I Believe In Marvel Studios: Bringing Spider-Man To The MCU

For the third time this century, a brand new actor has been cast as one of our world's most iconic heroes on the big screen. It will now be Tom Holland, a nineteen year old Londoner of The Impossible fame, who will pull on the famous red and blues in Spider-Man's first Sony/Marvel crossover in 2017. Audiences won't have to wait all that time, however, and will first get to see this latest version of Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War. Comic book fans will have been praying for Pete to appear in the new Captain America movie, given how important he and his actions are in the original story. Nevertheless, speculation is rife as to just how everyone's favourite wall-crawler will actually show up, especially since this will debut before his latest so-called reboot. Running a new version of the famous origin story has reportedly been shut down, given that movie-goers have already seen two such tales within the last fifteen years. That being said, doesn't such an important and heartbreaking series of events deserve one final, fitting gambit? Peter's emotional backstory is part of what makes him such a bold and selfless hero as Spider-Man, and even some of the character's most recent comic stories have brought new emphasis to this trait. Do the two studios need to set the stall out again so that the character's actions and influence in the sweeping events of Civil War carry the right gravitas and reason? Well, in a word, no... Introducing Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is far from the gigantic pitfall many commentators fear it could be, and there's already a perfect template for how this can be done effectively. Having recently re-watched the sophomore entry of Christopher Nolan's incredibly successful Batman trilogy - The Dark Knight - it becomes apparent that the director's treatment of the caped crusader's supporting characters always felt perfectly organic and natural. Not once did any critic of the series ask questions of how a particular character arrived on the scene in these movies, with even some of the trilogy's most important individuals appearing suddenly in the movies. Consider, for example, the way in which Harvey Dent was brought so vitally into the story of The Dark Knight despite no prior influence in the film's predecessor. Dent served as one of, if not the most important narrative vehicles in the events of this movie, perhaps taking up even more significance to the plot than major antagonist The Joker. How, then, did such a crucial character enter the film as an already established entity and lose no ground in influencing the proceedings? In the build up to the film's release, Nolan and his team employed a number of important viral marketing campaigns to support all of the usual PR like trailers and posters. The 'I believe in Harvey Dent' campaign was set out as if movie watchers around the world were, in fact, citizens of Gotham City themselves. Audiences were presented with posters, newscasts and even a fully realised website all dedicated to promoting the political career of a fictional character. Without ever being obvious or obnoxious, Harvey Dent's upcoming significance was eased into the mind's of the movie's would-be audiences, and the need for any type of origin story within the finished product was completely overcome. This viral campaign supported the film's traditional marketing, serving as a foil to any questions about where Dent may have been during the events of the first movie. The TV spots and newscasts gave quick introductions to an individual attempting to boost his career and profile now that Gotham City needed him to. The posters and promotional photos set out his allegiance, were it ever to be questioned, and his motivations before the opening credits had rolled. Harvey Dent fit into Nolan's trilogy retrospectively, and so his appearance on screen in the early stages of The Dark Knight could never feel unnatural. It's now the job of Marvel and Sony to do similar justice to a character with arguably greater importance as they seek to draft him so suddenly into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The only major difference, here, is perhaps that the stakes are even higher as the MCU has a staggering amount of successful films and stories under its belt. Fortunately, the perfect counter to this comes in the form of the character himself. Spider-Man is arguably the world's most recognizable superhero, and certainly one of the most relatable for a larger majority of his audience. Peter Parker's history is a largely common knowledge, meaning that the studios can afford to be minimally selective with what they include; it's only necessary to retread any ground that could prove unavoidable in the Civil War storyline. To avoid plugging any screen time from Cap's new film into introducing Pete, a Dent-esque viral campaign could be perfect for Marvel. Recently, we brought you news of the latest pre-release footage for Marvel's upcoming Ant Man, which includes a broadcast from WHIH news detailing an impending prison release for cyber terrorist Scott Lang. The footage uses broadcaster Christine Everhart who, it should be noted, has been called back for filming with Civil War and links viewers to a new Twitter feed for the news channel. This small viral campaign has been introduced pretty late on in the marketing for Ant Man, but is nonetheless serving an important purpose in linking the characters and events from the movie to the larger MCU. The channel's Twitter feed is already populated with some Avengers-related stories. With Peter Parker's known photography background, it's the perfect natural foil for this to extend into the build-up for Civil War in 2016. For example; assuming the accident that gave Parker his powers is going to be accepted as a given, why not have Everhart and her team lead the call for pictures or footage of the mysterious masked man recently sighted swinging around New York? Spidey's early activities could gather press attention in an early viral campaign, which makes his appearance on the radar of Cap and Iron Man feel more organic by the time the events of Civil War begin. What could also benefit from this method would be the extended cast and universe around Spider-Man by the time his own reboot arrives in 2017. WHIH's quest for photos of the web-slinger could introduce some healthy, journalistic competition and bring a certain Daily Bugle to the fore as they seek to be the first source to get hold of decent footage. This would nicely bring J. Jonah Jameson into the fray for the latest retelling of Peter Parker's formative years, something that was sorely missing from Amazing Spider-Man. This type of viral build-up could benefit not only Peter's integration into the MCU, but also serve as a way of pushing the action forward in his own movies down the line. While Marc Webb's Spidey work did approach the origin from another angle, a lot of the criticism it received was based on a lack of early action and too much time being spent planning for future events. Pushing character introductions and early plot threads into pre-release exposure saves valuable screen time, and stops the new series from falling into the same pitfalls as its predecessor. Speculative? Yes, but couldn't the example set by Nolan's treatment of Harvey Dent be evidence enough that these viral campaigns work? Assuming movie audiences can be given enough responsibility to take note of a few well-placed adverts and promos, viewers could find themselves feeling as though Spidey was never not a part of the MCU. Marvel are extending the courtesy to Scott Lang, so surely their favourite son deserves to be the next beneficiary of such smart marketing? Time will tell, true believers! Tell us, what are your thoughts on this? Could Marvel be testing their viral chops on Ant Man with the intention of saving Civil War screen time and integrating Spidey quicker? Let us know your predictions in the comments below!