds.
Funniest Moment: If you're going to do a musical number in a superhero movie, it might as well be "Let's Do It" by Cole Porter.
Photo: United Artists
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13. Super (2010)
James Gunn's dark, dark, dark comedy stars Rainn Wilson as the superhero answer to Taxi Driver; the satire is brutal, and the violence even more so.
Funniest Moment: "Shut up, crime!"
Photo: IFC Films
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12. Mystery Men (1999)
Z-list superheroes like Mister Furious, The Shoveler and The Bowler (played by an all-star cast of great comedians) get their chance at the big time when the city's "real" superhero, Captain Amazing, gets kidnapped. An endearing and quirky ode to the working class.
Funniest Moment: "Lance Hunt wears glasses, Captain Amazing DOESN'T wear glasses. [...] It doesn't make sense. He wouldn't be able to see!"
Photo: Universal Pictures
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11. Flash Gordon (1980)
The classic comic strip hero came to the big screen with a kickass Queen soundtrack, an amazing cast and a campy sense of humor that was probably ahead of its time. Brian Blessed is (weirdly enough) perfectly cast as a half-man, half-hawk warrior.
Funniest Moment: "Flash, I love you, but we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth!"
Photo: Universal Pictures
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10. Iron Man (2008)
In the first (proper) Marvel Studios film, the action often takes a backseat to watching Robert Downey Jr. play a charismatic a-hole who learns a valuable lesson about why he's an a-hole.
Funniest Moment: Tony Stark's last line before the credits, which flies right in the face of superhero movie tradition.
Photo: Marvel Studios
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9. Big Hero 6 (2014)
The Oscar-winning animated feature, about a brilliant young scientist who puts together a superhero team to cope with his brother's death, would have been pretty melancholy were it not for the lovable, inflatable robot Baymax, who's WAY too adorable to kick butt.
Funniest Moment: Baymax's sound effect whenever he "blows it up."
Photo: Walt Disney Studios
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8. The Avengers (2012)
Joss Whedon's first superhero team-up movie is still the best, in large part because he lets all the strange personalities of the Marvel heroes and villains conflict with witty dialogue and deadpan snark. Bonus points for Galaga.
Funniest Moment: "Puny god."
Photo: Marvel Studios
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7. Iron Man 3 (2013)
Shane Black's superhero sequel has a controversial storyline that ticked some fans off, but it also has some of the funniest dialogue and unexpected set pieces of any superhero movie.
Funniest Moment: Iron Man finally meets The Mandarin, and (once again) this franchise flies right in the face of superhero movie tradition.
Photo: Marvel Studios
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6. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Sam Raimi's second Spider-Man movie understands what makes this hero work: the world keeps hitting him in the face, but he keeps getting up. Watching Peter Parker take a beating, from both Doctor Octopus and life in general, is one of superhero cinema's greatest pleasures.
Funniest Moment: "I'm back! I'm back! [Smash.] My back... my back..."
Photo: Columbia Pictures
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5. The Incredibles (2004)
Pixar presents their superheroes as a sitcom family, with stifled powers representing midlife crises and pubescent angst. Every member of The Incredibles is funny, but let them bicker at each other and you've got comedy gold.
Funniest Photo: A rapid-fire montage of innocent superheroes, all of them killed by their own capes.
Photo: Pixar
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4. The Specials (2000)
James Gunn wrote the script to this clever, low-budget superhero comedy, about a crappy superhero team on one of their days off. Almost no action to speak of, but tons of insightful satire and a great cast make The Specials one of the best unsung superhero films.
Funniest Moment: It's too profane to write down here, but Rob Lowe misunderstands a fellow superhero, and accidentally comes up with a whole new kind of weevil.
Photo: Anchor Bay
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3. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
A group of morally ambiguous jerks team up in space (when they're not trying to kill each other) and take on a genocidal madman in James Gunn's bigger budget superhero film, full of memorable characters, wonderful music and endlessly quotable dialogue.
Funniest Moment: "They got my dick message!"
Photo: Marvel Studios
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2. Batman: The Movie (1966)
The campy, silly Batman TV series was a pop culture sensation in the 1960s, and leapt onto the big screen with a hilarious all-star supervillain team-up, and iconic moments like shark repellant and a sequence where Batman is trying to throw a bomb away, but keeps running into innocent bystanders like nuns and baby ducks.
Funniest Moment: "Some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb."
Photo: 20th Century Fox
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1. Deadpool (2016)
Not just hilarious, not just emotionally satisfying, but outright subversive. Deadpool takes superhero movies down a peg, and adds a healthy dose of pegging for an R-rated, self-aware satire that also ranks among the better superhero movies (even the ones that don't have a sense of humor).
Funniest Moment: "Happy Lent."
Photo: 20th Century Fox
