THE MARVEL filmmakers, trailers geniuses that they are, hold the biggest glimpse for last.
There, at last, is our new Spider-Man. Teen actor Tom Holland inherits the suit, which is inspired by the classic look. Spidey seems to be Team Iron Man, based on his decision in all this sticky business to wrap up Cap’s shield.
The new Spider-Man is debuting in Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” ahead of his latest standalone film; Marvel and Sony share custody of Peter Parker.
“Captain America: Civil War” hits theaters May 6.
So now that we’ve watched it a dozen times, Comic Riffs offers our immediate takeaways:
MICHAEL CAVNA: So first, we absolutely have to address the last several seconds. Talk about holding the surprise. So what’s your first impression of Marvel’s Spidey?
DAVID BETANCOURT: At first glance, and you think it would be hard to make such a strong opinion off of just a few seconds, it looks and even feels like Marvel Studios has come to the rescue with Spider-Man. It feels authentic. It feels like he’s home. Not any easy thing to do outshining all the great Marvel heroes that are in this movie, but in just a few seconds Tom Holland does that. The feeling has always been that Marvel Studios has succeeded despite not having their A-list heroes (Spidey, X-Men), but now the top Marvel hero is here in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It feels special.
MC: So unless he’s just trying to keep the peace in this snippet, it looks as though Spidey will be Team Iron Man, ready to register. So is this were the Super Bowl of showdowns – and it just might be – which lineup would get the edge when picking a point spread?
DB: What I’m even more interested in is to see whether they would dare give Spider-Man an iron spider-suit like in the comics.
Who gets the edge? It feels like Team Cap are the underdogs. Iron Man has Spider-Man, another Iron Man in War Machine, the Vision and the Black Panther? How does a team with the Black Panther lose? We could be treated to one of those “nobody wins” situations, but if I were doing a tale of the tape here, I’d have to go with team Iron Man. But it’s Captain America’s movie. No way Cap loses in his own movie, right? Unless they plan on killing him, which is a rumor I have yet to rule out. Especially with Crossbones lurking in this movie.
MC: Or you put the Man Out of Time in a deep freeze. Which makes room for Bucky to come to the fore in future films. Even if “Bucky Barnes: Civil War II” doesn’t have quite the same ring. I think what we can bank on is given that this is Marvel Studios’s longest film yet – at nearly 2 ½ hours – this will be plenty of time for topdog/underdog switchbacks and plot twists over who has the upper vibranium hand. So of all the other Avengers, who intrigues you the most just based on this trailer?
DB: I’m still most intrigued by the Black Panther. Yes. Spidey is back. But even though this is a new, fresh, better-produced Spider-Man, I’ve seen Spider-Man in a movie before. I’ve never seen the Black Panther. I mean, I remember being a kid and my family and friends debating rumors of whether Wesley Snipes making a Black Panther movie were true. And there was no Internet back then, so who knew how those rumors got started?
Black Panther on screen has never been seen. I want to see him in action, hear the Wakandan accent and see the effect T’Challa has politically on all of them outside of his Panther suit. But I also really enjoyed Ant-Man. I think he’ll bring the funny in a movie that looks to be kind of serious.
MC: One thing’s for sure: No one’s gonna summon T’Challa by dare calling him “Underoos!” [As Iron Man does Spidey in this trailer – take about product placement.] Which raises the question: So Black Panther is going to get his own stand-alone film before Black Widow does, despite her stalwart presence in all these Avengers universe films. Does it feel as if Black Widow is being backgrounded after “Avengers” 2?
DB: There is no doubt that the Black Widow has been the first lady of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We know she’ll be there with the Avengers. We know that if there’s a Captain America movie, she’ll probably be there, too. Marvel has the future phases of its movie universe mapped out pretty far, and we know that those plans do not include a Black Widow stand-alone film. Does Marvel justify that by pointing to her being featured in arguably their two biggest franchises? I don’t think she’s being backgroudned, but I do think the game plan has always been for Captain Marvel to be the first female superhero to get her own movie.
Now if Captain Marvel is successful, could that open the door to possibly rethinking a Black Widow film? I think so. But by the time that happens, will Scarlett want to do these movies anymore, outside of her Avengers contractual commitments?
MC: So we’ve now seen trailers for “Batman v Superman,” “Civil War,” “X-Men: Apocalypse” and “Suicide Squad.” Based on the trailers alone, which one are you now most geeked up to see?
DB: Wow. I’ll start by saying: What a great time to be alive. When I was a kid reading Wizard magazine, and they would do the casting calls of which actors would make great superheroes, it was like reading an issue of Marvel’s “What if?” Because back then, even being a kid, I thought that those movies would never happen. Special effects weren’t ready. Studios didn’t respect comic books as source material outside of Batman and Superman. It was a different era.
So to ask which movie I’m most geeked for? I’m still in awe that I live in an era where I can see all of these in one summer! If there were a rankings chart, that Spidey flip at the end might move “Civil War” to the top. I’ve been waiting for “Batman v Superman” since they announced it at Comic-Con. The “X”-franchise is on a high right now because of the success of Deadpool. And we can’t forget how spectacular that “Suicide Squad” trailer was. But if I had to pick one? I’d say it’s a push between “B v S” and “Civil War.” See, I couldn’t even pick one.