#my best friend is spiderman instead bc hes literally tobey's spiderman

[arctic-mizikio]

Spidersona? No, I'm the green goblin

[havanaland]

My rambling, un-edited thoughts on Spiderman: Homecoming!

I LOVE Tom Holland's Spiderman. He's so charming and dorky and he's so much more believable and multi-dimensional as Spiderman than previous iterations were and I loved his character arc in the movie!

One thing that always resonated with me about Spiderman are the patriotic undertones of the movies. Wisecrack did an INGENIOUS philosophical analysis of the Spiderman movies and highlighted how the Spiderman movies were always direct reflections of American culture at that time. In short, Raimi's Spiderman depicted the new hope blossoming in immediate post-9/11 America. In both Spiderman 1 & 2, there are scenes of New Yorkers banding together to help Spiderman. Marc Webb's Spiderman focused less on Peter's economic hardships (as the 2008 crash was still too fresh a wound at the time) and instead, focused on Peter's technical genius, which reflected the skyrocketing technical advancements in both mainstream consumer products and entrepreneurship. (See both Moviebob's "Really That Good?: Spiderman 1 &2" and Wisecrack's "Philosophy of Spiderman" for a deeper look at this)

So when it came to Homecoming, I was viewing the movie through the same lens. This movie seemed to focus a lot more on the generational struggles, attitudes, and issues that are unique to, for lack of a better term, millennials and "Generation Z." Peter Parker is smart and dorky but that doesn't completely isolate him like the nerd tropes of the 80s and 90s. He longs to prove himself in this "internship" and even though he held up well in Civil War, no one trusts him to do the job right, his every effort is discredited, and he is largely ignored. However, he is not infallible and the movie did a great job avoiding the "Young and in Charge" trope where the child is smarter/wiser than the adult when he does make a mistake that ends up costing his Spiderman suit. I think it was a brilliant bit of writing that made his character arc really interesting. I admit, I totally teared up like . a dork when he was tearing up over losing the Stark internship. 😭😭😭😭

I also think another reason why I feel the "generational struggle" is a theme here is because it seemed like they were very deliberate about diversifying the supporting cast. Most of the time, big blockbuster films like these have 1 or 2 roles with a person of color in the ENTIRE MOVIE but I was really impressed that in several scenes in Homecoming, Peter Parker was often the only white kid on screen. Also, even "Michelle" made some comment about the Washington Monument being built by slaves .. and I have a hard time believe that line was not deliberate. I know people of color and especially black Americans have talked about these issues FOREVER and it's not some new thing but I DO think it's a uniquely millennial thing to be so mainstream when it comes to these convos. However, I am totally willing to admit that I could be living in my own little progressive web-fueled social justice bubble and maybe those convos aren't as commonplace outside my bubble. Anyways, I did think it was noteworthy. Very curious as to what other people thought about that aspect.

So I hit a bit of conundrum. Though it is VERY clear that the character development, writing, humor, and action are better than previous movies, I have to say I am still not sure if I love it more than the original Raimi movies. *dodges objects thrown at her*

I think that the Raimi movies are just so much more personally resonate and important to me. The first Spiderman was my foray into the superhero world and that movie is what made me fall in love with the genre. At the time, I also related to Tobey McGuire's Peter as I was really cringe-ingly awkward. Plus, I could SO relate to Peter's nerves around Mary Jane bc they made me think of the nervousness I would feel whenever I talked to a girl I liked.

One of the things I *LOVED* about Raimi's Spidey movies was the relationship bw Peter and MJ. People give me flack for that shit but man, I was SO into that couple back then. The little push and pulls in their relationship just put me on the edge of my seat as a teenaged girl and I just did not feel that same chemistry with MCU's Peter Parker and Liz. I did not dislike Liz ... I thought she was a cute character but .. there wasn't really any depth or connection between the characters in the movie. And I get it, romantic build-ups aren't really MCU's thing but man, that honestly was one of the things that really drew me to Spiderman in the first place. Cheesy, I know lol But I'm a hopeless romantic. And I don't believe that MCU can't do it -- I was totally hooked on the Tony and Pepper romantic arc in the Iron Man movies.

And ALSO cheesy: I really did love those scenes in Raimi's Spiderman flicks where the New Yorkers came together to help Spiderman. I can't put my finger on why those scenes elicited such a strong emotional response from me, but they did. lol

Those Spiderman movies were also personally important to me bc that was the *first* (and only?) time that my mom and I ever had intersecting interests in geekdom. My mom got way into it and for a good couple of years, I got to be a nerd with my mom. She never got into any other superheroes but I was always happy we had Spidey. 💖

Anyways, I really honestly loved the new Spiderman though. It's better in almost every way, and I think this Peter Parker is well-rounded and much more believable as a kid. I also respect the writing decisions too! They actually trusted the audience and didn't spoon feed us everything. One example that comes to mind is when Peter told his friend, "Don't tell her! After all Aunt May has been through?? I don't want this on top of all that!" I thought that was a masterful way at referencing Uncle Ben without spelling it out for the audience and still conveying the emotional weight of that event. UGH SO GOOD where tf do they find their writers lol

I was also shocked that they had the "best friend reveal" so early! That totally caught me by surprise. The part where Peter goes up to the door to get Liz and Vulture answers the door instead OMG 😱 I think I literally gasped. And I also clenched up during the car ride as he and Peter talked back and forth and you can see the realization creeping up on his face. Again, such GREAT writing and great acting too! The execution through the movie was amazing.

ALSO I LOVED THE SURPRISE HANNIBAL BURRESS AND DONALD GLOVER CAMEOS 😍😍😍😍They were nice surprises and I think I went "Whaaa~aaat!! <3" in the theatre.

And of course, I enjoyed that there were also clips from my favorite Chris sprinkled throughout the flick hehehehehe 😘

Anyways, definitely seeing it again! <3