8 Things We Learned From The Spider-Man: Homecoming Trailer

After months of waiting, last night we finally got our first look at the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thankfully, it seems to have carried on the good work of Captain America: Civil War and served up a faithful, yet fresh, take on the familiar hero. As has been talked about before, the trailer paints the movie as very much a high school-set, coming-of-age tale. The footage seen is split pretty much equally between Peter's time at high school or his problems hiding his secret from his friends and his life as a superhero and his interactions with a certain member of the Avengers. At last, this looks to be a Spider-Man movie that correctly casts him not as the lone hero protecting his city but the underdog who we love thanks to his very grounded story. Fans will no doubt have noticed that there are lots of juicy details hidden in the trailer, including some shocking reveals that we weren't expecting. While it doesn't give away too much, here are 8 key things we learnt from our first look at Spider-Man: Homecoming. 8) Web Wings We knew this was coming thanks to yesterday's teaser trailer, but we have to discuss it anyway - Spider-Man will get web wings in the new movie. The upgrade to his suit has been rumoured for a long time now, and the trailer isn't shy about revealing it. In the now usual YouTube ad-friendly five second teaser attached to the trailer, we see Spidey leap into the air, revealing the webbing under his arms. Fans should know that this is a nod to the early incarnation of Spider-Man, as first drawn by Jack Kirby and then by Steve Ditko. The detail never featured in the suits of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, but it's pretty fitting that the first movie Spidey suit to incorporate them is the one made by Marvel, now that the character has returned home. The same scene that reveals the web wings also reveals a couple of other interesting bits and pieces. For one, Spidey is seen clinging to the Washington Memorial, which confirms that the film will move outside of New York. He's also being hunted by a police helicopter, suggesting that Spidey will be a vigilante and opposed to the law. 7) Liz Allen Is Peter's Love Interest Despite evidence to the contrary (more on that later), it looks like Homecoming will give Peter a new love interest that we haven't met before. The trailer introduces us to Laura Harrier as Liz Allen, who Peter seems to idolize and is later seen calling Peter to check on his safety - which suggests that the pair will grow closer over the course of the movie. Liz Allen is a long-running figure in Spidey lore, debuting in Amazing Fantasy #15 with Peter Parker. In the comics, Liz begins as the popular girl at school and the girlfriend of Flash Thompson. She does later develop feelings for Peter, but by that time he's dating Daily Bugle secretary Betty Brant. This is the first time that Liz has been portrayed in live-action, though elements of her character were blended with Mary Jane and Gwen in the previous movies. Interestingly, Laura Harrier's Liz looks to be partly inspired by the version in the Spectacular Spider-Man animated series. The usual Caucasian character was also portrayed as African-American in the show and became Peter's girlfriend. In Liz's introductory scene, you can also briefly glimpse Angourie Rice, who's rumoured to be playing Betty Brant. Clearly, this iteration will no longer be the Bugle secretary and has been aged down to make her a classmate of Peter's. 6) Zendaya Is (Probably) Not Mary Jane When Peter and his pal Ned are drooling over Liz, they're interrupted by another girl who calls them "losers." This is actually a near unrecognizable Zendaya, who has long been rumoured to be playing Peter's main love interest - and possibly a new version of Mary Jane Watson. It's fair to say Zendaya's character - credited as Michelle - is nothing like the typical MJ. Instead of a flighty would-be supermodel, Michelle looks to be an anti-social bookworm who is far from the popular clique at school. Probably because she likes to speak her mind and call a loser a loser. Given how fervent these rumours have been, though, we'd be surprised if Zendaya was neither Peter's true love interest or MJ. To go back to Spectacular Spider-Man - which is naturally an inspiration for this movie as it also focused on Peter's high school days - Gwen Stacy was portrayed as geeky unpopular girl on that show. Eventually Peter sees past the superficial attraction of girls like Liz and falls for Gwen's personality. This could be what will happen between Peter and 'Michelle' in Homecoming. 5) Spidey Isn't An Avenger Marvel sure aren't being coy about the fact that Homecoming will tie in with the rest of the MCU, as Robert Downey Jr. is all over this trailer. Peter is seen discreetly meeting up with Tony, where he asks him about what he has to do to join the Avengers. In a hilarious sequence, Tony offers some confusing advice. "Just don't do anything I would do... And definitely don't do anything I wouldn't do... There's a little grey area in there and that's where you operate." Tony then leans over to open the door, which Peter awkwardly mistakes for a hug. The shorter, international trailer extends this scene, however. "But this does not mean you're an Avenger," Tony clarifies. This adds some context to the later scenes, featured in both trailers, where Tony tries to talk Peter out of going after the Vulture (or the "flying monster guy," as Stark calls him). This is something else that will please comics fans, who know that it took decades for Peter to join the Avengers, as Earth's Mightiest Heroes always believed that Spidey was too young and immature to be part of their group. 4) Ned Leeds Move over, Harry Osborn - Peter's got a new best bud. In Homecoming, it looks like Peter will be inseparable from his friend Ned Leeds, as played by Jacob Batalon. The pair share a love for Liz Allen and Ned even learns Peter's secret. First up, this is a completely different Ned Leeds from the one in the comics. On the page, Ned Leeds is an older Daily Bugle reporter, known for being in a relationship with Betty Brant and for later becoming the Hobgoblin. Once again, there is some similarity with Spectacular Spider-Man here, as that series also cast Ned as an Asian-American. Though he was renamed Ned Lee. In all but name, Batalon is playing Ganke Lee, who is the best friend of Miles Morales' version of Spider-Man in the Ultimate continuity. Apart from Batalon's striking physical resemblance to Ganke, the two characters also look to share the same function in the story. Ganke also found out Miles' secret early on and became the only person Miles could confide in about his secret life. Peter has never really had a figure like this in the comics, so it should be interesting to see how this is explored in the movie. 3) The Vulture Looks Very Different And He's Pretty Sinister It has been one of the worst kept secrets in the history of the MCU that former Batman actor Michael Keaton is playing the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming. After months of trying to keep Keaton's character under wraps, we finally have our first look at his take on the villain and it's fair to say that he looks to be very different from the version on the page. In the trailer, we get to see the Vulture in action. His costume is revealed to consist of a mechanical wings, a mask that acts as a breathing apparatus and a jacket with fur lining. Oh, and some talon-tipped footwear to complete the whole Vulture gimmick. Later on, Keaton appears without the mask and threatens (presumably) Peter. "Don't mess with me," he says, revealing that Keaton has elected to play the part with a Southern drawl. "Or I will kill you and everybody you love." Thankfully, Keaton's Vulture cuts a much more formidable and sinister figure than the comics version. Though he was the second supervillain Spidey ever faced, he's usually portrayed as a bit of a joke. As an elderly man, he has never posed much of a threat to the webslinger. That's not the case here, though as the Vulture's age and experience looks to be a key factor in why he's beating the young and inexperienced Parker. 2) Shocker! It has also leaked that two other villains will feature in the movie - namely Shocker and the Tinkerer (as played by Michael Chernus). As can be guessed from the name, Tinkerer is a villainous inventor and, though he's not seen in the trailer, his handiwork appears all over it. The thieves dressed in Avengers masks at the beginning look to have the same kind of highly specialized tech that Vulture does, which suggests they got their gear from the same source. Shocker, on the other hand, does appear in the trailer - or at least the international version. At about the 0:50 time stamp, you can briefly see Bookheem Woodbine attack Peter amongst some high school buses. He's wearing some sort of arm apparatus that lights up and we would guess packs a nasty punch, if the subsequent shots of Peter being thrown against a bus are anything to go by. He's also wearing some yellow sleeves with a chequered pattern - exactly matching those worn by Shocker in the comics. Intriguingly, the same device and sleeves are also briefly seen in the original trailer, as worn by an unknown individual who's flanked by Donald Glover. Who is this guy and who exactly Glover is playing? Your guess is as good as ours. 1) Iron Man/Spider-Man Team-Up One area in which this trailer really delivers is in getting across that this won't be like every other Spider-Man movie. Rather, it will make the most of the fact that the wallcrawler now lives in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The most significant example of this is the fist-pumping final shot - showing Spider-Man and Iron Man teaming up. Here's a word of warning, however. Despite that final shot and Tony's prominence in the trailer, we wouldn't expect him to show up too much in the movie. Obviously they're going to use Robert Downey Jr.'s presence heavily in the promotion material, but we would think that he'll just turn up for a few key scenes to lend a helping hand to Peter and to offer some advice. If this is the case, then it's another instance in which Marvel are borrowing from Miles Morales' story. In the Ultimate comics, Nick Fury is the one to guide Miles in his early days as a superhero. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Iron Man looks to be filling this role for Peter - something he never really had in the original Spider-Man comics. In whatever capacity Tony shows up, Downey and Holland's banter looks to be one of the highlights of the film.