Spider Man: Homecoming

Premise

Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens, New York City with fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges.

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. 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. Holland stated he would take inspiration from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, the previous Spider-Man actors, but that he hoped to deliver something "new and exciting" with his take on the character. Holland elaborated, "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. He's conflicted because of what it is he's trying to do and what it is that's going on with the... Avengers in the universe. Obviously after [Captain America: Civil War] we still don't really know what's happening and he's in the middle of that world. So that's very exciting to explore that and also just to see a kid in high school figure out what to do with his super powers is really fun." Holland attended The Bronx High School of Science in The Bronx for a few days to prepare for the role. While there, he told a few of the students he would be portraying Spider-Man, who did not believe him, which Holland felt would "bode well for his performance... since it confirmed Parker as the web-slinger would be a hard sell." 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. He is signed for three films, not including his Captain America: Civil War appearance. Holland later expanded, saying he was signed for "three Spider-Man movies and three solo movies".

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. Director Jon Watts stated that Toomes would be different from other MCU villains like Thanos and Ultron, saying, "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." Keaton stated that Toomes was "interesting to play" and would not be completely villainous, saying "there’s parts of him that you go, 'You know what? I might see his point.'" Co-producer Eric Hauserman Carroll likened Toomes to becoming "the dark Tony Stark," noting "He thinks once he has this money and power, he'll have more control of his life." Keaton added, "There’s a B-story to this guy that’s kind of really interesting and really relevant. I would be lying if I said that’s why I took it, but as we talked about it and did, I went, 'Whoa, there’s some layers to this guy.' … This director’s [Jon Watts] is a very bright guy, and he wanted to bring this issue out. A lot of people are going to like him more than they probably want to, would be my guess." Keaton was not hesitant to portray another comic book character, despite initially declining the role because of scheduling conflicts, after previously portraying Batman in Tim Burton's 1989 film and its sequel Batman Returns (1992). 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.

Zendaya as Michelle:

One of Parker's classmates. Zendaya described the character as "very smart, very intellectual, [and] always in her books." Zendaya added that Michelle was not intended to be a love interest for Parker, saying, the character "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."

Donald Glover

Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds: Parker's best friend and classmate. Holland described the character as a "complete gamer".

Laura Harrier as Liz Allan: Parker's love interest and classmate.

Tony Revolori as Flash Thompson:

Parker's rival and classmate. 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." Rather than being a physically imposing jock, Thompson was reimagined as "a rich, smug kid" to reflect modern views of bullying; this depiction was largely informed by Holland's visit to The Bronx High School of Science. Revolori's character was originally known as Manuel.

Tyne Daly

Bokeem Woodbine as Shocker: A criminal and an accomplice of Toomes, with powerful shock wave gauntlets.

Marisa Tomei as May Parker:

Peter's aunt. 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", 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?"

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 and is Parker's mentor. Sony Pictures 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. 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? Has he ever seen himself as that? Or is he the one who’s needed the mentoring along the way? I think it’s a really interesting facet of Tony Stark’s personality that we get to explore in his relationship with Peter."

Additionally, Jon Favreau reprises his role as Happy Hogan from the Iron Man films. On Hogan's role in the film, Favreau stated he is "looking after [Parker]. He needs someone to help him out." Michael Chernus is cast as Phineas Mason / Tinkerer, an accomplice of Toomes, while Logan Marshall-Green is cast as another of the film's villains. Michael Barbieri is cast as one of Parker's friends; Kenneth Choi, who previously played Jim Morita in the MCU, is cast as Parker's high school principal; Hannibal Buress is cast as a gym teacher, which he described as "one of the dumbass characters that don't realize [Parker is] Spider-Man"; and Martin Starr, Isabella Amara, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., J. J. Totah, Selenis Leyva, Abraham Attah, Michael Mando, Garcelle Beauvais, Tiffany Espensen, Angourie Rice, Martha Kelly, and Jona Xiao are cast in unspecified roles. Starr previously had a non-speaking role in The Incredible Hulk, identified as Amadeus Cho by the novelization for that film. Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee has a cameo appearance, while Chris Evans cameos as Steve Rogers / Captain America.

Development

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. 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, reported to be Captain America: Civil War. 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. Lone Star Funds also co-financed the film with Sony, via its LSC Film Corporation deal.

Feige stated that Marvel had been working to add Spider-Man to the MCU 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." It was revealed that Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, producers for director Marc Webb's Amazing Spider-Man series, would serve as executive producers, and that neither Webb nor Amazing Spider-Man actor Andrew Garfield would return for the film. Sony was reportedly looking for an actor younger than Garfield to play Spider-Man, with Logan Lerman and Dylan O'Brien considered front-runners to take the role.

In March 2015, Drew Goddard was being considered to write and direct the film, while O'Brien denied that he had been approached for the role. 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. The next month, while promoting Avengers: Age of Ultron, Feige stated that the character of Peter Parker would be about 15 to 16 years old. He also added that the film would not be an origin story for the character, saying, "In Spider-Man's very specific case, where there have been two retellings of that origin in the last whatever it's been – [thirteen] years – for us we are going to take it for granted that people know that, and the specifics. But... it is inherent to who his character is. [W]e want to reveal it in different ways and spend much more time focusing on this young high school kid in the MCU dealing with his powers." Feige later expanded on this, saying, "There are events that made Peter who he was, and we'll certainly allude to those events, but we're much more focused on his future and how he continues to grow and have a steep learning curve... on how to be his own hero." Later in April, it was reported that Nat Wolff, Asa Butterfield, Tom Holland, Timothée Chalamet, and Liam James were under consideration by Sony and Marvel to play Spider-Man, with Holland and Butterfield the front-runners.

In May 2015, Jonathan Levine, Ted Melfi, Jason Moore, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Jared Hess were being considered to direct the film. 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". 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. By early June 2015, Levine and Melfi became the favorites to direct the film, with Daley, Goldstein, and Jon Watts also in consideration, and 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. On June 23, Marvel and Sony officially confirmed that Holland would star as Spider-Man and that Watts would direct the film. The Russos "were pretty vocal about who [they] wanted for the part", since the character indeed appears first in Civil War, 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. 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 that informed where we eventually took it," and provide "ideas about this and that."

Feige stated that the films of John Hughes would be a major influence and that Peter's personal growth and development would be just as important as his role as Spider-Man, saying, "What we wanted was a movie where the stakes could be as high as 'This bad person is going to do this bad thing, and a lot of people could die' OR 'You don't get home in time and your aunt is going to figure this out, and your whole life is going to change.' Particularly 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, and that filming would begin in June 2016. In July 2015, it was reported that Marisa Tomei had been offered the role of May Parker, Peter's aunt. It was also revealed that Daley and Goldstein, after missing out on the director role, had begun negotiations to write the screenplay, with both confirming shortly after that they had reach a deal to do so. 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. In December, Oliver Scholl signed on to be the production designer for the film.

Pre-production

In January 2016, Sony shifted the film's release date from July 28 to July 7, 2017, and revealed that the film would be digitally remastered for IMAX 3D in post-production. J. K. Simmons expressed interest in reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films. In early March, Zendaya was cast in the film as Michelle, while Tomei was confirmed as May Parker. The following month, Feige confirmed that characters from previous MCU films would appear in the film, while also noting that the deal formed with Sony does not specifically denote which characters can and cannot crossover between the franchises, saying the sharing between the studios was done with "good faith" in order "to have more toys to play with as we put together a story." Additionally, Feige expanded on the relationship between Sony and Marvel Studios, saying, "I don’t know exactly what the credits will be, but it is a Sony Pictures production of a Marvel Studios film. The agreement was that it is very much a Sony Pictures movie... we are the creative producers. We are the ones hiring the actor, introducing him in [Captain America: Civil War], and then working right now on the script and soon to be shooting". Sony Pictures chairman Thomas Rothman further added on the relationship, saying that Sony has final greenlight authority, but are deferring creatively to Marvel.

Also in April, at CinemaCon 2016, Sony announced the title of the film to be Spider-Man: Homecoming, with Rothman explaining that it was both a reference to homecoming, a common high school tradition in the United States, and to the character returning to Marvel by joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tony Revolori joined the cast as Parker's rival (initially named Manuel) along with Laura Harrier as a classmate of Parker's, while Downey Jr. was confirmed to appear in the film, reprising his role as Tony Stark / Iron Man from previous MCU films. Michael Keaton entered talks to play a villain, but dropped out of discussions to join the film shortly thereafter. However, Keaton soon re-entered talks for the role, and closed the deal in late May. In June, Michael Barbieri was cast as a friend of Parker's, Kenneth Choi was cast as Parker's high school principal, and Logan Marshall-Green was cast as another villain alongside Keaton's character, while Donald Glover and Martin Starr joined the cast in undisclosed roles. Regarding the diverseness of the cast, Watts said that since the film is set in Queens, "one of—if not the—most diverse places in the world... I just wanted [the cast] to reflect what that actually looks like." Feige added, "As the comics have done, we want everyone to recognize themselves in every portion of our universe. With...[this cast] especially, it really feels like this is absolutely what has to happen and continue." Feige later explained that the diversity in the film's cast would help differentiate it from previous Spider-Man films, which all had "been set in a lily-white Queens".

Filming

Principal photography began on June 20, 2016, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, under the working title Summer of George. Salvatore Totino served as director of photography. Filming also took place at Grady High School in Atlanta, Downtown Atlanta, and the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. On shooting in Atlanta, Holland said it would be "cheaper to build a New York set than it is to shoot" in New York, a location closely associated with the character, though the production may "end up [in New York] for one week or two." Casting continued after the start of production, with the inclusion of Isabella Amara, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., J. J. Totah, Hannibal Buress, Selenis Leyva, Abraham Attah, Michael Mando, Tyne Daly, Garcelle Beauvais, Tiffany Espensen, and Angourie Rice in unspecified roles, while Bokeem Woodbine joined as an additional villain for the film.

At San Diego Comic-Con International 2016, Marvel confirmed the castings of Keaton, Zendaya, Glover, Harrier, Revolori, Daly and Woodbine, while revealing Zendaya, Harrier, and Revolori's roles as Michelle, Liz Allan and Flash Thompson, respectively, along with the casting of Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds. It was also revealed that the Vulture would be the film's villain, while the writing teams of Watts & Christopher Ford and Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers joined Goldstein & Daley in writing the screenplay. Harrier noted that the young actors in the film "constantly refer to ourselves as The Breakfast Club." Shortly after, Martha Kelly joined the cast in an unspecified role. In August, Michael Chernus was cast as Phineas Mason / Tinkerer, while Jona Xiao joined the cast in an unspecified role, and Buress revealed he was playing a gym teacher in the film. In September 2016, it was revealed that Jon Favreau would reprise his role as Happy Hogan from the Iron Man series. At the end of the month, filming concluded in Atlanta and moved to New York City, with filming locations in Astoria, Queens, as well as St. George, Staten Island and Manhattan. Additionally, UFC fighter Tyron Woodley revealed he had been considered for a villain role in the film, but had to drop out due to a prior commitment with Fox Sports. Principal photography wrapped on October 2, 2016, in New York City, with some additional filming commencing later in the month in Berlin, Germany, near the Brandenburg Gate.

Post-production

In November 2016, Feige confirmed that Keaton would play the Vulture, later revealed the next month to be the Adrian Toomes version of the character, while Woodbine was revealed as Shocker. In March 2017, Harrier revealed the film was undergoing reshoots, and it was revealed that Evans would cameo as Steve Rogers / Captain America in a fitness instructional video. Watts revealed that the company Stark creates that leads Toomes on his villainous path was Damage Control, which Watts felt "just fit in with our overall philosophy with the kind of story we wanted to tell" and created a lot of practical questions Watts wanted to use "to drive the story". Watts also confirmed the film would have a post-credit scene.

Music

While promoting Doctor Strange in early November 2016, Feige accidentally revealed that Michael Giacchino would be composing the score for Homecoming, after doing the same for Doctor Strange. Giacchino soon confirmed this himself.

Release

Spider-Man: Homecoming is scheduled to be released internationally on July 6, 2017, and in North America on July 7, in 3D, IMAX, and IMAX 3D. The film was originally slated for release on July 28, 2017.

Marketing

Watts, Holland, Batalon, Harrier, Revolori, and Zendaya appeared at San Diego Comic-Con 2016 to show an exclusive clip of the film. The film had a panel at Comic Con Experience 2016. A tie-in comic, Spider-Man: Homecoming Prelude, is scheduled to be released on June 20, 2017, a collection of two prelude issues. The first trailer premiered on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on December 8, 2016. Two versions were released, the one that debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and an international version, with some different shots and dialogue. Feige thought there was enough of a difference between the two that "it would be fun for people to see both." On March 28, 2017, a second trailer debuted, after the footage had been screened at CinemaCon 2017 the night before.

Sequel

In June 2016, Rothman stated that Sony and Marvel were committed to making future Spider-Man films. The following month, Feige stated if additional films were made, "one of the early ideas [Marvel] had" for the films would be to follow the model of the Harry Potter film series, having the plot of each film cover a new school year, adding, "it was sort of how do we do a journey for Peter not dissimilar for what the students of Hogwarts would go through each of their years". By October 2016, discussions had begun for a second film, according to Holland, figuring out "who the villain is going to be and where we’re going" in a potential sequel. In December 2016, after the successful release of the first Homecoming trailer, Sony slated a sequel to the film for July 5, 2019.