Spider-Man Homecoming: 5 Scenes We Need (And 5 We Don't)
4. Spider-Man Gets Attacked By Multiple Villains
One of the major problems - if not the single biggest problem - aimed at Spider-Man 3 was its extremely crowded finale. Venom, Green Goblin, Spider-Man, Sandman and Mary-Jane were all yelling, flying, swinging and shooting during a 30-minute third act that never seemed to end. It was confusing, incoherent and lacked focus - and thats because there were too many villains.
Look at some of the most well-received comic-book adaptations ever made. The Dark Knight. Iron Man. Captain America: The Winter Soldier. They all typically revolve around one central villain, an antagonist that has an emotional tie with the hero which makes them all the more resonant.
Now, look at the opposite end of this spectrum. X-Men: The Last Stand. The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Batman and Robin. The one thing all these projects have in common is villains - so many villains. Its a flaw that removes the main emotional backbone from a film and spreads its screen time between numerous subplots and stories, usually resulting in a poorly put-together movie. The final act is often the worst offender, bringing all these characters together in a maelstrom of cameos, cheesy one-liners and endless fistfights, and the whole thing can get a little tiring.
No less than two Spider-Man franchises have ended on an installment that features more than one villain - and thats no coincidence. Homecoming should focus on a single, complex antagonist, offering him/her enough screen time to truly develop them into a formidable challenge for our hero.