New ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Photos Highlight Peter Parker’s High School Experience
One of the peculiar things about the current slate of superhero movies it how thoroughly they nail the big moments and sometimes slip on the small ones. Take Iron Man, for example. The films have routinely nailed Tony Stark’s arrogance and desire to protect the world from all threats foreign and domestic, but some of the underlying reasoning behind that drive — Stark’s history as an alcoholic and addict — have routinely been shoved to the background of the movies. The same could be said of Spider-Man. While the last five films have given us epic moments of slingin’ webs, they’ve often lost the high-school camaraderie that explains so much of Peter Parker’s superhero worldview.
That’s why fans are so excited for Spider-Man: Homecoming. While the film promises the same caliber of action and humor we’ve come to enjoy from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this may be the first film that actively embraces Peter Parker’s status as a confused teenager. To that end, teenage magazine J-14 (via Heroic Hollywood) seems to be highlighting the high school experience of Marvel’s youngest superhero phenom, and we’re kind of excited to see this side of Spider-Man get some time in the spotlight. Here’s a quick look at some of the pages, courtesy of the interwebs:
Normally, publicity photos in a magazine aimed at pre-teens wouldn’t move the needle for comic book audiences, but the fact that Marvel is leaning heavily into its film’s high school narrative means they’re taking Parker’s adolescence very seriously. It’s great to see this version of Spider-Man not shy away from the innocence and youthful exuberance of its male lead; it took a while, but we finally got a version of Spider-Man that isn’t, you know. Thirty.
Here’s the full plot synopsis for Spider-Man: Homecoming:
Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May, under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark. Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine — distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man — but when the Vulture emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.
Spider-Man: Homecoming will star Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey, Jr., Marisa Tomei, and Zendaya and swing into theaters on July 7, 2017.