Author - Mark Warner

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can. But how does a spider fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Captain America: Civil War? When the rumour that Sony and Marvel were entering into some kind of arrangement over Ol' Web Head first surfaced, I was excited, just like everyone else. I was excited to see Andrew Garfield unmasking on live TV. Going into battle against Cap and his Anti-Registration forces and toe-to-toe with Iron Man when he realizes Tony is wrong (Go Cap!). Then the announcement was officially made, even more excitement. Then we were told that Garfield wasn't going to be returning and the role would be played by a younger actor, but we're not going to get another origin story, which I guess is a good thing, because we don't really want see that again so soon. Then young Tom Holland was cast, I like that, I like him, I haven't seen him in anything but I assume I like him. But anyway enough of the recent history lesson, back to the main point. How does Spider-Man fit into the MCU? A young Peter Parker can't have the same notoriety as a Spider-Man with years of experience under his trunks. In Civil War Parker unmasks live on TV and is the first major hero to do so. He has been in action for years and has been spending all that time trying to protect Aunt May and Mary Jane. I don't see how a 15 year old can make the decision to do that. To put those he loves in the cross-hairs of whichever villains are after him this week. Rumours have been circulating that Black Panther will be filling a Spider-Man shaped hole and that kind of works for me in a way, in that I like that idea of Black Panther having a more prevalent role and that Chadwick Boseman is a much better age to make that tough decision. But being the ruler/masked protector of Wakanda isn't going to get T'Challa on the front page of the Daily Bugle. Kevin Feige also mentioned that this Spider-Man will be a street-level hero, which means he obviously isn't going to be taking on the likes of Loki or Ultron just yet. So will people even know who this wall-crawler is? This brings us neatly into the new, as yet untitled, Spider-Man solo movie, which I've got my finger crossed for the title The Spectacular Spider-Man. We have been told that it's going to be a kind of John Hughes-ish superhero movie written by John Francis Daley, who I only knew from Waiting... but apparently he also wrote Horrible Bosses and its sequel and the Vacation reboot. Now I love John Hughes movies and how each film in the MCU changes it's style, but is a teen comedy superhero hybrid really a good idea? I'm not knocking the street-level heroes. The Netflix Daredevil was just brilliant. I'm also not saying Francis Daley is a bad choice; when Edgar Wright left Ant-Man, Peyton Reed seemed like the worst of the potential choices, but that came out fantastically as well. I don't want to sound like a Marvel fanboy any more than I already have but they haven't really steered us too far wrong so far. So with any luck all my fears can be allayed and Marvel can neatly fit an arachnid in with a billionaire playboy philanthropist, a giant green rage monster, a soldier, and a God. So what do you think: will Parker be in safe hands with Marvel or will this all go the way of Fantastic Four? Sound off in the comments or send us your thoughts on Twitter!

Author - Mark Warner

REVIEW: Zeitgeist

SPIDERTEMBER: How Will Spider-Man Fit Into The MCU?