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Spider-Man: Homecoming Director Discusses Tony Stark Being A “Mentor Figure”

Who needs Uncle Ben when you've got Iron Man, am I right? Well, that's the impression I was given upon viewing the latest trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming. Because aside from giving Peter Parker some generous technological upgrades, Tony Stark seems to be lending some moral guidance as well as providing the burgeoning hero with a reality check when needed.

Who needs Uncle Ben when you’ve got Iron Man, am I right? Well, that’s the impression I was given upon viewing the latest trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming. Because aside from giving Peter Parker some generous technological upgrades, Tony Stark seems to be lending some moral guidance as well as providing the burgeoning hero with a reality check when needed.

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After having Robert Downey Jr. play Shellhead in numerous films, it only makes sense that the character endure some personal growth. This notion wasn’t lost on Homecoming director Jon Watts when he was asked by Fandango if this will be a Tony that we haven’t seen before:

“Absolutely. You have to think about the implications of what he did in Civil War, which is pluck this 15-year-old kid our of obscurity and bring him to Germany to embark on this insane adventure. And then he just drops him off at the end of it while he continues his part of the story. There’s a lot of repercussions to that. Is it a first step towards Tony as some sort of mentor figure? Is he comfortable with that? Has he ever seen himself as that? Or is he the one who’s needed the mentoring along the way? I think it’s a really interesting facet of Tony Stark’s personality that we get to explore in his relationship with Peter.”

It’s interesting that Watts brought up Civil War here, as that was such a game changer for Tony. Quite frankly, I’m seeing that film’s affect carry over in more ways than him just being a “mentor figure” to Peter. The recent confirmation of him being behind Damage Control shows that he’s willing to take more accountability for any possible ill effects superheroes have on their surroundings.

Although having these two tech heads interact will no doubt make for a great viewing, it does feel kind of weird for Peter to not figure out certain things on his own as he usually would in comics or other movies. Iron Spider aside, our favorite wallcrawler normally doesn’t need someone to perform tasks as simple as having someone design a costume for him, so I do hope he comes off as being more adept when Spider-Man: Homecoming swings into theaters on July 7.