What do we mean when we say we love something? Do we love one portrayal or do we actually love the heart of what a character was created to be? For those who loved Spiderman Homecoming I would argue they didn’t love the Spiderman Stan Lee created at its best, but rather enjoyed a comedy with moderate action designed for the present generation.

Credit where it’s due: Firstly, so no one thinks this review or breakdown is an attempt to hate on or shame Tom Holland let me be clear IT’S NOT. Tom Holland is a spot on choice for the role and did exceptionally well in Civil War when he was written a five star guest appearance. I was in the theater for Civil War—twice— and each time the entire audience clapped for Holland’s Spiderman. Holland was empathetic in having selfless care for his aunt, and the desire to protect her from any repercussions of his true identity. He was as formidable as the Spiderman of comics and TV have been shown to be (since he beats Falcon and Winter Soldier at once), and he was generally likeable. However, much of that was the material that was written for him.

 Actress Elizabeth Olson who portrayed Scarlett Witch in the MCU had a smart comment that actors were the last piece to the puzzle in creating a movie. While essential, they don’t make it or break it if everything else is sub-par.

Homecoming wasn’t Spiderman: Stan Lee wrote Spiderman to be a long suffering character, Hamlet was a strong inspiration. This clearly wasn’t apparent in Holland’s Spiderman but traditionally:

·  Peter Parker is an orphan raised with an elderly aunt and Uncle, his uncle is murdered and he partially blames himself for the crime.

·  His Aunt has both financial and health issues that constantly burden Peter. Much of the money he makes at the Daily Bugle goes to provide for her, meaning he lives a less than comfortable life in the city.

·  Parker is usually in love with a woman he can’t be with, whether it’s due to her being with his best friend (Mary Jane and Harry Osbourne), or to his duty as Spiderman making it too dangerous because he knows people will try to kill her (like one of his many supervillains).

·  Some of Parkers friends/Professors become hated enemies who live to destroy him: Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin.

·  His relationships are strained to say the least because the father of his best friend Harry Osbourne becomes one of Parker’s more dangerous enemies who in comics kills his girlfriend in a famous issue “The night Gwen Stacy Died.”

All of this was simply to remind viewers of the 2017 Spiderman who was supposed to be being portrayed on screen. Needless to say, none of these difficulties or hardships were present in Homecoming. The first half of the film is Parker joking around looking for crime in New York, and in High school thinking about talking to a girl. His Aunt is comfortable, we have no mention of Uncle Ben’s murder (so why did he become Spiderman again?), he has no enemies (the vulture comes out of nowhere and has no personal dislike for Peter), his love interest is beyond sub-par (since it was supposed to be Liz not Zendaya who was actually witty and likeable) and he isn’t faced with any financial or social hardships beyond that which Lindsey Lohan faces in Mean Girls. The equivalent would be me making a movie with a billionaire trying to date in the world of socialites who ends up stopping a robbery by a man in a penguin suit, and then calling it Batman.

If you remove what makes the character who they are, then it’s not a true portrayal.

It wasn’t a Superhero movie: We’ve gone over how the this Spiderman wasn’t true to the comics (and didn’t even try to be), but what about the film itself fell short of a hero film?

A hero film requires the existence of evil—it MUST have this or else we are portraying a world that doesn’t exist and aren’t dwelling on the issues that make the world need the hero. From watching this film I wouldn’t think the city needs Spiderman, because he’s trying to find crime the entire opening and fails. This is a false but inoffensive portrayal of New York for a softer generation that doesn’t like reality. Contrast this with the Spiderman in 2002: Mary Jane walks two yards and is nearly assaulted by what accumulates into a gang of muggers. When Spiderman dawns his mask in the 2002 film, he has no trouble finding mugger’s thieves, killers etc. Seeing all that evil prevented causes the viewer to see how much the city really does need him.  In Homecoming, I would think the costume is a waste of time because High school seems to be more daunting than the actual danger in the city.

The content of the film was overwhelmingly about a teenage boy coming of age and enduring high school. The vultures robbery was very low stakes compared to the 2002 film in which his best friend’s father goes mad and kidnaps Mary Jane along with a school bus full of children forcing Spiderman to choose who he saves. To call this a super hero movie would be like calling Charmed a horror show—it’s not.

Spiderman wasn’t Formidable: Somehow after Civil war Spiderman lost all of his skills in combat, because after beating Winter soldier and Falcon in Homecoming he’s being dragged behind a car to catch two robbers. Spiderman in nearly every version fights the sinister six, usually consisting of Vulture, Sandman, Doc Oc, Rhino, Shocker, and Electro. He does this in Spiderman the animated series, Spectacular Spiderman, and the comics. So basically, every Saturday morning cartoon version of Spiderman is tougher than Tom Holland’s after Civil War.

Spiderman wasn’t Independent: One of the things that annoyed me most in this film (and there were many), was how much Parker was in Tony Stark’s shadow. In Spiderman the animated series Spiderman meets the X-Men on a misunderstanding and manages to avoid all their attacks all the while saying “Who are these clowns?” Eventually he and the X-Men discuss things but even then Spiderman leaves and decides to handle things himself. It drives Wolverine and the gang nuts but it goes to show Spiderman is extremely formidable and independent character who doesn’t submit easily or do what he’s told even if it’s by fellow heroes.

Spiderman meets Punisher and Daredevil but doesn’t easily agree to do things their way in most versions. The image I get of Spiderman from Homecoming is he’s a child who Tony Stark is mentoring with very slim to no motives or backbone of his own. He also has to beg Tony Stark for a suit when originally Spiderman made his own; he was powerful enough without the use of electronics or gadgets that are over-done.

STOP WITH THE BAD JOKES! Spiderman is funny, yes. It drives his enemies and even some heroes crazy. But the root of the comedy is Spiderman will be joking while he dances circles around villains during a to the death fight. Spiderman is funny because of his interactions with other heroes (as I mentioned with the X-Men). Spiderman IS NOT funny because of random, tasteless, humor such as an AI program in his suit that talks to him for ten minutes of my life that I’ll never get back. He’s also NOT funny because he fumbles over himself while trying to catch criminals or stop villains.

For a Generation that doesn’t know Spiderman:  For the age group that wasn’t raised on the comics, the shows, or any of the golden age of Marvel—this might seem like Spiderman. But I caution don’t blindly take a modern portrayal as the real character because if you dig deeper you’ll find all of the meaning has been removed and replaced with poor humor,  selfies, high school, dating, and a completely neutered version of the original. Our modern generation is one of more delicate sensibilities, and things not being too serious. As a result, we got the allegedly funny Spiderman who doesn’t fight evil, doesn’t have to provide for his aunt, didn’t lose his uncle, and his greatest struggle is deciding who to take to Homecoming.

-Jubilee