Spider-Man: Homecoming is more than just the first time we'll see Tom Holland's iteration of Spider-Man lead his own adventure. This movie also marks Michael Keaton's big return to the superhero movie world (assuming you don't count Birdman). After playing Batman in 1989 and 1992, this time he's gone to the dark side to play big bad Vulture. While Holland's Peter Parker and Keaton's Adrian Toomes will come to blows this summer, according to Holland, the two actors got along splendidly when the cameras weren't rolling, and Holland even managed to impress Keaton during the production thanks to his tenacity.
When Spider-Man: Homecoming was shooting last summer, Tom Holland lobbied to the movie's producers to make sure every action sequence looked as "plausible as possible," even if it meant delays. As Holland told The Wrap, Keaton complimented him for standing his ground. As Holland detailed:
I really stuck by my guns ... and eventually they went with what I said. Michael took me aside and said, 'Look, that's what I did in Batman. I always tried to make sure that what I was doing made sense, and that it could possibly happen.' My big thing was always trying to ground Peter's powers in reality, which meant never putting him in a situation he can easily escape from. And that choice would [often] completely reconfigure the scene that we'd have to do, which would waste two hours in re-rehearsing.
Tom Holland should consider himself fortunate to earn such high praise, especially since it's coming from the man who was wearing a superhero costume on the big screen long before this genre became extremely popular. Just like when Michael Keaton was playing Gotham City's protector under Tim Burton's direction, Tom Holland wanted to make sure that his Spider-Man was never put in situations where he could easily avoid harm. Even in a universe filled with aliens, android and freaky magic, there needs to be some stakes, and more importantly, as Keaton pointed out, things need to make sense. So while Holland was pleased to receive a compliment from the onetime Caped Crusader, making sure the movie's action sequences were the best they could be was something he planned to keep doing anyway.
While Tom Holland and Michael Keaton had a good rapport while shooting Spider-Man: Homecoming, don't expect their characters to get along nearly as well. As Spider-Man's first enhanced foe, Vulture will clash with the Webbed Wonder using technology salvaged from previous incidents in the MCU. Not only that, but Adrian Toomes will also make sure to arm members of his crew with this special technology, including Phineas Mason, a.k.a. The Tinkerer, and Herman Schultz, a.k.a. The Shocker.
Spider-Man: Homecoming arrives in theaters on July 7, and don't forget to check out our 2017 movie guide to find out when the year's other big blockbusters are coming out.
