Movie: Spider-Man Homecoming (2017)

We open with a post-Avengers battle in NYC. Salvage worker, Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), is showing his co-worker a drawing that his daughter made of the Avengers. They are working on taking apart the Chitauri leviathan and gathering all the alien tech they can find. The U.S. Department of Damage Control shows up with Anne Marie Hoag (Tyne Daly) in command. She orders Toomes to shut down his operation with no recompense.

Toomes finds out that Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is the driving foce behind the Dept of Damage Control.

Instead of giving up, Toomes realizes he can make a buck and gathers Jackson Brice (Logan Marshall-Green), Herman Schultz (Bokeem Woodbine), and Phineas Mason (Michael Chernus) to help him continue locating and securing the Chitauri tech regardless of what they are told.

Eight years later, Toomes and his guys are still at it, with Toomes using his Vulture suit to bring in a bag of Chitauri power core.

This is the moment that I realize that Toomes is a scavenger of tech and a vulture is a scavenger in real life… I see what you did there MCU.

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is working on a vlog as he travels to Berlin with Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). Happy shows Peter the new Spider-Man suit which Tony made. Peter is over the top excited about the potential of their next mission as Tony drops him back off at home.

Fast forward two months and Peter is still antsy, waiting to hear from Happy. It is hard to go back to being a normal student after fighting alongside the Avengers.

We are introduced to the characters that orbit Peter Parker: his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), his crush Liz (Laura Harrier) and his bully Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori). When he is not in school, Peter is hanging around the city in his new suit, trying to help people and fight crime. His cover story is that he is working as an intern at Tony Stark’s business. Peter, working in secret, creates new web fluid for his shooters.

In the comics, Flash Thompson was a burly football player. This was updated to make him a wealthy smug character to fit modern portrayals of bullies.

Spider-Man finally catches a criminal-break. He spots for crooks with Avengers masks trying to rob an ATM using equipment unlike anything ever seen before. Spider-Man swoops in to save the day but then one of the crooks has a device that blows out a huge blast. It blows up the bank as well as the bodega across the street. Spider-Man saves the owner and his cat.

Shaken, Peter tries to climb through his window without letting Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) know he was gone. As he crawls across the ceiling and lowers himself to the floor he is startled to find Ned sitting on his bed, holding the completed Lego Death Star that Peter was supposed to help him with. It falls to the floor and breaks. Ned is thrilled that Peter is Spider-Man but Peter makes him promise to keep it a secret.

Wile eating dinner, May tries to engage Peter in conversation and he tells her that he’s tired from the “Stark Internship.” We realize that May is not a fan of Tony Stark (welcome to my world, sistah!). They see footage of the bank robbery and May warns Peter to stay safe against that chaos.

First solo Spider-Man film to not mention or feature Uncle Ben in any way. Peter Parker briefly alludes to bad things that have happened to his Aunt May, which may imply the loss of her husband, but he does not elaborate.

At school, Ned eagerly asks Peter rapid fire questions. There is a PSA from Captain America (Chris Evans) during gym where Peter tells Ned briefly about fighting Cap. They overhear Liz talking about how she’s got a crush on Spider-Man. In great side-kick fashion, Ned blurts out that Peter knows Spider-Man. This is a lead in to Liz inviting Peter to a party at her house (and maybe Peter can try to invite Spider-Man). Friendship at a cost… ugh.

After showing a video of Captain America encouraging students, a gym teacher mentions that he’s “probably a war criminal now”, alluding to his situation at the end of Captain America: Civil War (2016).

With hopes that he will don his crime fighting-outfit, Ned goes to the party with Peter. Peter is against it until Flash starts bullying him. As Peter gives in and goes to change, he sees an explosion. Hoping to find the source of the blast, he finds Brice and Schultz selling Chitauri tech to a local gangster named Aaron Davis (Donald Glover).

Peter’s cell goes off when Ned tries to call him leading to Brice and Schultz thinking Aaron has set them up. Spider-Man tries to intervene and fight the bad guys. He gives chase until Vulture flies in and grabs Spider-Man. Vulture drops him into the river and Spider-Man finds himself tangled in his parachute forcing Iron Man to saves him. Tony Stark has placed a tracker in his suit. We see that it is not Tony not in the suit but actually he is accessing it remotely to tells Peter to stay away from crime-fighting.

I really am an anti-Tony Stark person at this moment. He gives this kid a suit, not training and what in the hell did he expect? All of the adults are horrible in this universe.

Ned finally gets through on the phone to Peter who is considering just going home but Ned has him listen in as Flash mocks Peter to the crowd. Peter then finds a weapon that one of the crooks left behind.

At evil dudes’ lair, Brice admits to dropping the weapon, electric gauntlets ( he is calling himself “Shocker”). Toomes makes the decision to cut him from the team. During a poor decision from Brice where he threatens to tell Mrs Toomes and then go public, Toomes grabs a high tech gun and incinerates him. He gives Schultz the gauntlets so he can become the new “Shocker”.

Ned helps Peter crack open the weapon to find a power core. He places a tracker on Shultz and discovers he is going to Maryland.

Although he quit the decathlon team earlier in the movie, Peter rejoins as they head to D.C. for the Nationals competition.

Peter sneaks out of the hotel as Spider-Man in an attempt to find Schultz. He finds the villains hijacking a Damage Control truck filled with weaponry and tech. While trying to foil the villains, Spider-Man is knocked unconscious, waking up in a warehouse. He is unable to leave, the door is sealed until the morning.

Out of boredom, Peter talks to the A.I. system in his suit, whom he refers to as Karen (Jennifer Connelly). She offers a better understanding of how the suit works. During the course of the evening, Peter confides in her and discusses his feelings for Liz. He learns that the, if exposed to radiation, power core will explode. Karen helps him to escape the warehouse.

Interesting tidbit of trivia: Jennifer Connelly is married to Paul Bettany who voiced J.A.R.V.I.S.

One of the items Spider-Man finds in the Damage Control storage facility, is an Ultronbot’s head, from Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

 

Although Peter misses the whole competition, the team wins (thanks loner Michelle Jones (Zendaya)). To celebrate, the team goes to the Washington Monument. Peter calls Ned to warn him about the power core that he is keeping safe but is unable to get the message through. Spider-Man rushes to the Monument but not fast enough. The core goes off in Ned’s backpack as the team is riding up the elevator.

Spider-Man rushes to their rescue, with a few setbacks. As he holds the elevator (and passengers) aloft using his web, Liz is the last person to leave but the elevator breaks free. Spider-Man catches her with his web, rescuing the day!

During the end of the Washington Monument rescue, the scene pays homage to the previous Spider-Man movies, specifically the love interests. When Peter saves Liz right before she falls with the elevator, he webs her by the hand, which is similar to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), when Spider-Man, portrayed by Andrew Garfield at the time, webs his love interest Gwen Stacey in the same manner during his battle with Green Goblin. Then after Peter safely places Liz outside the elevator, he is then facing her while hanging upside down. His A.I. Karen tells him to kiss her which is a straight homage to the iconic scene in Spider-Man (2002) where Peter, portrayed by Tobey Maguire, kissed Mary Jane Watson while hanging upside down.

Safely back in New York, Karen reveals that the Spider-Man suit records everything that Peter has seen. She plays back the section with Aaron which helps Spider-Man find him in a parking garage. Aaron explains he was trying to get the tech out of his neighborhood and he figures out that Spider-Man is new to being a hero. He also gives intel on Toomes who is meeting to gather more tech at the Staten Island Ferry later that afternoon.

Aaron Davis mentions he has a nephew. In the comics, Aaron Davis is the Ultimate Marvel universe version of the villain “The Prowler”, whose nephew is Miles Morales, a.k.a. the second Ultimate Spider-Man.

Toomes is meeting with Mac Gargan (Michael Mando). While running surveillance on the scene. Spider-Man gets a call from Tony Stark. When asked, he lies about what he is up to. Spider-Man sees Toomes and doesn’t realize he is Vulture. He swings in and incapacitates Gargan and his goons.

Everything goes wrong when Toomes tries to use the weapon on Spider-Man. It backfires, becomes unstable and splits the ferry in half.

While trying to hold the boat together, Spider-Man receives unexpected help from Iron Man and his drones.

Iron Man finds Spider-Man on a rooftop and lectures him for not listening and lying about what he has been doing with the suit. Peter tries to explain to Tony that he should feel some onus for the Ferry and Vulture. I agree with Peter at this point. Tony steps out of his suit this time and reveals that he did listen to Peter and had sent the FBI to the Ferry. (Had Tony been more communicative, maybe this could have been avoided.) Tony goes on to explain responsibility to Peter and then demands the Spider suit be returned.

Peter pleads, saying he is nothing without the suit. Tony says that he doesn’t deserve it if he’s nothing without it. They part ways.

Let me take a moment here to just say: Peter goes home…with his SUPER POWERS. Tony takes a TECH SUIT but does not actually possess SUPER POWERS. Fuck Tony Stank. Can the real douche bag please stand up?

Ok, I am off the soap box. Peter goes home to Aunt May who is pissed he didn’t answer his phone all day. In addition to going to the police department to see if they know where he is, she also knows about him skipping detention, missing the competition in DC, and that he has been sneaking out out of the house every night. After demanding an explanation, he admits to getting fired from the Internship.

Aunt May’s car number plate is AMF-1562. AMF is Amazing Fantasy, 15 is the issue number, and 62 is 1962, the year Spider-Man first appeared.

Kenneth Choi (Principal Morita) also played the Howling Commando Jim Morita in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). In the Principal’s office, you can see photos of the Howling Commando, which hints that they are related, and he is his grandson.

Peter resumes his life as a student, spending more time with Ned and asking Liz to the homecoming dance (which she accepts). On the night of the dance, Peter goes to pick up Liz, and her father is none other than…ADRIAN TOOMES.

Toomes drives Peter and Liz to the dance and along the way, Liz tells him of Peter’s background and the events at DC. He puts pieces together realizes that Peter is Spider-Man. As they go to exit the car, Toomey says he would like to have a word with Peter. He threatens Peter by telling him to stay out of his business or else he will kill him and anyone he cares about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB5HTcFhCso

Peter ditches Liz at the dance to rush home for his homemade Spider-Man suit, hoping to stop Toomes. As he heads outside he is attacked by Schultz with his gauntlets. He is unable to reach his web shooter and Schultz pummels him. Peter is saved by Ned and then sticks Schultz to a bus with the webbing.

Peter’s homemade Spider-Man costume is very similar to Ben Reilly’s first Spider-Man costume from the comics: a red jumpsuit with a blue sleeveless hoodie, with the belt and web shooters on the outside of the costume.

Ned finally gets to be Peter’s eyes and ears as he helps navigate remotely. Ned tries to get contact Happy who, in turn, doesn’t care enough and hangs up on him. (AGAIN WITH THE ADULTS FAILING THIS KID!!) Spider-Man finds Toomes in his lair where he attempts to reason with Peter. All of that is a distraction for Loomes to release his suit which destroys the building. As the structure collapses on Peter, Toomes leaves him to die. Peter struggles but sets himself free (with no help from Tony).

While Happy is overseeing loading the plane with objects from the Avengers Tower, he references Thor’s belt, but is unable to pronounce it’s name “Meg-… Meg-… Thor’s magic belt!”. The real name for the belt is Megingjörð.

The scene in which Peter, through sheer force of will, lifts the machinery pinning him down after The Vulture forces the structure to collapse on him, is a nod to a scene in The Amazing Spider-Man #33, in which he does the same thing. The panels in the comic are considered by many to be some of the most iconic in Spider-Man’s history.

Spider-Man takes on Toomes as he attempts to hijack the Avengers’ plane. During their battle the engines are taken out and the plane crash lands. Peter tries to warn Toomes about the weapon’s volatile nature but Toomes tries flying away anyway. The core explodes and he crashes to the ground. After Spider-Man saves him, he leaves with the rest of the weaponry for Happy and the police to find later.

Despite being the main villain, The Vulture never intentionally attempts to harm any innocent people, only people who directly confront him. All of the peril to people, and damage to buildings, is caused by Spider-Man meddling in The Vulture’s schemes to steal and/or sell weapons.

Liz is moving to Oregon while her father is on trial, she forgives Peter for leaving her at the dance. Peter resumes his place on the decathlon team for which Michelle has been made captain (her nickname is MJ).

Peter receives a text to come to the bathroom where he finds Happy, thanking Peter for what he did. He lets Peter know that Tony wants to see him.

At the new Avengers HQ, Tony presents Peter with a brand new Spider-Man suit. He explains that there are reporters behind the wall waiting for a big announcement. Peter turns Tony down, saying he prefers to be a “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” for now. As Peter begins to leave, he asks Tony if he was testing him and it he passed. Tony confirms it but adds that there are no reporters. In truth, there really were a bunch of reporters on the other side of the wall as Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) comes out, asking the whereabouts of Peter. She is frustrated that he walked out, so Happy covers for them by giving Tony a ring so he can propose to Pepper.

Happy says he’s been carrying around Tony’s engagement ring since 2008. That’s when the first Iron Man movie came out, and it’s also the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

At home, Peter finds a bag from Tony on his bed, the original Spider-Man suit. Peter then proudly puts it on, not realizing Aunt May is behind him, leading her to blurt out “WHAT THE F–“.

Mid-Credits Scene: Toomes is in prison where he runs into Gargan. Gargan tells him that he is organizing an effort to kill Spider-Man and he has heard a rumor that Toomes knows his identity. Toomes denies it, saying Spider-Man would already be dead if he knew. He then leaves Gargan to see Liz and his wife visiting him.

After-Credits Scene: Captain America shows up in another PSA talking about patience, and how sometimes being patient leads to things that aren’t worth it. He then asks the off-screen director of the PSAs how many more PSA videos he has to work on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqNiC91xHoU

I ❤ Stan Lee…