Spider Man

The trailers for Spider-Man: Homecoming were just released last night, and in them we get to see our favorite web-slinger navigate the terrifying labyrinth that is high school. But Tom Holland is British and a celebrity, so he’d never been to high school in the U.S. before — until, that is, he started preparing for Homecoming. To really get into the deep, dark depths of the American teen psyche, Tom Holland did the only thing he could do: he enrolled in a real high school for three days, affected an accent, and pretended to be just a regular dude.

For a fresh start with Spider-Man, Sony had to give him something distinctive. To set Tom Holland’s take on the webslinger apart from Tobey Maguire’s (and way, way apart from Andrew Garfield’s), the studio sent the hero back to high school and returned him to his teenage roots. Spider-Man: Homecoming aims to be a new take on the comic-book mythos all over, in fact — a new girlfriend in pop star Zendaya, the first onscreen appearance of the villainous Vulture, and with a new teaser unearthed today, we learned that a key piece of latter-day Spidey tech will make it movie debut as well.

When you’ve been fortunate enough to land the headlining role in a potentially lucrative film franchise, the least you can do is give a little back. Superhero actors making guest appearances in hospitals to spread a little cheer to bed-ridden children has become an increasingly common practice in recent years, with Chrises Evans and Pratt both leveraging their celebrity as Captain America and Star-Lord, respectively, to brighten sickly youngsters’ days. It’s a harmless PR stunt — the movie gets some positive, feel-good publicity while making some kid’s day/week/life, and everyone walks away smiling.

Peter Parker is having a literal homecoming on the set of the new Spider-Man movie. Earlier this week, Tom Holland and the ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ crew moved production from the Atlanta set to the streets of New York City.

Just last week, Joe and Anthony Russo shared a behind-the-scenes photo of Josh Brolin rehearsing for Avengers: Infinity War, giving us our first look (sort of) at Thanos’ return. But Jon Watts isn’t about to let the Russos get away with stealing the superhero spotlight — in response, the director of Spider-Man: Homecoming has offered up a new set video that shows off Tom Holland’s breakdancing skills, complete with mo-cap Spidey action.

Late last week a pretty substantial rumor surfaced suggesting that Zenadaya’s secret role in Spider-Man: Homecoming is actually Mary Jane Watson. While neither Marvel nor Sony have confirmed or even responded to those rumors, it elicited an unfortunately predictable reaction from several fans who were unhappy that a woman of color would be playing a character traditionally depicted as a white redhead. James Gunn already weighed in with his thoughts, and our own Matt Singer wrote an excellent piece on the matter, and now Stan Lee himself has offered his reaction to the recent casting rumor.

Take this with a grain of salt, etc., etc., but a very interesting image popped up online this afternoon which seems to feature a call sheet for Spider-Man: Homecoming. In addition to listing a few characters we already knew about, the rundown apparently reveals some that haven’t been reported, including a potential third villain. Possible spoilers ahead!

Here’s a sample of the angry comments I’ve read in the last 24 hours about the rumor that Zendaya will be playing Spider-Man’s long-time love interest, Mary Jane Watson, in Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming.

You deserve something heartwarming after a long week, and Tom Holland has just the thing. The Marvel newcomer and star of Spider-Man: Homecoming donned his Spidey suit to pay a visit to some special friends at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, and the photos will most definitely put a smile on your face.

Any apprehension about another reboot of the Spider-Man franchise went out the door when Tom Holland made his web-slinging debut in Captain America: Civil War. With Marvel calling the creative shots on Spider-Man: Homecoming (and a cast that gets better every week), our faith in Spidey has been officially renewed. And Sony is feeling pretty confident, too, as executive Tom Rothman recently spoke about the upcoming film, offering an explanation for the Homecoming title and declaring Holland the best Spider-Man yet.

I’m the guy who wrote the article “What Marvel Got Right About Spider-Man That His Solo Movies Got Wrong,” so it should go without saying (or at least saying again) how much I enjoyed Tom Holland’s new take on Spidey from Captain America: Civil War. The real test for the new Spider-Man, though, will be his first full-fledged solo film, Spider-Man: Homecoming, due next summer from Marvel and Sony. Will Homecoming carry forward Spidey’s momentum from Civil War? Or will it be another Amazing Spider-Man 2? (Dear Lord, please don’t let it be another Amazing Spider-Man 2.)

Since the dawn of the Silver Age, legacy characters have been a staple of superhero fiction, and having a new character step into a well loved role can open up new opportunities for writers and artists to tell different kinds of stories. In The Replacements, we’ll look back at the notable and not-so-notable heroes and villains to assume some of the most iconic mantles in the superhero genre. Peter Parker isn't the only web-headed wonder in the Marvel universe, and this week we're looking at the heroes and the villains, the threats and the menaces, who have donned the webs and proudly called themselves Spider-Man.