The following story contains a major spoiler for Spider-Man: Homecoming. For real, we discuss a pivotal scene in the movie, at length. Stop reading now if you clicked in here by accident and haven't yet seen the film. This is your final warning.
There's a moment in Jon Watts' new Spider-Man: Homecoming that, when it happened, caused me to sit up and scoot to the edge of my seat in amazement. I actually muttered out loud, "Oh my God, is this really happening?" Because as the scene began, it referenced what I thought might be a classic Amazing Spider-Man comic book scene... one of he most iconic moments in the young superhero's life. As the scene played out, it became clear that Watts had included -- and more importantly, earned -- a visual reference to Amazing Spider-Man 33, from February of 1966. The book is titled "The Final Chapter," and the comic panel in question looks like this.
The moment occurs in Spider-Man: Homecoming after The Vulture (Michael Keaton) has used his flying wing rig to topple a warehouse on an unsuspecting Peter Parker (Tom Holland) trapping him beneath the rubble. When I sat down across from Marvel President Kevin Feige about that scene, and asked if it was an outright homage to "The Final Chapter," I learned that the scene is something Feige had been dreaming about putting into a Marvel movie for a very long time. During the interview, Spider-Man: Homecoming producer Amy Pascal elaborated:
It was beautiful, and it was a hard scene for Tom. He really got very emotional doing that scene. It was -- everything that you feel about it, besides the fact that it's an homage to everybody's favorite panel, it was like most things that those guys [Stan Lee and Steve Ditko] invented, it was an incredibly emotional, real moment.
When I brought up the scene to Tom Holland and director Jon Watts, they told me they got the seal of approval on including "The Final Chapter" from a dedicated fan -- the owner of the Silver Age Comics shop in Astoria, Queens. Listen to this fantastic story about this very special Spider-Man moment.
The inclusion of just such a reference shows what happens when you turn a Marvel character back over to Marvel Studios. The experts working on these films know the character beats, and historic moments, that fans want to see on screen. And they know that there are countless more vintage moments that can be captured in vital Spider-Man stories for years to come. Spider-Man truly is home with Spider-Man: Homecoming. What did you guys think when you saw this moment on screen?
