The novelty of MCU has worn off, I think that’s fair to say even as someone who might as well be rerouting my paychecks straight into Marvel/Disney’s pockets. The transitional period of superhero movies has for the moment been suspended as we seem to be satisfied with either the fun if not forumlaic approach Marvel supplies or the bafflingly misguided attempts that Warner Bros/ DC continue to release (fingers crossed for Wonder Woman). At this point is there any enthusiasm left for another Spider-Man film? Having seen the web-slinger appear relentlessly for going on 15 years now (like people who were born in 2002 are now in high school, the de facto age of Peter Parker), is there anything new that can be offered to this series other than brand recognition?

A discussion that isn’t brought up a lot in regards to the scope of the superhero subgenre is when exactly did the “Golden Age” start? For that matter what is the “Bronze” and “Silver” age? I bring this up because in my opinion, I do believe the “Silver Age” is the shortest-lived (98-2007) but ultimately is the most influential as it set forth in motion the results of hugely successful superhero movies at a faster rate compared to past successes like Superman 78′ and Batman 89′. While Blade (1998) is ho-hummed about on a large scale, it only took two years for X-Men (2000) to come out and instigate further interest and marketability in the genre compared to the 11 year gap of Superman and Batman. I bring this up because the massive influence of the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man film cannot be forgotten as a stepping stone in 21st century pop culture. It was certainly a catalyst for shaping the subgenre into what it is today and with the release of the Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer, it’s hard to not consider that this movement is a merging of the past and present.

We’re at an intersection where we do not need Spider-Man’s origin, what we need is to see him flying around Queens with Iron Man at his side. While Spider-Man belongs to no team, he is an integral part of the Marvel universe and it’s as though a void has been filled by bringing him on board to the MCU. Sony had long lost focus and understanding of how to use their character and they eventually acknowledged that Spider-Man can work as a player in a bigger field as opposed to being his own force of nature. The fact of the matter is, film media doesn’t seem to rely on solo acts any more. Not just with superhero films but films in general seem to actively be about multiple contributors. Just look at how comedies have shifted over the years from solo-acts like Robin Williams or Eddie Murphy headlining their own films to the more collaborative efforts of Judd Apatow’s or Rogen and Goldberg’s films.

We’ve long passed the point where the fundamentals of how superhero films can operate are being trialed for film audiences. Spider-Man 2002 introduced the most popular and successive formula of this and films like Iron Man or Batman Begin utilized that formula to their own creative means. It makes a lot of sense that when we return to Spider-Man after a hiatus of a whopping three years (or thirteen if you’re like me and haven’t enjoyed a Spider-Man movie since 2004) that he not only is not big hot shot that he eventually mutated into by the end of the Marc Webb run of films, but he’s put back in his place on an age scale, and on a scale of a universe that has proven to not actually need him for nearly a decade. The strength of Spider-Man’s induction into the MCU relies on the fact that we’ve spent so much time in this universe already familiarizing ourselves with characters who we’d have never considered seeing on screen in the late 90s/early 00s. So by the time we meet our fresh-faced Peter Parker again for the third time, he’s small scale. The fate of the world doesn’t rely on him, he’s just a kid from Queens who’s trying to balance this newfound abilities with his ordinary life. Tom Holland’s earnestness and youthfulness energize the MCU in a way that the other older characters haven’t.

The trailer of course, illustrates this by involving Peter’s relationship with Tony Stark. As someone who has been obsessively studying superhero films since they were a kid, the symbolic standing of uniting Iron Man and Spider-Man after watching Raimi’s Spider-Man 1 & 2 jumpstart the entire superhero subgenre is incredibly nostalgic and endearing. It’s as though this picture is acting as a thank you note, a lovely merging of the two eras that will bring forth a whole new era of superhero characters. Almost needless to say, on an even more ridiculously nuanced meta level: we’re also getting Michael Keaton in this film (playing a character who is reminiscent of another Michael Keaton character which was clearly riffing on a different Michael Keaton character, and now my head hurts). So it’s really a merging of three eras worth of superhero films in this concoction which is just fucking awesome.

While Spider-Man is gonna hang around after Infinity Wars, we’re getting a slate of new characters what with Dr. Strange, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel to name a few and it is incredibly exciting to think about Spider-Man meeting all of these characters and how they will all vary in interactions and relationships. Captain America: Civil War absolutely got the ball rolling, and needless to say along with Homecoming, the 2017 MCU films are all worth getting excited over.

Let’s watch it again shall we?