‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Trailer Breakdown: Going Through the New Footage Frame-by-Frame
Posted on Wednesday, March 29th, 2017 by Jacob Hall
A new Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer arrived yesterday, so let’s do the sensible thing and go through the trailer and rank every single frame from best to worst. What? Too much. In that case, let’s just do another trailer breakdown, where we pick apart the footage and see what we can find.
Naturally, we may uncover some accidental spoilers, so tread cautiously.
Ah, the mere presence of an elevated train is giving me a warm flashback to Spider-Man 2. Sam Raimi’s movies always made such strong use of their New York City setting and Homecoming will hopefully follow suit.
So, how does Peter Parker slip in and out of a skintight suit at moment’s notice? I love that his Tony Stark-designed outfit actually allows this to make sense: it’s loose-fitting until it’s activated. This means we’ll actually get to see a Spider-Man costume change onscreen for the first time…because it actually make sense for the first time.
Attention cosplayers: here’s a great close-up of Spidey’s new web shooters. Take note and act accordingly. The rest of us can just enjoy the design, which complements the more practical design of his suit quite well.
And while we’re looking at close-ups of the costume, those eyes that widen and narrow will never stop being cool. What better way to make up for the fact that the Spider-Man costume doesn’t allow for any personality or expression?
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man won over audiences in Captain America: Civil War because he really was a teenager…a goofy, awkward, pun-loving teenager. This seems to have very much carried over to his solo movie, where every moment of superheroics is also a chance to be a showboat.
Here’s sight you don’t see very often. Just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man swinging through the suburbs…
…and interrupting a pool party. While the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe characters are adults with adult problems, Homecoming seems dead-set on distinguishing its much younger, far more inexperienced hero by letting him get involved in all sorts of teen antics.
This is one of my favorite Spider-Man images in films and comics – the clash between Peter Parker the teenager and Spider-Man the superhero, all wrapped up in a single visual. Sure, he’s doing whatever a spider can, but he’s also a kid hanging from the ceiling of his bedroom in the apartment he shares with his aunt who’s always wondering what he’s getting up to these days.
Although Homecoming is still being released under the Sony banner, this trailer bends over backwards to remind audiences that it’s set in Marvel Studios’ comic book universe. This shot, seen in the first trailer, gets the point across nicely: “Hey! It’s Iron Man! Forget about The Amazing Spider-Man 2, please!”
And this shot is even better. Of course Captain America, the goody two shoes boy scout, would make a physical education video for public schools. Based on his uniform, this thing was put together back when the Avengers were still new. It’s also amusing that this video is still being used when Steve Rogers is officially a fugitive after the events of Civil War. American public schools use what they have, even if it’s fitness challenges from newly controversial super-soldiers.
There are two things to note in this shot. First, everyone is wearing matching t-shirts, which certainly implies that this is some kind of science club that counts Peter Parker among its members (we’ll see more of that in a moment). Secondly, it’s refreshing that the kids in this shot look like actual kids, not twenty-somethings trying to pass themselves off as students. If you’re going to set a movie in high school, everyone should look like they bleed awkwardness.
In the modern Marvel comics, you’d need a page or two to list all of the people who know Spider-Man’s true identity. For now, the MCU Spidey has two confidants: Tony Stark and Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), his geeky best friend who soon realizes his buddy is the Spider-Man “from YouTube.” Ned looks like a welcome source of comic relief and Peter Parker is often at his best when he has someone with whom he can actually talk about his personal (girls!) and professional (giant robot vulture men!) problems.
