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The Spider-Man Films




Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Spider-Man Films (Sam Raimi)
Spider-Man (2002) | Spider-Man 2 (2004) | Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Spider-Man Films (Marc Webb)
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)


Spider-Man Films (Marvel's Cinematic Universe)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

The Spider-Man Films

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
d. Jon Watts, 133 minutes

Film Plot Summary

The film opened with commentary from NYC scrap salvage company owner Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) about the current state of affairs, while showing salvage employee Phineas Mason (Michael Chemus) his young daughter's artistic drawing of the Avengers:

"Things are never gonna be the same now. I mean, look at this. You got aliens. You got big green guys tearin' down buildings. When I was a kid, I used to draw cowboys and Indians."

With a city contract, Toomes was supervising the dismantling of a Chitauri leviathan, an energy core and other crashed wreckage (i.e., a Chitauri Chariot) caused by the Avengers following the Battle of New York. [Note: The Asgardian prince Loki (Tom Hiddleston) had led an alien invasion of Chitauri that subsequently came to the streets of New York City and caused the devastation.]

Toomes was interrupted by the arrival of Director Anne Marie Hoag (Tyne Daly), leading an entourage from a US Department of Damage Control (DODC) van. She ordered the shut-down of his post-battle clean-up operation, due to Executive Order 396B: "All salvage operations are now under our jurisdiction. Please turn over any and all exotic materials that you've collected or you will be prosecuted." Toomes was understandably incensed by the order, since it meant the loss of his investment and livelihood.

A TV broadcast explained that the federal government's Department of Damage Control was a joint venture with Stark Industries, led by Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) - to "oversee the collection and storage of alien and other exotic materials....Experts estimate there are over 1500 tons of exotic material scattered throughout the tri-state area." Toomes and his top employees: bearded and ignorant Jackson Brice (Logan Marshall-Green) and Herman Schultz (Bokeem Woodbine), were angered that Stark was funding Damage Control and would take their work and profits away. They decided to keep some of the alien Chitauri junk or technology already in their possession from their scavenging efforts.

EIGHT YEARS LATER

Toomes and his criminal associates had perfected the weaponizing and reverse-engineering of alien-human hybrid weaponry ("cool stuff") from the bits of alien junk and scrap, to sell as arms dealers for a profit on the streets. In particular, Toomes had created a Vulture Exo-Suit to fly to various destinations to collect more Chitauri materials. He was pleased: "Business is good."

The Marvel Studios' title credits screens played.

The next screen was "A Film by Peter Parker" - a video log-documentary beginning with his taxi trip through New York's borough of Queens to the airport, to journey to Berlin by private jet. His traveling companion was Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), Tony Stark's assistant. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) explained he did not know why he had been recruited by Stark, although he speculated: "Something about Captain America going crazy." Once they arrived, Peter was excited when gifted with a new upgraded Spider-Man suit designed by Stark (that he eventually was allowed to keep), and taken to a filming location where he spotted Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man and other Avengers during the Leipzig-Halle Airport battle against Captain America (in the Marvel film The Avengers (2012).)

On the way back home in Stark's limousine as it drove through NYC, Stark created the alibi for his Aunt May that Peter had been at a Stark Internship Retreat. Peter was eager for his next mission as an "Avenger" although Stark bluntly told him: "We're not there yet."

TWO MONTHS LATER

Peter was still hopeful that he would be called by Happy or Stark for his "next mission." He was attending the Midtown School of Science & Technology - viewed by many as a nerdy, geeky young sophomore from Queens who was best friends with overweight Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon). Ned was building the Star Wars' Death Star out of 3,803 LEGOs. Often caught daydreaming or secretly experimenting on Spider-Man fluid concoctions for his web-shooters, Peter had a crush on bi-racial senior student Liz (Laura Harrier), and was taunted in and out of class by rich and obnoxious bully Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori).

Although Peter was a member of the school's Academic Decathlon Team (that was planning to attend the national competition in mid-October in Washington, DC), he quit being a member with the excuse that he had to be available for Starks' Internship program if called upon. He had already dropped out of the marching band and robotics lab, according to observant, brainy student Michelle Jones (Zendaya).

On a typical day after school, he changed into his new but ill-fitting Spider-Man suit in an alleyway, and combated various petty crimes (i.e., theft of a bicycle and car). Afterwards, he reported his daily activities to Happy Hogan, and asked: "Just curious when the next real mission's gonna be." He also interrupted a crime-in-progress that night: four bank robbers (Toomes' associates with Avengers' masks) were breaking into an ATM machine at the Queens Community Bank with modified high-tech alien equipment. Peter (as Spider-Man) accosted them: "You forget your PIN number?" Spider-Man was blasted by a powerful blue blast from a hand-held weapon, that was mis-directed and struck Peter's favorite Deli-Grocery store across the street, owned by Mr. Delmar (with his cat Murphy). He rushed over to help save them as the criminals fled.

When Peter called Happy Hogan, he learned his father figure, Tony Stark, was in the midst of a major move. Stark had sold Avengers Tower and was relocating to a new Avengers Campus facility upstate. Happy quickly brushed off Peter's call. After he discovered his backpack with his clothes and possessions had been stolen from the alleyway, Peter (still in his costume) climbed up the exterior wall of his Queens apartment building, snuck into his bedroom's window, and crawled upside down across the ceiling. When he dropped to the floor and turned around, he was shocked to see his friend Ned sitting on his bed with the completed LEGO model. Ned was equally surprised to learn his secret identity ("You're the Spider-Man from YouTube!") and dropped the model - it shattered into pieces on the floor. Peter begged his friend to promise to remain quiet: "You can't tell anybody about this. You gotta keep it a secret."

While having dinner at a Thai restaurant with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), Peter was reluctant to talk about why he was so distant and distracted, although he admitted: "I'm just stressed. The internship, and I'm tired. A lot of work." Aunt May admitted that she wasn't a big fan of Tony Stark. On a nearby TV screen, the local news reported the ATM robbery and the destruction of Delmar's Sandwiches nearby - "thwarted by Queens' own colorful local crime-stopper, the Spider-Man." She cautioned Peter: "If you spot something like that happening, you turn and you run the other way."

The next day, the inquisitive and pestering Ned peppered Peter with lots of questions about being Spider-Man, and his super-hero abilities ("Do you lay eggs?....Can you spit venom?... Can you summon an army of spiders?"). During gym class, the two watched a Captain America (Chris Evans) government-backed PSA video encouraging the students to engage in a Fitness Challenge, composed of exercise Stations with specified fitness goals (i.e., sit-ups).

One of the teen girls in the bleachers spoke to her friends about her preference among the Avengers: "For me, it would be F Thor, marry Iron Man and kill Hulk." Peter's idolized girl Liz was awed by Spider-Man's intervention ("Did you see the bank security cam on YouTube? He fought off four guys"), and then was accused of having a "crush" on Spider-Man. Overhearing their conversation, Ned blurted out: "Peter knows Spider-Man! They're friends." Peter was forced to admit: "I've met him, yeah. A couple times. But it's through the Stark internship." Flash suggested that Liz invite Peter and Ned to her suburban house Friday night party - so that he could bring along his "personal friend" - Spider-Man.

As Ned and Peter walked into Liz's fancy party with Flash DJ-ing, Ned proposed that Peter remove his outer clothes, and as Spider-Man, swing into the scene ("Spider it up!"), but Peter was reluctant: "Spider-Man is not a party trick, OK?" When Flash began pestering Peter, called him "Penis Parker," and asked: "So where's your pal Spider-Man?", Peter was compelled to change into his super-hero suit on the rooftop. But before he could enter the party, he saw a blue-colored explosion in the distance - on the outskirts of Queens.

Spider-Man swung to the location of the blue flashes to investigate, where local gangster Aaron Davis (Donald Glover) was being upsold a high-powered, high-tech Chitauri weapon ("crafted from a reclaimed sub-Ultron arm straight from Sokovia") from Toomes' arms-dealing, black market cohorts: Jackson Brice and Herman Schultz. Davis claimed he just wanted a simple weapon ("something low-key...to stick up somebody"). The two criminals offered more: Chitauri rail guns, taser rods, anti-gravity climbers and egg-shaped black hole grenades. When Spidey intervened to break up the transaction, the two criminals fled in their white van, dragging Spidey behind them and firing at him with one of their sophisticated weapons (one of the weapons with an energy core was dropped), as their boss was alerted by phone. Spidey pursued the crooks on foot, busting through various walls and structures, bounding over rooftops and often interrupting and startling people in their back yards.

As he caught up to the getaway van after a long chase, the vigilante Spidey was grabbed by the talons of a green-eyed creature - the Vulture in his Exo-Suit, and dropped from a thousand feet into the Hudson River while tangled up in his own deployed parachute. He was saved by Iron Man, who was tracking and monitoring Peter with a built-in device in his suit. Then Stark revealed he wasn't actually in the Mark XLVII iron-suit but had sent it remotely to rescue him from drowning - he was attending an event in India ("Thank God this place has Wi-Fi or you would be toast right now"). Stark insisted that Peter stop pursuing the Vulture ("Can't you just be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?...If you come across these weapons again, call Happy"). Then F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Stark's main user interface computer system) took over the suit's controls and flew away to the New Avengers facility. On his way home after being urged not to return to the party by Ned, Spidey found the crooks' discarded weapon.

When the white getaway van returned to its warehouse-workshop headquarters, Toomes angrily reprimanded Brice (the Shocker) was firing the weapons in public and possibly jeopardizing their entire operation by alerting Damage Control or the Avengers. During the argument, Toomes fired Brice for being careless and disrespectful in attitude. Brice threatened blackmail about the secrets of their work ("Maybe your wife would like to know where you really get your money from"), and Toomes agreed: "You're right. I can't afford that." He picked up one of the powerful alien guns off Mason's desk and disintegrated Brice. Surprised, Toomes asked Mason if the weapon he wielded was an Anti-Gravity Gun. Mason replied that the Anti-Gravity Gun was on his other side of his desk - he had used a Chitauri Gun instead. From the ashes of Brice's body, Toomes picked up his mechanical Shocker Gauntlet and transferred it to Schultz, and bestowed the moniker 'Shocker' on him ("Here. Now you're the Shocker. Go out there and find that weapon he lost").

Later in a lab-workshop class, Peter tinkered with the discarded Chitauri weapon, conjecturing that it had an internal power core that could be removed. When he struck it with a hammer, it sent a pulse back to the Vulture's hideout. With Ned's technical know-how, they guessed that alien technology had been combined with human technology. Peter had another idea: "I gotta figure out what this is and who makes it." A short while later while walking in their school's hallway toward the workshop-lab, they saw that they had been followed by one of the van criminals: Schultz, and another co-worker Randy Vale (Christopher Berry) who were there to recover the lost weapon. The two had sensed via a scanner that an "energy source" had been in the lab, but realized it was now gone. As they left, Peter attached a Spider-tracer onto Schultz's shoe to follow him.

In Peter's bedroom, Ned monitored the crooks as they proceeded from Brooklyn, to Staten Island, and then from Jersey to Maryland. To cover for a 300 mile trip to pursue them, Peter decided to rejoin his Academic Decathlon Team at the National Competition in Washington, DC. During the bus trip, Peter received a call from Happy who was tracking him and demanding to know about his trip. Peter called it a "complete violation of privacy."

Once they arrived in DC, Peter shared a hotel room with Ned, who watched as he disabled the tracker implanted in his Spider-Man suit given to him by Tony Stark. He wanted to continue his pursuit without detection: "I gotta follow these guys to their boss before they move again and I don't really want Mr. Stark to know about it." Ned realized there were other special features embedded in the suit but that they had been "disabled by the Training Wheels Protocol." Peter was even more convinced that he needed to remove Stark's safeguards, and convinced Ned to shut off the blocks so that the suit would be fully functional. Then under the cover of darkness, Peter was determined to track Schultz on the move. As Peter left the hotel, he discovered that the other students (including Liz) were rebelliously going swimming in the hotel pool the night before the competition.

When Peter donned the Spider-Man suit on his way to Maryland, an AI female voice (Peter called her "Suit Lady") told him that he possessed the suit's full capabilities. Three individuals parked in a van were located at an empty Maryland gas station, ready to commit a heist or hijacking as Spidey listened in on their conversation (in Enhanced Reconnaissance Mode). Although Peter used the "Enhanced Combat Mode," he rejected its "Instant Kill" feature. But he soon became overwhelmed and confused by the suit's tremendous number of options, including "576 possible web-shooter combinations." As he approached the van, Toomes' cohorts (with Vulture flying in the dark night sky) proceeded to begin their hijacking on a moving 3-truck convoy of Department of Damage Control (DODC) vehicles with confiscated, advanced alien weaponry inside. The Vulture dropped down onto the third truck, used four matter phase shifters to de-materialize its roof, and entered through the opening, exclaiming about his find: "Looks like they got some good stuff here" - he began filling his duffel bag.

Spidey boldly followed the Vulture onto the top of the third truck and challenged him: "Hey, Big Bird. This doesn't belong to you," but he was soon overpowered by the winged creature and knocked backward into the truck's roof opening. He was trapped inside with the merchandise after the roof re-materialized and resealed itself and the Vulture flew away empty-handed without his duffel bag. Spidey knocked himself unconscious (and suffered a mild concussion) when he attempted to leap upward and struck the metal roof. The DODC convoy and its drivers were unaware that anything was happening. When Spidey awoke, he thought he was in the "evil lair" of the hijackers, but after busting out of the truck's rear door, he realized he had been mistaken. He was in a massive, secure Damage Control deep-storage warehouse in Washington, DC, holding dozens of containers. Spidey gave a name to the AI voice of "Suit Lady," calling her Karen (voice of Jennifer Connelly), and took the Refresher Course to learn more about his suit's web-shooting capabilities.

While trapped inside the warehouse, Spidey began inspecting items in the storage vault, beginning with Vulture's items in his discarded backpack. When he found another Chitauri Energy Core, Karen warned that it was explosive, and would detonate when exposed to radiation. Spidey realized that he had to save Ned from accidentally setting off the other glowing Chitauri power core "bomb" that they had found discarded. It took 247 different sequences of voltage variations to successfully override the storage vault's timer-locked doors, before he could rush back to save his classmates the next morning, who were at the competition held across the street from the Washington Monument.

Although Peter missed the entire decathlon, his high school's team won during a 'sudden death' round, due to the last question answered accurately by brainy loner Michelle. During a cellphone call with Ned, Spidey freaked out thinking that the 'glowy' thing in Ned's backpack might explode if exposed to an X-ray machine at the Monument. As he rushed toward the monument to save everyone from mortal danger, the core did explode and trapped Ned and some team members (and sponsoring teacher Roger Harrington (Martin Starr)) in one of the monument's elevators that had ascended to the top of the 555 foot tower. There was severe structural damage to the elevator's support system. With only ten minutes until catastrophic failure according to Karen, and time rapidly disappearing, Spidey scaled up the exterior of the tall monument. Karen also activated the Spider-Drone to scan the monument and notify him about the optimal entry point - the southwest window. But because the window was composed of four-inch ballistic glass, only tremendous force could break through it.

When a DC Metropolitan Police Department helicopter circled around and Spidey was ordered to return to the ground immediately (or they would open fire), Spidey fortuitously lept over to the chopper to gain acceleration and momentum, and swung over on a new web with great speed to smash through the glass. With his web-shooters firing a ricochet shot, he was able to snag and hold onto the falling elevator (when its cable snapped) to allow two of the remaining three (Ned and Mr. Harrington) to climb out to safety. The last to be saved and rescued was Liz, who nearly died when the elevator plummeted again. Spidey had a chance to kiss her (Karen suggested in a whisper: "This is your chance, Peter. Kiss her"), but the web supporting him snapped and he lost his opportunity.

Back at Toomes' headquarters, Mason complained that without any further materials, he could no longer manufacture new weapons from the alien scrap-junk, although he had just enough for one more arns sale - for "the Gargan Deal." Mason suggested building a "high-altitude seal" but was told by Toomes to keep quiet about it. Toomes was completely frustrated and at wit's end, and declared a murderous ultimatum against Spider-Man:

Eight years, not a word from the Feds, nothin' from those Halloween-costume-wearin' bozos up there in Stark Tower. And then all of a sudden, this little bastard in red tights shows up. And he thinks he can tear down everything I've built. Really? I'm gonna kill him.

The latest national TV news reports lauded Spider-Man's heroic rescue of the Queens Academic Decathlon team. A frenzied Spider-Mania swept through the Queens' Midtown School. Peter insisted that Ned not reveal his identity as Spider-Man, and then divulged what he had figured out about the bad guys, and what he proposed to do about it:

The wingsuit guy is stealing from Damage Control. And what he takes from Damage Control, that's how he builds the weapons, so all I gotta do is catch him...Mr. Stark is moving The Avengers upstate so when I bring this guy in...

Peter was interrupted by one of the school's administrators, and disciplined with an after-school detention. He was forced to listen to a self-righteous Captain America PSA video, but departed from the classroom - without permission - to continue crime-fighting. He acquired a bottle of his own stashed web fluid, then returned home and asked Karen to help him identify "who the guys under the bridge were" the previous Friday during their arms-sale deal. After she revealed the suit's Baby-Monitor Protocol ("I record everything you see"), footage was replayed using "facial recognition" to get a visual and criminal ID on 33 year-old local gangster Aaron Davis who had attempted to buy weapons from Toomes' unidentified gang.

Spidey located Davis in a parking garage, and using the suit's Enhanced Interrogation Protocol, began to question him in a disguised, annoying amplified voice (later turned off) about the identity and whereabouts of the arms dealers who were selling "crazy dangerous" weapons. Davis confessed: "I don't want those weapons in this neighborhood" - but claimed he did not know anything "about the guy with the wings." But then he added one vital piece of information: "I do know where he's gonna be" - the next arms deal would occur at the Staten Island Ferry building at 11:00 am.

Spider-Man flew onto the deck of the ferry as it departed from the dock. He delayed getting a call from Aunt May. After activating Enhanced Reconnaissance Mode, Spidey spotted Toomes (not knowing he was the Vulture) and his associate Schultz on the main deck, who were there to deal with their new criminal buyer with an extensive record (including homicide), Mac Gargan (Michael Mando). Spidey's drone surveilled the lower deck of vehicles where a white pickup truck held the cache of weapons to be sold. Meanwhile, Karen had put through another poorly-timed phone call - this one was from Tony Stark who complimented Peter for his rescue in DC. Peter deliberately disconnected the call, then incapacitated Gargan and his gang on the deck with his web-slinging abilities, but found himself surrounded by armed FBI agents.

Everyone turned to see the Vulture emerge from the white pickup truck and fly toward them with one of the alien weapons in his hands. Spidey and the Vulture engaged in some assault-fire back and forth, until the Vulture's unstable weapon (covered with Spidey's taser webbing) malfunctioned, misfired, and neatly sliced the ferry into two halves. Meanwhile, Schultz (with the Gauntlet on his arm) jumped off the ship and grabbed onto the Vulture's leg as he flew off and retreated. To temporarily repair the ferry, Spidey flew between the gaping split in the ship and tried to hold it together with webbing. But the webbing wasn't strong enough to keep the two sections together and began snapping, causing the ferry to flood and endanger passengers. Suddenly, Iron Man arrived (with a flurry of drones) and repaired the ferry by their combined force of repulsor-powered mini-thrusters pushing the two parts together. Iron Man then reforged the seams with laser-hot pulses to seal the cutlines.

At Toomes' headquarters, Schultz realized they had been set up: "Feds were waitin' for us. Now we're on Iron Man's radar?" - and he wanted to give up and run. However, Toomes convinced him to remain for one last job. He was still hoping to rely on Mason's "high-altitude seal thing up and running" - a vacuum seal for his Exo-Suit.

On the top of a city building, Iron Man admonished and scolded Peter for his recklessness, for not listening to him or obeying Happy, and for going it on his own: "You hacked a multimillion-dollar suit so you could sneak around behind my back doing the one thing I told you not to do." When Peter accused Iron Man of not listening to him about the weapons, Stark emerged from the Iron Man suit and responded angrily. He claimed that he had tipped off the FBI about the Vulture, but Peter had interfered and his actions had jeopardized the operation:

Who do you think called the FBI, huh? Do you know that I was the only one who believed in you? Everyone else said I was crazy to recruit a 14-year-old kid...What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? Because that's on you. And if you died, I feel like that's on me. I don't need that on my conscience.

In a tough-love moment, Stark demanded that the misused Spidey suit be returned to him - "forever." Peter pleaded: "Please, this is all I have. I'm nothing without this suit." Stark wisely replied: "If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it." Dejected, Peter (wearing a cheap tourist T-shirt) was forced to return to Aunt May's apartment, where she accused him of tremendous irresponsibility - he calmly admitted his wrongdoing:

Aunt May: I know you left detention. I know you left the hotel room in Washington. I know you sneak out of this house every night. That's not fine. Peter, you have to tell me what's going on. Just lay it out. It's just me and you.
Peter: I lost the Stark internship...I screwed it up...I'm sorry I made you worry.

Peter was given a second chance to resume his life as a normal 15 year-old student, without expulsion. He spent more time with his friends and diligently attended to his studies. He also shyly admitted to Liz that he liked her, but she wasn't surprised: "You're terrible at keeping secrets." She accepted his request for a date to the school's annual Homecoming Dance. On the evening of the dance, after prepping with Aunt May, he was driven to Liz's home to pick her up, where her father answered the doorbell - it was Adrian Toomes! After her mother Doris (Garcelle Beauvais) took some photographs of the couple - with Peter exhibiting extreme nervousness, they were chauffeured to the dance by her father.

On the drive, Liz mentioned that Peter had an "internship with Tony Stark" - and repeated his assertion that he had hung out with Spider-Man. Peter was also asked what Spider-Man was like and blurted out: "He's nice. Nice man. Solid dude." Peter also had to explain Liz's claim that he was always disappearing - at her dance and in DC: "You disappeared like you always do, like you did in DC too." Toomes realized that the Friday night party was held at the same time as Spider-Man's chase of his crew in a van. He signaled that he had guessed Peter's secret identity when he asked: "I'll bet you were glad when your old pal Spider-Man showed up in the elevator though, huh?" Liz again declared that Peter wasn't with the group inside the monument. Peter tried to provide a rational alibi: "I saw it all from the ground."

After arriving at the school, Toomes said he was going to have a few private "dad" talk with Peter - and while Liz was on her way into the dance, Toomes threatened Peter if he continued to interfere with his plans as Spider-Man:

Peter nothing is more important than family. You saved my daughter's life. And I could never forget something like that. So I'm gonna give you one chance. Are you ready? You walk through those doors, you forget any of this happened and don't you ever, ever interfere with my business again. Because if you do, I'll kill you and everybody you love. I'll kill you dead. That's what I'll do to protect my family, Pete. Do you understand?

After entering the dance, Peter immediately informed Liz that he had to leave, and then apologized for ditching her: "You don't deserve this." He raced down a school hallway toward his secret storage area, grabbed his backpack, donned his old homemade Spider-Man suit, and ran outside. He was stunned by an ambush from Schultz (the new Shocker) with the Gauntlet, and tumbled backward onto the pavement where he lost his web-shooters. [Note: Presumably, Schultz had been summoned by Toomes to the school to prevent Peter/Spider-Man from following after him.] Schultz asked: "What's with the crappy costume?" before knocking Peter into the side of a parked schoolbus. Toomes' associate kept pummeling Peter/Spider-Man with his Gauntlet to inflict blunt force trauma blasts. He sent him sailing into the windshield of another bus, and then tumbled him around inside the overturned vehicle. As Schultz/the Shocker raised his Gauntlet to deliver a final blow, webbing suddenly caught his arm - Ned had come to the rescue after picking up Peter's web-shooter and using it to distract Schultz. Peter/Spider-Man covered Schultz with webbing to attach him to the side of a schoolbus. Peter then gave Ned vital information and instructions:

The guy with the wings is Liz's dad...I know, I gotta tell Mr. Stark. Call Happy Hogan. He's Mr. Stark's head of security. And, uh, get a computer and track my phone for me...Hurry, we gotta catch him before he leaves town.

As Peter rushed out of town to intercept Toomes in his hideout, he car-jacked the vehicle Flash was driving with his dance date. As he careened away, Peter phoned Ned with Flash's cellphone, and instructed Ned to use his own cellphone's tracking (Peter had left his own phone on the floor of Toomes' car) to locate Toomes. He was using Ned as his "guy in the chair" to help coordinate communications with Happy, and monitor Toomes' whereabouts. However, Happy refused to take Ned's phone call, because he was due to "takeoff in nine minutes" while surrounded by boxes. Ned also reported that Toomes had stopped at an old industrial park in Brooklyn. Peter deduced that it was "moving day!" - Happy was due to fly in a Stark cargo plane transporting weaponry from the Avengers Tower in NYC to their new team's Avengers facility in upstate New York. And he guessed that Toomes was planning to hijack the plane and steal the shipment. According to Happy, the shipment included:

  • Stark's old Hulkbuster Armor
  • the Prototype for Cap's new shield
  • Thor's magic belt

Toomes confronted Spidey (who had descended into his lair from a rooftop opening), and at first complimented him: "I really, really admire your grit. I see why Liz likes you. I do." He then attempted to persuasively reason with the young hero: "You don't understand how the world works." He drew a dichotomy between the rich (naming Stark as one who had also sold weapons to terrorists to make his fortune) and the poor to justify his criminal activities:

Those people up there - the rich and the powerful, they do whatever they want. Guys like us, like you and me, they don't care about us. We build their roads, and we fight all their wars and everything, but they don't care about us. We have to pick up after them. We have to eat their table scraps. That's how it is.

With the flick of a switch, Toomes activated, unleashed and summoned his flying Vulture Exo-Suit that flew into the room and destroyed the building's support beams, causing the roof's structure to collapse onto Peter/Spidey. After Toomes left the building, a few moments later, Peter struggled to emerge from the debris and rubble before suffocating. He remembered Stark's words of encouragement to him ("If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it") and persevered with all of his strength to move the large fragments of rock and escape death.

Meanwhile, the Stark cargo plane took off from the Stark Tower in the heart of the city, as Toomes flew closely behind in his advanced Vulture Exo-Suit, with Spidey also in pursuit latched onto him (and then hanging onto the plane's undercarriage). After the Vulture intercepted the plane and latched onto one of the plane's wings with Mason's deployed "high altitude vacuum seal," he cut an entry opening using his Matter Phase Shifters. Once he was inside the plane, Mason reminded him about the valuable cargo: "Trust me, boss, even one of those boxes and we are set for life." Toomes entered the empty cockpit where he disabled the security. During the air-heist, a decoy drone had also been deployed by Mason to throw off the plane's ground control, led by Happy Hogan. Toomes began rummaging through the many boxes of Chitauri weaponry, robotic parts, and various armored equipment to select the best items for arms sales.

Toomes noticed that his high-altitude vacuum seal wasn't working properly, and air was being sucked out of the plane. Alarms sounded and via a security camera, he saw that Spider-Man had attached himself to the plane, and was threatening to knock his Exo-Suit off the plane. Toomes re-donned his Exo-Suit, and clashed against Spidey, who was web-attached to the exterior of the plane. Both escaped being sucked into one of the plane's jet engines during the skirmish, although the Vulture's wings suffered heavy damage. During their battling, one of the plane's engines was dislodged and the aircraft lost control and was descending in altitude. Mason warned the Vulture to get away, but Toomes was adamant: "I'm not going home empty-handed." The cargo plane ultimately crash-landed on the shoreline beach at Coney Island after being maneuvered and turned there by Spidey to avoid hitting NYC.

Spidey was stunned by the horrific crash, but survived, and as he regained consciousness, Toomes pounced down on him, knocked him over, repeatedly slammed him into the ground, and pounded him with his talons. But Toomes was distracted when he noticed one intact crate of weaponry in the flaming wreckage: "BINGO!" He was determined to carry off at least one box of weapons - miniaturized arc reactors. Spidey attempted to warn him about the Chitauri power core's instability and volatility ("Your wingsuit's gonna explode...I'm trying to save you!"). As the Vulture attempted to fly off with the treasure, the radiation from the reactors caused the Chitauri technology in his wings to short-circuit and explode. The malfunctioning wings caused him to crash onto the sand in a blazing pile of debris. Spidey raced to his body and saved his life.

Shortly later, Happy Hogan and other officials arrived to evaluate the fiery, destroyed wreckage. They found Toomes and the cargo confined by Spidey's webbing. Spidey had also left a pinned-up note apologizing for the crashed plane: "FOUND - Flying Vulture Guy. Spider-Man. PS: Sorry about your plane." Spider-Man observed them in secret from the top of Coney Island's Cyclone roller coaster.

Later at school, Peter learned that Liz was moving away to Oregon with her mother during her father's trial. She was still angry at him for ditching her at the Homecoming Dance: "That was a pretty crappy thing to do." And then she wished him well: "Bye, Peter. Whatever's going on with you, I hope you figure it out." The new president of the school's Academic Decathlon team was announced during a practice session - Michelle (or "MJ") was appointed to the position. Peter dismissed himself from the meeting after a text message from Happy Hogan instructed him to go to the school's bathroom. Happy informed Peter of his gratitude: "I really owe you one." And then Happy said the "boss" requested to see him at the upstate New Avengers facility.

Happy drove him to the newly remodeled headquarters, where Tony Stark met them. In private, he told Peter: "I was wrong about you. I think, with a little more mentoring, you could be a real asset to the team." Stark added that there were about fifty reporters behind a wall, ready to hear the big announcement that Peter was to become the newest official member of the Avengers, with a brand-new Spider-Man suit.

However, Peter reluctantly turned down the big offer and invitation:

I'd rather just stay on the ground for a little while. Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Somebody's got to look out for the little guy, right?

As Peter departed for the car, he turned and asked: "That was a test, right? There's nobody back there?" Stark confirmed Peter's question: "Yes, you passed." Shortly after Peter walked away to wait in the car for the trip back to NYC, reporters in a back room emerged as they awaited the big announcement. Stark affirmed Peter's mature choice to Happy and to his assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow): "He actually made a mature choice. It just surprised the heck out of us." Stark decided to turn the press conference into an announcement of his engagement to Pepper, with a ring provided by Happy.

After his return home, Peter found a brown paper bag on his bed, marked with the words: "This belongs to you - TS." Inside was his original, first upgraded Spider-Man suit. After putting it on, Aunt May walked into the room behind him and blurted out: "What the f---?"

Mid Post-Credits Scene

Toomes was incarcerated in the Department of Corrections facility known as The Raft, where he met Mac Gargan, the illegal arms customer on the Staten Island Ferry. Gargan proposed that a group of criminals, including Toomes, vengefully unite and team up with friends on the outside to kill "our little spider friend":

I've got some boys on the outside who would just love to meet him. You know, take a picture, slice his throat, put his head in a dryer. And I heard a rumor. You know who he is.

In gratitude to Spider-Man for saving his life, Toomes denied knowing the young hero's true identity: "If I knew who he was, he'd already be dead." Toomes was on his way to meet his wife Doris and daughter Liz during a prison-inmate visit.

Post-Credits Scene

Captain America appeared in another PSA video, speaking about both the virtues and issues with patience:

Hi, I'm Captain America, here to talk to you about one of the most valuable traits a soldier or student can have. Patience. Sometimes patience is the key to victory. Sometimes it leads to very little, and it seems like it's not worth it. And you wonder why you waited so long for something so disappointing.

He then turned to the off-camera director of the PSA with an aside, asking about how many more PSAs he would have to film: "How many more of these?"

The last screen title: "Spider-Man will return"

Film Notables (Awards, Facts, etc.)

This fantasy sci-fi superhero film was integrated into the established films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise - it was the 16th film in the series. It was also the second Spider-Man reboot (director Marc Webb's films were the first reboot), marking it as the third solo Spider-Man franchise in 15 years.

In February 2015, Marvel Studios and Sony reached a deal to share the character rights of Spider-Man, integrating the character into the established MCU. Now, Spidey as a character with a supporting cast could appear in both major Marvel and Sony projects. Because the film was part of the MCU, it could incorporate the characters of Tony Stark / Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Steve Rogers / Captain America (Chris Evans). This film was, in fact, a sequel to Captain America: Civil War (2016).

This film's sequel was also directed by Jon Watts: Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).

The Spider-Man character (portrayed by Tom Holland) first appeared in the 13th MCU film, Captain America: Civil War (2016). A sequel was planned for the year 2019 (to be determined).

The film's tagline: Homework can wait. The city can't.

Academy Award Nominations: (none). The film won three Teen Choice Awards: Choice Summer Movie, Choice Summer Movie Star (male) (Tom Holland), and Choice Summer Movie Star (female) (Zendaya).

Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield (previous Spider-Mans) were replaced by the third big-screen incarnation of the title character - a new Spider-Man/Peter Parker actor - Tom Holland. This was the youngest Peter Parker yet. At just 15 years old in this coming-of-age superhero tale, he fought against his main foe, the Vulture (Adrian Toomes) (Michael Keaton), and two associate Shockers (Logan Marshall-Green and Bokeem Woodbine). The Aunt May Parker character was much younger (portrayed by Marisa Tomei rather than Sally Field), while the Uncle Ben character was non-existent.

With a production budget of $175 million, and box-office gross receipts of $334.2 million (domestic) and $880.2 million (worldwide). In its relation to the other films in the Spider-Man franchise, it ranked fourth out of the six films in terms of domestic box-office revenues. In comparison to the first 18 films in the MCU franchise, it ranked seventh in terms of box-office (domestic).


Adrian Toomes
(Michael Keaton)

Phineas Mason/The Tinkerer
(Michael Chemus)

Jackson Brice
(Logan Marshall-Green)

Herman Schultz
(Bokeem Woodbine)

Anne Marie Hoag
(Tyne Daly)

The Vulture
(Michael Keaton)

Tony Stark
(Robert Downey, Jr.)

Happy Hogan
(Jon Favreau)

Peter Parker
(Tom Holland)

Spider-Man
(Tom Holland)

Ned Leeds
(Jacob Batalon)

Flash Thompson
(Tony Revolori)

Liz (Toomes)
(Laura Harrier)

Michelle Jones
(Zendaya)

Aunt May Parker
(Marisa Tomei)

Captain America
(Chris Evans)

Aaron Davis
(Donald Glover)

Mr. Roger Harrington
(Martin Starr)

Mac Gargan
(Michael Mando)

Iron Man
(Robert Downey, Jr.)

Doris Toomes
(Garcelle Beauvais)

Pepper Potts
(Gwyneth Paltrow)

Greatest Film Series Franchises - Sections
Series-Introduction - Index to All Films | Series-Box Office


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