Issue #16: Alex's Reflections on Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

    While my parents and my childhood toys may say otherwise, I was never the biggest fan of Spider-Man growing up. Batman, Superman, and Luke Skywalker (among others) were some of favorites, and as I have become older, I have reflected on why Spider-Man was not one of my favorites. It has to do with the anxiety the character embodies. Whenever I watch Spider-Man, I feel the strain of his life coming into my mind too often. Unlike Batman, where his focus is unshakable, Spider-Man is always distracted by life. If he is not worrying about Aunt May, he is worrying about his physics final. If he is not late to a party because he is chasing Green Goblin across Manhattan, he is awkwardly talking to Mary Jane. It is just teen angst at level red all the time, and I just cannot get into it.

       When Gian and I wrote our book Enter the Superheroes, we did a lot of research on Stan Lee and his process for coming up with the characters. I remember reading that Stan wanted a superhero a kid could relate to under the mask, so he went younger. As a point of reference, Spider-Man debuted right after the Fantastic Four which had mostly adult characters. Homecoming has its foot planted right on the line of a superhero film and a teen angst superhero film, and I am admittedly having trouble navigating my feelings on the movie. Using a decidedly scientific term, the film is “alright.” His suit is excellent, his banter while fighting is on-point, and the action sequences are smooth. However, the film gets bogged down in all of the “growing up” narrative. Sandy will chide me for saying it like that, but it is how I feel. There have been so many incarnations of Spider-Man, and they are almost entirely centered about him growing up. Where is the adult Spider-Man? Where is the Spider-Man who is a badass and is confident? The version of Peter Parker in Into the Spider-Verse (2018), where he is a depressed drunkard, is not what I am looking for. Homecoming, while a good film, just continues the tired narrative of Spider-Man being the awkward kid who has to get his homework done while fighting evil. The film being called “Homecoming” should have alerted me that is was going to be a quasi-traditional Spider-Man film, but I guess I wanted something more than, “If Aunt May finds out, she’ll kill me!”