Marvel Cinematic Universe: Every Upcoming Film Ranked By Anticipation
5. Spider-Man: Homecoming
Release Date: July 7, 2017
Though the existence of the MCU has undeniably elevated the cultural awareness and popularity of characters like Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor to new heights in recent years, it's hard to deny that Spider-Man has always been Marvel's true poster boy. And with Sony having obtained the film rights to the character long ago only to begin mishandling them starting with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 back in 2007, it's been frustrating to watch the MCU flourish while the ever-popular webslinger was stuck in films of decreasing quality.
That Marvel Studios and Sony struck a deal to start over and bring the character into the MCU is no minor miracle, and even if an argument can be made that the character's inclusion in Civil War was extraneous, it can easily be thoroughly overlooked by just how fun his appearance was. In about a half hour, the character was done more justice than his last few films have in their entirety, stealing the show - just like Black Panther - right out from under the rest of the cast.
Tom Holland just feels right as Peter Parker and his alter-ego, and since we'll mercifully be skipping over yet another cinematic origin story for the character, next year's Homecoming can jump right into the thick of things, giving us an appropriate high school-age Parker finding his place in a world full of Avengers and sorcerers and talking raccoons. Stacked with a cast that includes Robert Downey, Jr., Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei, Zendaya, Bokeem Woodbine, Hannibal Buress, and Michael Keaton as the Vulture, along with about a billion other recognizable faces, and armed now with the passion of Marvel Studios behind it, Homecoming looks like it'll be the Spider-Man film fans have been waiting for.