Development for "Homecoming" began in 2015, with the groundbreaking deal made between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios in which they share the character rights to Peter Parker/Spider-Man, which allowed the character to appear in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. But this deal brought about uncertainty to how fans would react to a third iteration of the popular character. But all that uncertainty went away when fans first caught a glimpse of Tom Holland's portrayal of the popular character in 2016's "Captain America: Civil War", where we saw him get recruited by Tony Stark to help him in his fight against Steve Rogers.
Both studio's were still uncertain about how well "Homecoming" would perform, considering it's the third reboot of the character in 15 years, the studios' main concern was franchise fatigue. Opening at the top of the box office with an overwhelming $117 million and being Certified Fresh with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, "Homecoming" exceeded all expectations, and squashed any doubts that Sony or Marvel had about the character. In "Homecoming", we see Peter Parker return to Queens, kept in the dark on the goings on of Tony Stark and the Avengers, having to keep his identity has Spider-Man a secret, and return to life as normal, which for him meant high school. But when he tries to thwart an arms deal one night, it leads to him being the target of a new villain, the Vulture, portrayed by the one-and-only Michael Keaton.
"Homecoming" managed to do something truly great, giving us an origin story, without it actually being an origin story. Peter Parker had already had his powers and started his heroics before the opening credits ran, but you get see his transition from "friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man" to Avenger-level hero in the course of 133 minutes. It also touched on the high school aspect of the character more than any of the other "Spider-Man" films before, giving an insight into his life as a normal teenager. Peter's age played a major role in the film, which is part of what made it so good. It wasn't just your average, cut-and-dry superhero film, it's also a great coming-of-age film, along the lines of "The Breakfast Club," "Pretty in Pink," or any other John Hughes film from the 80's. The film had your average stock characters: the popular girl, the best friend, the loner, the bully, but managed to present them in a way that it didn't seem forced. The only flaw in this otherwise great film, was the fact that, although heavily featured in the trailers and TV spots, Zendaya's mysterious character Michelle had very little screen time.
I personally give this film a 9.8/10, and would recommend that if you have not seen it yet, go see it, and if you have, go see it again.
Tom Holland is set to reprise his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in next year's "Avengers: Infinity War," as well as 2019's untitled "Avengers 4" and the untitled "Homecoming" sequel.
