Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017 upcoming)
Spider-Man: Homecoming is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. Co-produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is intended to be the second reboot of the Spider-Man film franchise and the sixteenth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Jon Watts, with a screenplay by the writing teams of Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, Watts and Christopher Ford, and Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. The film stars Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Tyne Daly, Marisa Tomei, and Robert Downey Jr. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker tries to balance high school life with being the hero Spider-Man as he faces the Vulture.
In February 2015, Marvel Studios and Sony reached a deal to share the character rights of Spider-Man, integrating the character into the established MCU. The following June, Holland was cast as the title character, while Watts was hired to direct, followed shortly after by the casting of Tomei and the hiring of Daley and Goldstein to write the script. In April 2016, the film's title was revealed, along with additional castings including Downey. Principal photography began in June 2016 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia and continued in New York City before concluding in Berlin the following October. During filming, Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers were revealed as additional screenwriters, and more cast members were confirmed.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is scheduled to have its premiere in New York City on June 28, 2017, and will be released on July 7, 2017, in the United States in 3D, IMAX, and IMAX 3D. A sequel is scheduled to be released on July 5, 2019.
CAST:
Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man:
A 15-year-old who received spider-like abilities after being bitten by a genetically-modified spider.[7] Producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal were impressed by Holland's performances in The Impossible, Wolf Hall, and In the Heart of the Sea, as well as his numerous screen tests for the role.[8] Holland took inspiration from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, the previous Spider-Man actors, but also hoped to deliver something "new and exciting" with his take on the character.[9] Holland added, "This is a very different side to Spider-Man because you're going to see a kid dealing with everyday problems that a 15-year-old deals with as well as trying to save the city."[10] Holland attended The Bronx High School of Science in The Bronx for a few days to prepare for the role.[11] While there, he told a few of the students he would be portraying Spider-Man, who did not believe him, which Holland felt would carry over well into the film, where other characters do not suspect Parker of being Spider-Man.[12] It took Holland between 25 and 45 minutes to get into costume, depending on if he had to wear a harness for stunts underneath the suit.[11] Holland initially signed for "three Spider-Man movies and three solo movies".[13]
Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes / Vulture:
A man with criminal tendencies who runs a New York salvaging company and has a suit consisting of mechanical wings forged from Chitauri technology.[14] Director Jon Watts said Toomes would be different from other MCU villains like Thanos and Ultron, as "It's fun to think that if Spider-Man is a regular kid who becomes a superhero, there's got to be a bunch of regular guys who become supervillains, too."[15] Keaton called Toomes "interesting to play" and not completely villainous, saying "there's parts of him that you go, 'You know what? I might see his point.'"[16] Co-producer Eric Hauserman Carroll likened Toomes to "the dark Tony Stark",[14] a "businessman with a family. He wants to look out for his kids. He’s got sort of a Tony Soprano mentality. He doesn’t have these big delusions of grandeur where he wants to take over the world, or replace the government, or even defeat the Avengers or anything. He just wants his shot at the good life".[17] Keaton was not hesitant to portray another comic book character, after previously portraying Batman in Tim Burton's 1989 film and its 1992 sequel.[16] Watts was inspired by John C. Reilly's Nova Corpsman Rhomann Dey from Guardians of the Galaxy for Toomes' "ground-level perspective" in the film.[14]
Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan: The former head of security for Stark Industries and Tony Stark's driver and bodyguard.[18] Favreau stated that in the film, Hogan is "looking after [Parker]. He needs someone to help him out."[19]
Zendaya as Michelle:
One of Parker's classmates,[20] "very smart, very intellectual, [and] always in her books."[21] Michelle was not intended to be a love interest for Parker, with Zendaya calling her "very dry, awkward, intellectual and because she's so smart, she just feels like she doesn't need to talk to people... So she comes off very weird. But to me, she is very cool because she's deep. She's always thinking about something, always reading."[22] Watts likened the character to Ally Sheedy's Allison Reynolds from The Breakfast Club or Linda Cardellini's Lindsay Weir from Freaks and Geeks.[17]
Donald Glover[23] as Aaron Davis[24]
Tyne Daly[25] as Anne Marie Hoag[24], head of the Department of Damage Control (DODC)[26]
Marisa Tomei as May Parker:
Peter's aunt.[27][28] First reports of Tomei's casting caused backlash on social media, with comic book fans opining that the actress was "too young and attractive to portray the character",[29] especially after the character had previously been depicted by older actresses than Tomei. Regarding this, Captain America: Civil War co-writer Stephen McFeely said that, for the MCU, they were trying to make Peter "as naturalistic as possible...That's partly why his aunt isn't 80 years old; if she's the sister of his dead mother, why does she have to be two generations ahead?"[30] After researching the character, Tomei did make "a case to age me up, but no they didn't do it."[31]
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man:
A self-described genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist with electromechanical suits of armor of his own invention, who is Parker's mentor and is the creator of Damage Control.[32][17] Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Thomas Rothman noted that, beyond the commercial advantage of featuring Downey in the film, the inclusion of Stark was important due to the relationship established between him and Parker in Captain America: Civil War, and felt that the development of that relationship would be a rewarding aspect of the film.[33] Watts added, "You have to think about the implications of what he did in Civil War, which is pluck this 15-year-old kid out of obscurity and bring him to Germany to embark on this insane adventure. And then he just drops him off at the end of it while he continues his part of the story. There's a lot of repercussions to that. Is it a first step towards Tony as some sort of mentor figure? Is he comfortable with that?"[34]
Jacob Batalon as Ned: Peter's best friend, an avid video gamer.[35] Marvel took aspects from various comic book characters to make Ned unique to the film, and while Ned may eventually wind up with the last name "Leeds", it is not a guarantee.[36]
Laura Harrier as Liz: Parker's love interest and classmate,[37][38] with a Type-A personality.[17]
Tony Revolori as Flash Thompson: Peter's rival and classmate.[38][39] Revolori spoke about portraying Thompson, who is generally depicted as white in the comics, saying, "I know how important the character is to the comic-book fans, so I'm trying to do him justice."[38] Rather than being a physically imposing jock, Thompson was re-imagined as "a rich, smug kid" to reflect modern views of bullying;[40] this depiction was largely informed by Holland's visit to The Bronx High School of Science.[11]
Additionally, Bokeem Woodbine plays Herman Schultz / Shocker,[14] who uses modified versions of Crossbones' gauntlets that shoot vibro-blasts,[17][41][42] while Logan Marshall-Green portrays Jackson "Montana" Brice / Shocker,[24] both of which are accomplices of Toomes.[17][43][44] Michael Chernus plays Phineas Mason / Tinkerer.[45][14] Kenneth Choi, who previously played Jim Morita in the MCU, plays Parker's high school principal.[46] Hannibal Buress plays Coach Wilson,[24] the school's gym teacher, which he described as "one of the dumbass characters that don't realize [Parker is] Spider-Man".[47][48] Martin Starr, who previously had a non-speaking role in The Incredible Hulk identified as Amadeus Cho by the novelization for that film,[49] appears as Mr. Harrington,[24] a teacher who is also the academic decathlon coach.[50][51] Selenis Leyva is cast as Ms. Warren, one of Parker's teachers.[52][53] Isabella Amara,[54] Jorge Lendeborg Jr.,[54] J. J. Totah,[54] Abraham Attah,[55] Tiffany Espensen,[56] Angourie Rice,[57], Michael Barbieri[58][59] and Ethan Dizon play Peter's classmates Sally, Jason, Seymour, Abe, Cindy, Betty, Charles and Tiny, respectively.[24] Martha Kelly[60] has a minor role in the film as a tour guide. Michael Mando,[61] and Garcelle Beauvais,[56] appear respectively as Mac Gargan and Doris Toomes.[24] Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as Gary.[24][62] Chris Evans cameos as Steve Rogers / Captain America,[63] while Gwyneth Paltrow reprises her role as Pepper Potts.[24] Jennifer Connelly provides the voice of Karen, the A.I. in Peter's suit,[64] and Kerry Condon provides the voice for F.R.I.D.A.Y.
PRODUCTION:
Following the November 2014 hacking of Sony's computers, emails between Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chairman Amy Pascal and president Doug Belgrad were released stating that Sony wanted Marvel Studios to produce a new trilogy of Spider-Man films while Sony retained "creative control, marketing and distribution". Discussions between Sony and Marvel broke down, and Sony planned to proceed with its own slate of Spider-Man films.[66] However, in February 2015, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios announced that they would release a new Spider-Man film with Kevin Feige and Pascal producing. The character would first appear in an earlier Marvel Cinematic Universe film,[67] later revealed to be Captain America: Civil War.[68] Marvel Studios would explore opportunities to integrate MCU characters into future Spider-Man films, which Sony Pictures would continue to finance, distribute, and have final creative control over.[67] Lone Star Funds also co-financed the film with Sony, via its LSC Film Corporation deal.[69]
Feige stated that Marvel had been working to add Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe since at least October 2014, when they announced their full slate of Phase Three films, saying, "Marvel doesn't announce anything officially until it's set in stone. So we went forward with that Plan A in October, with the Plan B being, if [the deal] were to happen with Sony, how it would all shift. We've been thinking about [the Spider-Man film] as long as we've been thinking about Phase Three."[70] It was revealed that Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, producers for director Marc Webb's Amazing Spider-Man series, would serve as executive producers,[71] and that neither Webb nor Amazing Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield would return for the film.[72] Sony was reportedly looking for an actor younger than Garfield to play Spider-Man,[71] with Logan Lerman and Dylan O'Brien considered front-runners to take the role.[73]
In March 2015, Drew Goddard was being considered to write and direct the film,[74][75] while O'Brien said he had not been approached for the role.[76] Goddard, who was previously attached to Sony's film based on the Sinister Six, later said he declined to work on the new film as he thought he "didn't really have an idea" for it, adding "it's very hard to say, 'Ok, now write a new movie,'" after spending a year working on the Sinister Six film and being in that mindset.[77] The next month, while promoting Avengers: Age of Ultron, Feige said the character of Peter Parker would be around 15 to 16 years old in the film,[65] which would not be an origin story since "there have been two retellings of that origin in the last [thirteen years, so] we are going to take it for granted that people know that, and the specifics."[70] Parker's Uncle Ben is mentioned in the film.[78] Later in April, Nat Wolff, Asa Butterfield, Tom Holland, Timothée Chalamet, and Liam James were under consideration by Sony and Marvel to play Spider-Man,[79] with Holland and Butterfield the front-runners.[80]
In May 2015, Jonathan Levine, Ted Melfi, Jason Moore, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Jared Hess were being considered to direct the film.[81] Butterfield, Holland, Judah Lewis, Matthew Lintz, Charlie Plummer, and Charlie Rowe screen tested for the lead role against Robert Downey Jr., who portrays Tony Stark / Iron Man in the MCU, for "chemistry".[82][83] The six were chosen out of a search of over 1,500 actors to test in front of Feige, Pascal, and the Russo brothers, the directors of Captain America: Civil War.[83] By early June 2015, Levine and Melfi became the favorites to direct the film, with Daley, Goldstein, and Jon Watts also in consideration,[84] while Feige and Pascal narrowed the actors considered to Holland and Rowe, with both screen testing with Downey again. Holland also tested with Chris Evans, who portrays Steve Rogers / Captain America in the MCU, and emerged as the favorite.[82] On June 23, Marvel and Sony officially confirmed that Holland would star as Spider-Man, and that Watts would direct the film.[8] The Russos "were pretty vocal about who [they] wanted for the part", pushing to cast an actor close to the age of Peter Parker in order to differentiate from the previous portrayals. They also praised Holland for having a dancing and gymnastics background.[68] Watts was on the Civil War set for the filming of Spider-Man's scenes, in order to "see what they were doing with it" and provide "ideas about this and that."[85] On joining the MCU and directing the film, Watts said, "I was really excited about that, because the other movies have shown what I described as the Penthouse level of the Marvel world, what it’s like to be Thor, Iron Man, you know, a billionaire playboy and all of that stuff. But what’s great about Spider-Man is that he’s a regular kid and so by showing his story you also get to show what the ground level is like in a world where the Avengers exist".[17]
Feige said the films of John Hughes would be a major influence and that Parker's personal growth and development would be just as important as his role as Spider-Man. He noted that "at that age, in high school, everything feels like life or death." He also said that the film hoped to use one of Spider-Man's rogues that have not been seen in film yet,[86] and that filming would begin in June 2016.[87] In July 2015, it was reported that Marisa Tomei had been offered the role of May Parker, Peter's aunt.[27] It was also revealed that Daley and Goldstein, after missing out on the director role, had begun negotiations to write the screenplay,[88] with both confirming shortly after that they had reach a deal to do so.[89] In October 2015, Watts said he was looking to make the film a coming-of-age story to see the growth of Parker, citing Say Anything..., Almost Famous, and Can't Buy Me Love as some of his favorite films in that genre.[90] In December, Oliver Scholl signed on to be the production designer for the film