"Spider-Man: Homecoming" Analysis

As the true introduction of Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Spider-Man: Homecoming had fans on the edge of their seats to see what would come from Marvel in the newest adaptation of a classic, fan favorite superhero. 

Even with the weight of many fans' expectations, director Jon Watts and his team did a wonderful job in the execution of story beats and acts within this introductory film.

The first two beats begin before the audience is even introduced to the titular character— a very interesting choice, but it sets up the world in a way that truly inspires. 

The first beat is the establishment of a superhero/ government alliance with the reveal that Tony Stark, the face behind Iron Man, has organized a unit to clean up the city when debris and destruction from foreign entities is left. The audience is aware that this decision affects the regular people, who are trying to make a living by taking up this job. The second beat develops as the audience sees the aftermath of the implementation of this cleanup unit: with the regular people having kept some of this foreign material, and thus alien technology, the people originally directly affected have formed an industry based off of weapons utilizing this alien technology. 

This beat ends when the Marvel title card begins, leaving the audience with a hint of who the villain of the movie is.

Act 1 starts very lighthearted as the audience learns of Peter Parker's habits: vlogging important events (most notably the Avengers' fight in Berlin), his unyielding spirit as he seeks out ways to help his city, and his heart of gold as he tries to protect his aunt May from finding out about his identity and causing her stress. 

The audience also learns that Peter is being kept on the sidelines, hearing no news about ways to help and be of use from his mentor, Tony Stark/ Iron Man. This is the third beat. 

After facing off with the now established villain for the first time, Toomes/ Vulture, Peter and Ned, best friend and now helper in concealing Peter's superhero identity, track the villain to try and stop any further development of Toomes' arms development in New York. 

This transition into Act 2 reveals more about Parker and the details of his powers/ suit.  Parker steps in and saves the day twice more, once while he and his decathlon group is visiting the Washington Monument and another time while he is aboard the Staten Island Ferry. Each of these heroic actions is a beat, as Peter learns more about the situation revolving around the Vulture. His desperation in trying to figure out as much as he can about the Vulture and how to solve the impending crisis that New York will face makes the audience connect with Parker. 

His humanity in the way that he deals with these problems, as well as his own individual frustrations regarding his position as a superhero makes the audience connect and truly root for him to succeed.

However, after the commotion on the ferry, Peter is told to stay out of the way and out of harm by mentor Tony Stark. His suit is confiscated and Peter is left dejected. This beat sets up the details around the climax of the story.

As Peter tries to reorient himself back to a normal high school life, he finds out that the father of his date to the homecoming dance is the villain he has been battling the entire length of the film. The two save face for Peter's homecoming date/ Toomes' daughter, but Peter is unable to stay away.

Though he may have been stripped of the suit that donned him power, he could not be stripped of his spirit.

This revelation and beat transitions into the final act: Act 3. Peter dawns his old Spider-Man suit and faces off against the Vulture. Though he ends up defeating the Vulture, he ends up saving Toomes— another thing that makes audiences connects to Peter Parker as more than a superhero. He leaves Toomes to be found by the police and returns home.

There is a feeling of satisfaction that comes with the wrap up of the last act. Peter rejects the opportunity to become an Avenger full time, but finds that the suit made for him by Stark is returned to him. In the end, audiences learn that Peter Parker is a hero, no matter if he has an advanced suit or not. It is his indomitable human spirit that makes him powerful. 

Each story beat proves this message or further develops the plot to leat to another beat that proves this. This movie portrays a wonderful application of the acts and beats method of categorizing film, as well as giving it an interesting structure.