Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

[thecolorsblend]

Yes. And I suppose the lackey thing is the crux of the issue for me. In the Lee/Ditko estimation, Peter was a perpetually down-on-his-luck do-gooder. He did the right thing, knowing full well that he'd never really get the credit his virtue deserves. He lives in a fundamentally unfair world and he knows it. But it doesn't break him. At least not permanently.

That didn't happen in a vacuum. His struggles, failures and triumphs had begun shaping Peter into a stronger, more rugged and more individualistic young man.

With Lee/Romita, Peter was making genuine progress in his life. He still had plenty of struggles but his hard work was paying off.

This too didn't happen in a vacuum. His progress taught him that no matter what life throws at him, he's at his best when he does the right thing knowing he'll be misunderstood at best or vilified at worst. His hard work and determination in his personal life and his superhero life will always pay off.

When Peter (not Spider-Man) somewhat became Tony's (not Iron Man's) unofficial sidekick in the lead up to Civil War, you get the idea that this was the big payoff Peter had been waiting for his entire life. Everything led to him finally BEING SOMEBODY.

And we all know what happened after that. But that's not the point. The point is that the comics had damn sure earned that.

But the MCU starting Spider-Man off as an Iron Man/Tony fanboy just warps the character for me. Tony is what Peter could've been under different circumstances. And vice versa, really. Both of them know it too. That colors their friendship. I can believe that Tony's aspirational lifestyle appeals to Peter's ambition far more than anything Reed Richards has to offer. I think comic book Peter admires comic book Reed but he doesn't necessarily want to BE comic book Reed.

But I can totally believe that comic book Peter somewhat envies comic book Tony at the same time that he identifies with him. They're a good match.

The MCU is hitting more or less the right notes. But the emphases are all misplaced and the end result cripples the character.

I'm really not trying to beat this to death but small changes make a huge difference to the character.

[The Dark Knight]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/zach-barack-transgender-actor-joins-spider-man-far-home-1177530

The MCU Spider-Man is obsessed with virtue signalling and playing diversity bingo.

[Silver Nemesis]

Here's the new trailer. But be warned, it contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.

Mysterio looks great.

However the most intriguing thing about this trailer is the introduction of the MCU Multiverse. This could be a huge factor in the MCU's future. Once they've introduced this concept, they could theoretically bring in new versions of old characters that have previously appeared in MCU productions. They could also use the Multiverse angle to explain the lack of synergy between the movie side of the MCU and the TV side.

Perhaps the Netflix shows take place in a pocket universe, as many fans have long suspected. The Multiverse might also explain why Marvel recently announced a new Ghost Rider TV show for Hulu starring Gabriel Luna, but also stated that this will be a "completely new iteration" separate from the version Luna portrayed on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Could we be getting a new Daredevil on Hulu as well?

[Silver Nemesis]

[The Joker]

That Empire cover is about the best thing I've seen from Far From Home thus far, and that's mainly because it's based on a cool McFarlane cover.

Everything else? Just not feeling it. I didn't mind how the MCU Spidey was handled during his intro in Captain America Civil War, as brief as it was,  but following the disappointing Homecoming, and everything else I've seen, the result just leaves me feeling incredibly (or amazingly in this case) detached from this particular version of Spider-Man and his supporting characters.

As far as the potential of a MCU multiverse? Ehh .... It wouldn't bother me in the least bit if that notion turns out to be misdirection by Mysterio. Which is what the character is all about. Misdirection. Duplicity. Trickery. Deceptive showmanship. All consistent qualities of Marvel Comics Mysterio, and taking his word on anything at face value would be ill advised to say the very least.

Course this is the MCU version of Spider-Man and his cast of characters, and even a villain like Mysterio (out of all the characters who could have revealed this scenario) could actually be honest in this case. What's another character change at this stage in the game?

[Kamdan]

Same comic Gyllenhaal is reading in this video.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrBLFmJgDEM/

The caption gets to me because when it was first announced that Spider-Man was going to be in Civil War, I immediately thought Gyllenhaal should play the part. I figured that the concept of Spider-Man could only really work within the 90's or early 00's and it would be interesting to see an older Spider-Man being called into action. Of course, it ended up being a kid and they made a lot of changes to better suit a teenage audience of today, thus a lost opportunity. I always thought Gyllenhaal would have been a better fit for the role than Maguire, who had it going in the first film, but lost steam in the other two. Then again, Rami was a big Ditko fan and wanted Maguire to reflect that characterization and I've always been a Romita fan. Gyllenhaal more closely resembles his iteration of the character.

[The Laughing Fish]

I personally don't like this YouTuber very much, but I do appreciate how he rips up the shills to shreds for their constant pandering to Marvel/Disney. In this video, he mocks all the critics for their praise for the new movie, and once again, their overuse of the word "fun".

But that's quite typical of people's reaction of MCU movies nowadays. Always describing each new release as "fun this, fun that", which for the most part I've been bored with instead. And giving the obligatory "best Marvel movie yet" seal of approval for single one for the last five years. In my opinion, the TWS remains the only movie in that period of time that deserves that distinction.

[The Joker]

It's pretty bad when I essentially have a free movie ticket for this, and I am STILL debating if it's even worth the effort to drive to the theater. Course I could always take the ticket and watch something else route.

I know. I know. I'm really missing out on a masterpiece of cinema that will be thoroughly examined for years to come in it's brilliance. I mean, it sure sounds like the bestest Spider-Man movie of our lifetime. Until, as predictable as it's become by now, the next one, right?

"I am Jack's total lack of surprise."

 

[The Laughing Fish]

It's pretty bad when I essentially have a free movie ticket for this, and I am STILL debating if it's even worth the effort to drive to the theater. Course I could always take the ticket and watch something else route.

Indeed. I've come to accept that this version of Spider-Man is aimed at a much younger crowd. It's safe to say people like you and me are not the target audience. After watching Homecoming, I honestly don't see how anyone over the age of 13 can enjoy Holland's version. The characters, the story, the humour - it's all pretty childish. As far as I can remember, a lot of fans on Internet forums back in the Garfield days wanted a teenage Spider-Man focused on high school. Which never made sense to me, unless these people were kids themselves. I prefer Spider-Man as a young adult tale, as we saw with Maguire and even with Garfield. All of those movies had something for everyone to enjoy. Even the 90s cartoon - or going back further to the Nicholas Hammond days - was more interested in Peter Parker's double life as a photographer trying to make ends meet and struggles as a hero.

The first reactions as shown in that video feel like they're exaggerating to appeal to a very young, impressionable type of audience. I read what these critics write with their pretentious, Valley girl sort of babbling, and I keep thinking "who the hell talks like that?".

[Edd Grayson]

I agree with you both.

Peter Parker in highschool actually takes up quite a tiny part of the original Amazing Spider-Man comics, and even in those issues, the main focus is still on Peter Parker as Spider-Man and how it affects his ordinary life, not on highschool.

I have an even bigger problem with discarding Uncle Ben and more importantly, the lesson Peter learned from his death, in Homecoming. I know we've seen the origin story before in two films not that long ago, but even so, ignoring Ben completely is not the way to go for me. It seemed that Spider-Man in this incarnation wanted to be a superhero, particularly an Avenger, just because he thought they were so cool and it's fun, and that's it.

It's quite clear that they wanted to appeal mainly to 2017 teenagers... which made me appreciate the previous films more because they did not do that.

Anyway, under these circumstances, I have little interest in "Far From Home", except maybe for seeing Mysterio, which is sad.