Spider-Man: Homecoming: all the updates, trailers, and commentary on the new reboot

The “homecoming” in the title of Spider-Man: Homecoming has two meanings, and they both speak directly to the movie’s small focus. The film is a literal homecoming, as Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man (aka Tom Holland), returns to Queens after the epic Berlin battle in his last Marvel Cinematic Universe outing in Captain America: Civil War. But Peter’s sophomore homecoming dance also plays a significant part in the story, as he sweats over whether to confess his crush on his senior classmate Liz (Laura Harrier), the head of his school’s Academic Decathlon team. Even though Spider-Man went toe-to-toe with Captain America and the MCU’s other biggest heroic power players in Civil War, Homecoming is a constant reminder that he’s a newbie hero and a 15-year-old kid, dealing with Spanish tests and chemistry classes as much as he’s dealing with criminal throwdowns. The refocusing — part of Sony’s effort to bring its Spider-Man stories in line with the MCU while creating a separate, smaller cinematic universe — should seem like a comedown after Civil War. Instead, it feels like a joyous celebration, not just of the MCU’s usual crowd-winning balance of humor and action, but of a little guy’s ability to make a difference, even when, for once, the fate of the world isn’t on the line. 

In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter fights his traditional rogues’ gallery enemies Vulture and Shocker, but even more distinctly, he fights mundanity and the not particularly compelling but still urgent call of ordinary teenage life. He’s dealing with his own backyard supervillains, but his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) wants him to come over and help build a 3,000-piece Lego Death Star. It’s a familiar tension for traditional Marvel superheroes like Spider-Man — more so in their comics infancy than in the modern movies, where they’re more likely to be saving the planet than sweating over secret identities — but Homecoming puts it front and center, and makes it a heartfelt conflict. Every time Peter has to choose whether to do his self-appointed job or seize one irreplaceable personal moment with Liz, the strain shows on his face. Civil War made his conflicts big, funny, and thrilling. Homecoming makes them personal.

Sony has released a pair of new trailers for Spider-Man: Homecoming this morning. Where the first two show off Peter Parker swinging around New York City, fighting low-level crime, dealing with high school, and aspiring to be an Avenger, these two reveal that we’re in for the most technologically focused Spider-Man film yet.

Halfway through Captain America: Civil War, Tony Stark pays Peter Parker and his Aunt May a visit at their Queens apartment. He tells Peter that he’s in “dire need of an upgrade,” and designs a new, advanced suit. While we saw it in action, it’s clear we’re going to really see what this new suit can do. Here, the costume tells him that he’s got 576 possible web-shooter combinations, showing off an enhanced heads-up display and voice much like Stark’s Iron Man suit possesses. Later, we see that he’s got a parachute, which activates when he’s pulled high into the sky by the Vulture, as well as the small spider-drone we saw in the last trailer.

Marvel’s Cinematic Universe has become a template for the entire entertainment industry, with nearly every studio trying to duplicate Marvel’s ability to weave film after film into one serialized, interconnected, long-form narrative. For most other companies, imitating Marvel has been nearly impossible, in large part due to the development and creative process that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige architects out of the company’s offices on the Disney lot in Burbank, California.

Having originally sprung to life in a small office in West Los Angeles, Marvel Studios now takes up the entire second floor of the sprawling Frank G. Wells building on Disney’s backlot, plus the screening rooms and post-production facilities sprouting up all around the studio to accommodate Marvel’s massive slate. On April 18th, the studio invited a group of journalists into its headquarters for a look behind the scenes at how Marvel movies are designed and brought to life — and we learned a few secrets about upcoming Marvel projects along the way.

I know, you want to watch the Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer. Maybe, like me, you spent most of your childhood wearing the same filthy Spider-Man Halloween costume. Maybe the very idea of not watching a new Spider-Man trailer causes your stomach to refuse food and water. Maybe you’re perturbed that we let you know a Spider-Man trailer exists, and now I am saying, “reconsider.”

But here’s the deal: if you watch the trailer, you will be spoiled on the major beats of Spider-Man: Homecoming. So — and this is a good rule for many trailers that follow a film’s teaser — I recommend sitting this one out, especially if you’re spoiler-intolerant.

The latest Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer has landed, giving us the closest look we’ve seen of the Vulture (Michael Keaton) yet. Here, we see Peter Parker (Tom Holland) having fun balancing his life with his newfound duties as the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, all while getting advice from Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). But when Keaton’s Adrian Toomes arrives on the scene, Peter quickly finds himself in over his head.

The trailer is yet another showcase for Holland’s take on Spider-Man, who’s a lot younger and hungrier for approval than past cinematic versions of the character. And it also looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of Iron Man in the film, meaning that there are acting heavyweights aplenty in this outing. Homecoming hits theaters on July 7th.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is due out this summer, and I’m pretty excited. Tom Holland proved himself to be an incredibly solid Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War, and even though it’s the third solo Spidey reboot in 15 years, Marvel Studios’ influence (and a good dash of Robert Downey, Jr.’s charm) has me cautiously optimistic that this new take on the character will be a welcome addition to what’s becoming a fun year in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I mean look at this poster:

The long-awaited trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming arrived just the other day, and while the film isn’t due in theaters until July, Sony has announced that it will be releasing its sequel on July 5th, 2019.

Deadline revealed the date last night, noting that the date was a response to the success of the trailer launch on Thursday. The film bumps Sony’s other big summer blockbuster, Bad Boys 4 to Memorial Day 2019.

The first trailer for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, giving us a clear look at how well leading man Tom Holland can handle himself in the ol’ red-and-blue pajamas.

The trailer follows Spider-Man as he interrupts a bank robbery, perches on tall buildings, and takes life advice from Tony Stark. We also get a glimpse of Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes / Vulture as he wreaks havoc in New York City.

Donald Glover is reportedly in talks to join the cast of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures' upcoming reboot for the webslinger set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Hollywood Reporter reports that his role is currently being kept a secret, but it's big news for fans who've followed Glover circling Spider-Man-related projects over the last several years.

Glover certainly went down a circuitous path to join this film. When news emerged in 2010 that Sony intended on rebooting the Spider-Man franchise after the failure of Spider-Man 3, fans started a campaign to have him star as Peter Parker in the new film. Even though the role eventually went to Andrew Garfield, the response was so great that Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis, who was already on the path to creating a black wallcrawler after the 2008 election, went on to introduce Miles Morales in 2011.