Thankfully, the first venture birthed from the tortuous partnership between Marvel and Sony has proved advantageous. Spider-Man: Homecoming has succeeded where The Amazing Spider-Man failed, in that it conceived a Peter Parker and a world that feels decidedly singular from that of the iconic Raimi trilogy, but familiar enough to the essence of the character as to be sustainable. In this latest reboot, the thought of sequels and spinoffs set in this universe has me excited as oppose to apprehensive.
When I say Tom Holland and Jon Watts came together to boast the most faithful adaptation of the wall-crawler on the big screen to date, I don’t mean they were slaves to the source material, to the benefit of the film – the opposite is true. Homecoming, being just as aware as you are that it's the third live-action iteration of the character in a relatively short amount of time, finds its thrills in subversion. This is a contemporary treatment of Spider-Man, and not just cosmetically.
The campy throwback sense of innocence commonly associated with the character has been updated to the punchy, ebullient tone made famous by the MCU. Flash Thompson isn’t a spiky haired Neanderthal that wants to nab Peter’s lunch money or shove him into a locker, but a dorky Middle Eastern kid that wants to take his place on the triathlon. The mandatory allegory for puberty by way of Peter figuring out how his powers work has been effectively replaced by the young teen trying to operate his new super suit, a narrative device that is a veritable well for both genuine belly laughs and moments that further cement Holland as the most charismatic web head to leap onto the silver screen. Aunt May, the old doddering symbol for Peter’s sense of morality and guilt, is now a spunky wink to the audience acknowledging the inherent silliness of this third reboots existence.
Lastly, and sadly most divisively, is the whole diversity thing. Peter Parker attends a high school located in modern day Queens, New York, and the cast reflects that. Not in a “Hey, let's pat ourselves on the back, wasn’t Get Out Great!?!” kinda way, but in a “Like it or not, if Peter Parker was real this is what his friends would probably look like,” kind of way. Oh, and yeah, not only is MJ African American, she’s no longer the one-dimensional nerd wish fulfillment trophy she was in previous adaptations.
“You mean if I’m a dorky outcast, I can still get the Type-A personality cheerleader?” Kudos to this film for finally highlighting why that tired trope is lethal to everything the genre stands for. Homecoming’s MJ is a weirdo. An idiosyncratic genius that has a knack for science, you know, sorta like Peter does, so that when he inevitably falls head over heels for her, it won't just be because…..comics?
While it's true Spider-Man Homecoming is devoid of the campy melodrama/emotional core that is fundamental to a bulk of the comics, the animated series, and the Raimi trilogy, it is so in service of delivering a Spider-Man story that revels in the adventurous stakeless nature found in the original Lee and Ditko team-ups. This is an adaptation that takes risks. It’s true, this is the third time in a decade that we're seeing a new live action Spider-Man, but for the first time since 2002, the web slinger's future looks promising.
