What Does The Final Scene In 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Mean For Spidey's Future?
Though the marketing campaign for Spider-Man: Homecoming seemed like it had spoiled a lot of the movie, there were still a handful of surprises in Spidey's first solo outing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that remained unrevealed until we were sitting in the theater. One of those moments came in the final scene before the credits started rolling, but since there are plenty of people who didn't contribute to the film's estimated $117 million opening weekend, we won't talk about any details in that scene until after a spoiler warning presented in bold font so you can't possibly miss it.
Beware of spoilers from here on out! You've been warned!
In the Spider-Man Homecoming final scene, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is brought to the new Avengers facility in upstate New York, where he's offered an official spot on the roster of Earth's mightiest heroes. But rather than jumping head first into the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as he's been desperate to do since being recruited by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to be part of the Civil War between the Avengers, he turns down the job (including a shiny, upgraded suit) and heads back to Queens to keep staying close to the ground as a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Upon returning back to Aunt May's apartment in Queens, Peter Parker sees a paper bag with a note written on it that says "This belongs to you," signed with the initials T.S., which obviously means Tony Stark, unless The Scorpion stole the suit and thought he needed it in the future. Before putting the suit on, Peter yells out to see if Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) is home. When he doesn't hear a response, he puts the suit on again, and as he takes off the mask to admire the suit yet again, suddenly we see Aunt May appear in his bedroom's doorway behind him. When she sees that he's Spider-Man, she appropriately responds by saying "What the fu–" before she's cut off by the closing credits.
What Does This Mean for Spider-Man's Future?
Though there were hints that maybe the Aunt May in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy knew Peter Parker was the webslinger, but this is the first time that Spider-Man's secret identity has officially been revealed to Aunt May in any of the movies. The question now is how will this impact Spider-Man's future?
CinemaBlend asked Kevin Feige about this new tangle in Spidey's web, and while he didn't exactly explain how this would impact Peter Parker's life, he did say that it's a dynamic they will be exploring:
"J. Michael Straczynski did an issue when he was doing his run of Spidey many years ago where she discovered the secret. I think it was in the laundry or something, and they had a sit-down scene. And probably going back to Spider-Man 2, I would sort of carry that issue around and go, 'We should do this someday, we should do this someday.' And it was great luck that it hadn't been done yet. That was always part of the plan.
And very much like our instinct to say, 'Let's have Tony Stark say "I'm Iron Man" at the end. Well, what does that mean for the next movie? I don't know, but it will force us to do something unique. We did not want to do the secret identity thing at that point in the MCU. And now, same thing. The dynamic now is forced to be something fresh and something unique going forward."
Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to co-writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, and they explained their mindset behind their introduction of this plot point. Goldstein explained:
"It just sort of diminishes what is often the most trivial part of superhero worlds, which is finding your secret. It takes the emphasis off that, lets her become part of what's really his life, so it's not cloak-and-dagger stuff. It's how does he best use these powers to help the world, help himself and his family and act responsibly. What's funny is, when we first went in to Marvel, we said we were imagining that Aunt May would be a Marisa Tomei type, and they kind of exchanged a look, because they were already secretly in negotiations with her. So things worked out well; we were all on the same page."
Daley chimed in with some hint of what Aunt May's role in future installments of Spidey's story may be:
"It sets up a fun storyline of having this maternal figure, who is supposed to protect this kid, but also knowing this kid is so much stronger than she is, and in fact his job is going to be to protect her, presumably."
No matter how this new narrative touch will impact the relationship between Peter Parker and Aunt May, it sounds like we'll be thrown into the middle. In an interview with Crave Online, director Jon Watts (who isn't yet confirmed to return behind the camera for the sequel) was asked about the possibility of picking up right where that scene left off. He's not opposed to it, but he doesn't think it will really be possible:
"That would be so great, to have the movie just start literally where this one ends? Like, it's just un-paused? Unfortunately I have – I mean, I say 'unfortunately' like it's a bad thing – like, Infinity War comes in between these two movies, so that might be a little weird."
Then again, Spider-Man: Homecoming flashed back to Spidey's involvement with the airport brawl in Captain America: Civil War, so a flashback to this scene, even if it takes place before Avengers: Infinity War, which we'll have already seen by the time the sequel comes out. Either way, Watts agrees with the Kevin Feige and the writers, "The fact that Aunt May now knows is absolutely a total can of worms that we just opened up, and are going to have to figure out a way to deal with it."
What do you think about this new dynamic between Aunt May and Peter Parker?