Spider-Man: Homecoming is now in theaters and The Hollywood Reporter has an extensive interview with writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley about all the major plot points in the reboot. Among the topics covered here are the superb sequence which sees Adrian Toomes figure out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man and the wall-crawler's decision not to join the ranks of The Avengers.
The duo also explain the thinking behind that spectacular "Come on Spider-Man!" scene which recreated an iconic moment from Amazing Spider-Man #33 and how Aunt May learning the truth about her nephew is going to change the franchise moving forward. It goes without saying that Peter's secret being out is big and it sounds like it will play into the sequel in an understandably huge way.
Stay tuned for more on Spider-Man: Homecoming and find all the movie's Easter Eggs by clicking here.
On The Standout Scene Where Peter Parker Learns The Vulture Is Liz's Father:
Goldstein: Some of our favorite scenes are where the villain doesn't yet know, but the audience does and you watch the villain realize who he's with, and that's sort of both of them discovering who the other is. There's just inherently great tension to that.
Daley: It was a scene we were sort of giddy when we first came up with it, because it's taking the obvious tension of meeting the father of the girl that you have a crush on, and multiplying it by 1,000, when you also realize he's the guy you've been trying to stop the whole time.
Goldstein: Jon Watts did a really nice job. You think you are on a high-school movie track, and then you are slammed right back into the superhero/villain story. And the two converge very nicely there.
On Peter Parker's Decision To Refuse Iron Man's Offer To Join The Avengers:
Goldstein: It's part of the overall arc for where Peter is in learning that he doesn't need the suit to be a hero, nor does he need membership in the Avengers to be a hero. He is his own guy, and the ultimate embrace of that is turning down an offer from Tony Stark.
On Recreating An Iconic Moment From Amazing Spider-Man #33:
Daley: That allusion was something Kevin Feige really wanted to put into this script, because it sort of embodies the internal struggle that Peter Parker is facing throughout, where he is his own greatest enemy in some ways, to have to accept himself before he can do anything helpful for the world. We have him starting the scene with such self-doubt and helplessness, in a way that you really see the kid. You feel for him. He's screaming for help, because he doesn't think he can do it, and then in the context of that flashback, he kind of realizes that that's been his biggest problem. He didn't have the confidence in himself to get himself out of there.
On Aunt May Learning Her Nephew Is Spider-Man And What That Means Moving Forward:
Goldstein: It just sort of diminishes what is often the most trivial part of superhero worlds, which is finding your secret. It takes the emphasis off that, lets her become part of what's really his life, so it's not cloak-and-dagger stuff. It's how does he best use these powers to help the world, help himself and his family and act responsibly. What's funny is, when we first went in to Marvel, we said we were imagining that Aunt May would be a Marisa Tomei type, and they kind of exchanged a look, because they were already secretly in negotiations with her. So things worked out well; we were all on the same page.
Daley: It sets up a fun storyline of having this maternal figure, who is supposed to protect this kid, but also knowing this kid is so much stronger than she is, and in fact his job is going to be to protect her, presumably.