As globally popular as Tom Holland’s take on Spider-Man is, there are those fans who complain that the MCU’s webhead has been too closely tied into the character of Tony Stark, with some derogatorily labeling him “Iron Boy” or “Iron Man Jr.” because of his reliance on Stark tech, e.g. his A.I.-powered suits. While folks were mostly just bowled over by his debut in Captain America: Civil War, this criticism really took hold with Spider-Man: Homecoming.
It turns out, though, that the movie’s writers were well aware of this interpretation when penning the script and were “skeptical” about some of the elements they introduced to the character, although they believe they “ultimately worked”. Jonathan Goldstein, who wrote the screenplay alongside John Francis Daley, took part in a Twitter watch party for Homecoming last night, and he shared some insights into how the script came together.
In response to being asked if Robert Downey Jr. was only available for a short amount of time, Goldstein confirmed this contributed to Tony’s reduced role in the film but also stressed that they didn’t want Iron Man to take the spotlight from Peter Parker.
Similarly, Goldstein explained that he was initially “skeptical” about Peter’s suit having its own JARVIS in the form of KAREN (Jennifer Connelly) but he came to like the idea.
While Downey only had around 10 minutes of screentime in Homecoming, his presence was certainly felt throughout the movie. Likewise, his loss hung over Peter in Spider-Man: Far From Home, which was set after his death in Avengers: Endgame. The incoming Spider-Man: No Way Home will really be the first time in the MCU, then, that we’ll be able to see Holland’s wallcrawler step out of Stark’s shadow and become his own hero. Especially as its multiversal plot will deal with Spidey’s cinematic legacy and not Tony’s for once.
Spider-Man swings back onto the big screen from this Dec. 17 in the US.
