Movie Pre-Game: Spider-man Homecoming – A New Start, or a Franchise Killer?
What’s the Deal: Spider-Man. Take 3. This is the third live action iteration of the character in the last ten years. That’s a lot. Tom Holland stole the show when introduced in Captain America: Civil War. The excitement of Spidey in the MCU is palpable. So far, reviews have Spidey Senses tingling. It’s not all sunshine and web shooters though. Tony Stark still looms large, and Spider-Man fans have been burned before. Is this it? Is this the definitive Spider-Man movie fans have been waiting for since Spider-Man 2?
Daniel Cohen’s Breakdown
The last superhero movie we got was Wonder Woman, where the wait seemed excruciating. This feels like it popped up awfully fast. The odor of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is barely three years old. To be fair though, it was erased quickly by Captain America: Civil War. Even someone like me who didn’t love that film, and isn’t even a big Spidey fan, I thought Tom Holland was spectacular.
We’re mere hours away from this film’s release, and I still cannot for the life of me get a read on this movie. I have no clue what I’m walking into. The high rotten tomato score means nothing to me, as all MCU movies get a high critical rating, so whatevs.
Other than Tom Holland, I’ve been buying into their whole campaign of “it’s a high school movie.” That always intrigued me. We get so many superhero movies these days, it’s important for them to differentiate themselves. They’ve been pushing the John Hughes aspect hard. When I saw the first trailer, I could see it. The problem is all the trailers and spots since then have come across as a generic, paint by numbers superhero movie. That concerns me.
What also worries me is still the Tony Stark factor. I’m not going to get over this. Iron Man in this movie feels wrong. Maybe he really will barely be in it and his presence in the trailers is just a marketing tool, but I’m not convinced.
I have no clue what I’m walking into, but at the very least, I’ll like Tom Holland’s performance. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – if they waste Michael Keaton as a villain, I will never forgive Marvel.
The Biggest Asset: Tom Holland
The Achilles Heel: We’ve seen a lot of bad Spider-Man recently. Are we burnt out?
Logan Fowler’s Breakdown
I’m known as the Spider-Man fan on The Pop Break. Well, there’s a lot of Spider-Man fans within this group, but I’m the one who reviews all the movies for the site and has given thoughts on some of the comic books that the web head has appeared in.
I’ve seen every Spider-Man film opening weekend, and my liking of each has varied greatly. If I’m totally honest here (and I will be), Spider-Man’s appearance in Captain America: Civil War was my favorite time the character showed up on screen since the original film in 2002. The hype just couldn’t be matched. While I’m looking forward to Homecoming, which happens to be Spidey’s first solo MCU outing, I’m a bit nervous that this sixth film with the wall crawler at the forefront is stuff we’ve already seen with the exception of a new villain and Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.
The Biggest Asset: Tom Holland portraying both Peter Parker and Spider-Man was a wonderful casting for Civil War, and I think he’s going to really demonstrate why he’s such a beloved character to millions.
The Achilles Heel: I’m worried that Michael Keaton, a fantastic actor, will be underutilized as the villain Vulture, especially since he’s hiding behind a really clunky looking mask. I hope I am wrong though.
Bill Bodkin’s Breakdown
I’m usually the super-positive MCU guy on the site, but I’m going to be honest with you — I have zero hype in my soul for this movie. I really dug Sam Raimi’s first two Spidey films, and the Amazing Spider-man, despite its obvious warts, was decent fun. However, I detested Spider-man 3, and the trailers for The Amazing Spider-man 2 have kept me away from that film to this day.
Now, I enjoyed Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-man in Civil War. He was a tremendous source of levity, and he was a genuine character. I feel like he’s going to be awesome in this film. To me, he’s the one reason I’d see this film.
As for the rest of the movie? I feel like Tony Stark is going to get way more screen time than any villain, and that we’re also going to get an overdose of teen star Zendaya. Both Stark, and Zendaya’s “friend” character have been way too involved in the trailers, and to me that means one of two things — 1. They’re going to be in the movie way too much, or 2. The studio has such little confidence in the movie that they’re shoving two wildly popular acts down the masses throats in order to get butts in seats.
Frankly, I’m burnt out on Spider-man. In 17 years we’ve six Spider-man films with three different leads, with three different takes on the origin story. It’s enough.
Biggest Asset: Tom Holland
Achilles Heel: Spider-man burnout.
Daniel Cohen: In my Summer Box Office prediction piece, I predicted a $240 Million domestic take. Judging from the ridiculous reviews, that’s probably going to be wrong. I wouldn’t be shocked if this hit $300 Million, but there’s no way it’s touching Wonder Woman/Guardians 2 numbers.
This movie needed the big reviews. If it got lukewarm reactions, Spidey would be in big trouble. It won’t hit the glory days of the Sam Raimi movies, but I’d be shocked if it didn’t blow by The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which barely broke $700 Million Worldwide. While that number wasn’t bad, I think Sony spent about $900 Trillion dollars on marketing that piece of spider pus.
Speaking of marketing, can I just say the marketing for this movie has been abysmal. These posters suck. Bad photo shop of Spider-Man and Iron Man plastered onto a plain blue background? That’s it? Wow. Great job.
Ceiling: $810 Million Worldwide
Floor: $630 Million Worldwide
Logan Fowler: I’m not really good with these number predictions, but I definitely think that the movie will possibly take in $120 Million dollars opening weekend, which I’m happily going to add to this upcoming Thursday. Then again, fan exhaustion based on the overabundance of the character in film could possibly lower that amount to somewhere around $85 Million.
Bill Bodkin: This film has all the opportunity for a big weekend. There are no other major studio releases this weekend. Despicable Me 3, despite a $75 million opening, will drop precipitously. Baby Driver will maintain strong numbers, but is not going to have an out of nowhere surge. And all the other franchises – Cars, Guardians, Wonder Woman – are already prepping for home video release. Homecoming should easily do $100 million, but that 10 year hangover of bad Spidey films is still lingering.
Overall Ceiling: $850 million
Overall Basement: $400 million
Daniel Cohen: I can’t really say Michael Keaton, as he’s the primary villain. A few months ago I would have said Donald Glover, but from everything I read, he’s in the movie for about two seconds. I’m going with Marisa Tomei as Aunt May. She’s just a damn good actress, and even in limited screen time, she was great in Captain America: Civil War.
Logan Fowler: While Robert Downey, Jr. may be a given, I think Peter’s high school buddy Ned (Jacob Batalon) is going to be hilarious to watch, as he will bounce off Peter’s adventures and mishaps. Then again, Marisa Tomei, who has the role of Aunt May, is another contender for this category.
Bill Bodkin: It’s a great cast, but I’m not sure how much screen time any of the great supporting players — from Hannibal Burress to Tony Revolori — will have. So I’ll go with the easy one, Jacob Batalon. He and Holland seem to have a great chemistry, and I look forward to seeing what they can do together.
Daniel Cohen: I have more optimism than I ever thought I would on an MCU Spider-Man movie, but I’m still skeptical. I wouldn’t be completely shocked if this movie was obnoxious beyond belief, but there’s no denying it has good pieces in place. It’s an optimistic crap shoot.
Anticipation Level: 3.5 Sony Executives Praying in Church out of 5
Logan Fowler: My hype for this film is something I’m keeping in check, so I’m going to stay at a 4. I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised, and these early promising reviews are making me very excited for Spider-Man’s MCU solo film.
Anticipation Level: 4 Sony Executives Praying in Church out of 5
Bill Bodkin: I am not very optimistic for this film. I’m burnt out on this franchise. The ghosts of Spider-men past, and the potential for this to be a YA-yuck fest just has my anticipation at an extreme low.
Anticipation Level: 2 Sony Executives Praying in Church out of 5
Final Anticipation Level: 9.5 Sony Executives Praying in Church out of 15
