Genre: Action/Superhero
Director: Damien Chazelle
Writers: D.R. Cobb & Chad Taylor
Based on Marvel Comics characters
Cast: Lucas Hedges, Elle Fanning, Matthew McConaughey, Vince Vaughn, Ana de Armas, Ansel Elgort, Sissy Spacek, Kiefer Sutherland, Ron Perlman, Zoey Deutch, Holt McCallany, Youssef Kerkour, Scott MacArthur, Joey Ansah
Plot: Peter Parker (Lucas Hedges) and Gwen Stacy (Elle Fanning) get off the subway on Coney Island to meet Harry Osborn (Ansel Elgort) and his beautiful arm candy for a double date. While Harry is trying to explain skee-ball to his date, Peter and Gwen walk along the beach holding hands, coming upon the annual Coney Island Sand Castle Contest. Billy Baker (Scott MacArthur), walks along the beach seemingly in a daze. As he walks toward the contest, sand from the castles begins blowing away and attaching to Baker. The spectators think that the wind is just getting stronger, but before long Baker is basically a 20 feet tall "Sandman". Everyone's eyes turn toward the sand monster. They start clapping, assuming it is part of the contest. Gwen is clapping too, but Peter’s spider-senses start tingling. Sandman begins smashing what is left of the sand castles. The audience screams and runs away. Peter warns Gwen to go find Harry and his date and take cover somewhere safe. Gwen asks Peter what he's going to do. Peter runs under the boardwalk where he changes into his Spider-Man costume and sets up a camera to snap pictures of the event. Gwen finds Harry and his date. They take cover behind some pinball machines as the Sandman begins blasting the boardwalk with sand. Harry asks where Peter is. Gwen lies and says he had to use the restroom. Spider-Man emerges from under the boardwalk and yells at Sandman to stop causing trouble. Sandman throws a giant sand punch, but Spider-Man manages to dodge it. Spider-Man tries shooting webs at him, but it doesn't stick to the sand. Spider-Man notices a fire hydrant. He breaks the cap off, directing the blast of water from the hydrant right at Sandman. The water knocks chunks of sand off Baker's body, revealing part of the human underneath. Baker retreats and runs under the boardwalk. Spider-Man tries to follow, but Baker has seemingly vanished into the sand. Peter takes off his costume and joins the others on the boardwalk.
On the way back into Manhattan, Peter scrolls through the photos he took and smiles to himself. At the Daily Bugle, Peter’s boss J. Jonah Jameson (Ron Perlman) looks through the photos and admits that he is impressed by this level of work from a college kid. The next morning, Aunt May (Sissy Spacek) is at the grocery store when she passes by the newsstand and sees the front page of the Bugle, which reads “Spider-Man Ruins Coney Island Sand Castle Contest”. She shakes her head disapprovingly.
At their luxurious home, Harry has dinner with his mother. She asks him what classes he is taking in the new semester. He instead tells her that has considered dropping out, explaining that he has an idea for a smartphone app that he thinks could make for a viable tech start-up and he has talked to dad about it. At this time, Norman Osborn (Matthew McConaughey) apologizes for being late. His wife asks him about Harry’s “plan” and Norman admits that he admires his son’s sense of drive so he is supportive of the plan. To ease the tension, Harry changes the subject to his trip from Coney Island as he excitedly recounts the battle between Spider-Man and The Sandman. Norman’s smile dissipates as he didn’t realize that Harry was there. Norman gives his son a half-hug and says that it hurts him to hear that his son was in danger. He quietly advises Harry to stay away from Stacy’s daughter as trouble seems to surround her.
Felicia Hardy (Ana de Armas) paces back and forth in front of the Fisk Inc. building in Manhattan before finally entering. She is escorted to an office where Wilson Fisk (Vince Vaughn) is yelling on the phone at somebody. Fisk slams the phone against his desk, shattering it into tiny pieces. He tells Felicia that she made the right call, showing up to help take out Spider-Man. Fisk leads Felicia through a secret door and into an armory. Fisk introduces Felicia to some of the other members he has assembled for his “sinister spider-stomping” team: Herman Schultz (Joey Ansah), Aleksei Sytsevich (Youssef Kerkour) and the Sandman himself. Rocky Farina (Holt McCallany) then enters the room, and Fisk points out that Felicia knows him already. Fisk asks the team to introduce themselves to each other so that they will better have each other’s backs in battle. Rocky, also known as Hammerhead, glares at both Felicia and Fisk, who mentions that Hammerhead has recently come into his debt. Aleksei gives Felicia a bear hug and struggles to introduce himself in English. Fisk then points out a giant robotic Rhino suit and says that Aleksei may not be too bright, but he can do a lot of damage as the Rhino. Baker, rather than simply talking, turns his hand into a large, sandy fist. Felicia is taken aback, not used to being around crooks with legitimate super powers. Felicia asks him how he came to have powers. Baker explains that he escaped Seagate Prison and was moving down the beach away from the guards when he was caught in some sort of blast. Ever since then he’s been able to control and turn into sand. Everybody then looks at Schultz - codename: Shocker - who is silent. Fisk says that Schultz is mute, but he’s developed quite the contraption. Schultz puts on a pair of gauntlets that create a shockwave. Everyone but Aleksei takes cover. The shockwave knocks Aleksei into a wall. Fisk asks if everyone is ready to get to work.
Peter and Aunt May solemnly stand in front of the headstone for Ben Parker. They reminisce about him and joke how upset he would be at the Mets’ performance this year. May leaves some flowers at the grave and they start to walk away. May asks if Peter has a girlfriend yet. He stammers a bit before shaking his head no. She excitedly tells him her office hired an intern over the summer who is a senior at Empire State. May then says that she has set Peter up on a blind date with her. He can’t find himself able to say no as he doesn’t want to let May down. He nervously accepts.
Still upset that Harry’s life was at risk during his trip to Coney Island, Norman Osborn suits up in the latest version of OsCorp’s exosuit, painted a patriotic blue and red. He holds a press conference in front of City Hall with J. Jonah Jameson on one side of him and NYPD Captain George Stacy (Kiefer Sutherland). Norman announces to the people of New York City that he is tired of normal citizens being in constant danger from super-powered criminals running rampant throughout the city. He reveals that his own son was even caught in the crossfire between Spider-Man and the Sandman during the Coney Island incident, so he has decided to put his money and his body where his mouth is and become the Iron Patriot! The crowd erupts in applause.
Black Cat, Hammerhead, Rhino, Sandman and Shocker ride on a boat toward the Statue of Liberty. Fisk goes over the plan over their radios. He explains that the plan is to set up a trap for Spider-Man on Liberty Island. Hammerhead asks why there, and Fisk explains that without the high-rises throughout the city, Spider-Man won’t be able to use his abilities as effectively. As the boat comes closer to the monument, Rhino salutes lady liberty. On the island, they quickly take a group of tourists hostage in the crown of Lady Liberty. When he hears about the hostage situation, Stacy calls Norman, who assures Stacy that the Iron Patriot is on the job. Stacy takes over the microphone and explains that Osborn has been temporarily deputized by the NYPD, allowing him to officially arrest the super-powered criminals he apprehends.
Peter is turning in some photos at the Daily Bugle when all the televisions in the newsroom switch to coverage of the situation on Liberty Island. Peter takes the elevator up to the roof of the building, changing into his Spider-Man costume on the way up. He leaps from the roof, web-slinging his way across Manhattan to the Hudson River. Once he gets there, Peter faces the problem of how to get to the island from across the river. Peter asks a fisherman docking his boat nearby for a ride to the monument. The fisherman asks for $20 for the ride. Spider-Man explains that his suit doesn’t have any pockets. The fisherman reluctantly agrees and drives his boat across the Hudson to Liberty Island. Hammerhead uses a viewfinder to see Spider-Man and the boat arriving. He then looks up and sees Iron Patriot fly past the crown of the statue. He calls out to the others, saying they’ve got some extra company arriving.
Iron Patriot orders the criminals to stand down and release the hostages. When they refuse, Iron Patriot fires a smoke grenade into the crown. Hammerhead is knocked out by the gas, along with the hostages. When Spider-Man arrives on the island, he is charged by Rhino. Spider-Man manages to dodge the hit. He jumps onto the back of Rhino and uses his webs to cover the eyes of the armor, rendering Rhino blind. Iron Patriot then lands down next to Spider-Man, urging him to stay out of his way or he’ll arrest him. Spider-Man tries to explain that he’s there to help, but Iron Patriot flies away. Spider-Man enters the statue, finding Black Cat inside at the museum. She holds her hands up, insisting she means him no harm, she’s simply there to try to get some money she is owed. Spider-Man looks up toward the staircase leading to the top. When he looks back over to Black Cat, she’s gone. Spider-Man webs his way up the inside of the statue, only to be hit by one of Shocker’s shockwaves, knocking him back down. Spider-Man climbs back up, managing to sneak up behind Shocker. Spider-Man wraps Shocker up in webbing. He then finds the knocked out hostages and Hammerhead. He webs up Hammerhead and tries to wake up the hostages. Iron Patriot is flying back toward the crown of the statue when he is surrounded by a sandstorm created by Sandman. Iron Patriot uses his jets to blow away the sand from his path, but he is then grabbed by a giant sand hand. The sand surrounds him, extinguishing the jets and sending Iron Patriot falling into the Hudson River. Norman is unable to get out of his suit as he begins slowly sinking. Spider-Man senses this and leaps from the top of the Statue of Liberty into the river after him. Spider-Man manages to free Norman from his sinking Iron Patriot armor. By the time Spider-Man and Norman make it back to Liberty Island, NYPD helicopters have arrived to recover the hostages. Stacy lands in one of the helicopters. He looks over at Spider-Man and Norman and asks them where the criminals went. They all apparently made it off the island while Spider-Man was saving Norman. Neither of them have an answer for the angry Stacy. He asks Norman what happened to the Iron Patriot saving the day. Norman yells at Stacy, insisting he wouldn't need to do anything if the police could do their jobs. Spider-Man then realizes that his ride has also left the island. Spider-Man has to secretly ride back to Manhattan on the bottom of an NYPD helicopter.
That night, Felicia walks in on Fisk and Osborn discussing the events on Liberty Island. Osborn is trying to strike a deal with Fisk to help earn the public’s trust as a superhero, and in exchange Osborn will supply weapons and other technology to Fisk to help in his criminal pursuits - and more importantly, stop Spider-Man. The two men then realize that Felicia is there. Osborn leaves the office. Fisk calls Felicia over and threatens her father’s life if she tells anyone. Felicia says she understands.
Peter rushes through the halls of a ESU classroom building. He arrives at a large lecture hall but it is mostly empty. The few students that are there, including Gwen, are quietly taking an exam. The professor spots Peter, stating there are only five minutes left in the class period. Peter begs for leniency. The professor hands Peter the exam and says “the class ends when the class ends”. Peter knows most of the answers and speed-runs through the pages but is only able to complete half of the exam by the time class is over. Afterwards, he asks if she heard about the Liberty Island incident. She says obviously not — she was busy taking the exam! She says she loves how much he cares about the city but warns of always putting the needs of Spider-Man before the needs of Peter. He nods and says it has been hard to separate the two lately.
A few days later, there’s mass commotion in Times Square as Rhino rampages his way through the crowds after having robbed a bank. Peter sees this notification and goes to suit up as Spidey. When he arrives, he finds that Iron Patriot has once again beaten him to the punch. With Gwen’s words ringing in his head, he decides to hold back and instead pull out his camera for pictures. This time, Iron Patriot is surprisingly competent and apprehends Rhino fairly quickly. Peter takes his pictures as NYPD arrest Rhino and crowds cheer on Iron Patriot. Peter delivers the pictures to Jameson and the next Bugle hails Osborn and his heroics as a glimmer of hope for the city.
Harry and Peter arrive at an event where Gwen is being honored with an Outstanding Undergraduate Research award. In their seats, Peter says he has something embarrassing to share, revealing that he hasn’t told May about Gwen yet and she set him up on a blind date. Harry asks if Peter is going to go and he says he is but just to appease May. Harry tells Peter he has some big news of his own: he is developing a membership-based dating app for super-powered individuals, who may not be willing to reveal their identity on a more public-facing app. If he can get funding from some of his dad’s friends, he is considering dropping out of ESU and there would be an immediate job for Peter to help create the algorithm. Peter’s duties flash before his eyes - college classes, the Bugle, Spider-Man - and he tells Harry he would consider it, seemingly sincerely.
After the event, Gwen goes out for lunch with her parents. George Stacy talks about how proud they are of her accomplishments. Gwen’s mother asks about Peter and Gwen says things are great. George seems more skeptical of this, saying the kid has seemed a bit scatter-brained every time he has met him. He worries that those tendencies will end up hurting Gwen. She insists that Peter is a good guy and says she was actually thinking of asking him if he wanted to join their family for Thanksgiving dinner in a few weeks. Gwen’s mom says she would be delighted at that but George seems less than enthused.
Peter doesn’t feel right about the Rhino arrest, so he goes to the police station and attempts to use his Daily Bugle credentials to access the arrest records. The police point out that his press credentials say “photographer”. The officer at the desk does however accidentally let it slip that the so-called “Rhino” has already been released on bail. Peter knows something fishy is going on, so he discusses the situation with Gwen. She sneaks onto her father’s computer and accesses the police server using her own birthday as the password. They find that Aleksei Sytsevich’s bail was paid by Fisk Inc. Peter sits on a rooftop across from Fisk Inc. in his Spider-Man suit, waiting for his puzzle pieces to come together. He then feels his spider sense tingling. He turns around to find Black Cat. She tells him that Fisk and Osborn are teaming up, stating they both feel they have a common enemy: Spider-Man. Peter decides to take the Fisk-Osborn story to Jameson at the Daily Bugle. Jameson insists that Osborn and his Iron Patriot alter ego is a friend of the paper. Jameson tells Peter to come back if he has some pictures or some dirt on Spider-Man that they can actually publish. Peter, annoyed, asks Jameson if he ever worries that Spider-Man will sue the paper for slander. Jameson bursts out laughing as he lights a cigar.
In order to increase his effectiveness after Liberty Island, Norman meets with OsCorp’s R&D department to find ways to improve the Iron Patriot project. The researchers are a bit apprehensive to Norman’s requests as they think they should continue to focus on scientific advancement. He tunes out their apprehension and suggests they find a way to re-engineer Dr. Warren’s Jackal serum to grant him the increased strength and agility but without the animalistic after-effects. The researchers are shocked given the public embarrassment that the Jackal was for the company. Norman stands up, demanding that they get started pronto.
A disheveled Peter arrives at a coffee shop after having web-slung to make it on time. He enters and fixes his hair before scanning the room. “Peter Parker?” He feels a sensation — as if his Spidey senses are tingling — but turns around to find a girl, Mary Jane Watson (Zoey Deutch), with crimson hair and a glistening smile. He apologizes for looking unkempt and says he just got back from…napping. She says no worries, that fits the description of him that Aunt May gave her. Peter laughs and wonders what all May has had to say. Mary Jane gushes about May and says she will miss her when the internship ends. She starts to ask Peter some standard first date questions but he interrupts her and says he has a confession to make. He lets her know that he only said yes to this to make his aunt happy but he is actually seeing someone at the moment. Mary Jane seems a little hurt to hear this but he assures her that it has nothing to do with her. He just wants to see May happy after the death of his uncle and he hasn’t come around to telling her about Gwen. Mary Jane asks about Gwen. Peter describes everything he likes about her. Mary Jane smiles, saying it sounds like he really loves her. Peter thanks her again for being understanding. She says if he wants to talk more about his relationship then her ears are always open. He says he’ll remember that and lets her know that if she has any trouble in her science classes, he can help with that. They hug and leave on good terms.
Peter rushes back to the library. Gwen is actually leaving when he arrives and he is able to catch her attention. He says he has something to ask her but she says she actually meant to ask him something herself before he left. They exchange saying “you first” before asking, at the same time, if the other would want to come to their house for Thanksgiving. Gwen says she would love to meet his Aunt May. Peter says he would love to meet her family. She suggests, as a compromise, they could have both Peter and May at the Stacy residence for the holiday.
Fisk meets with Farina to plot out their next move. Farina suggests another place that would surely get Spider-Man’s attention. They’ve already done tourists, how about students? Fisk is initially appalled and says he has a line and harming children is crossing that line. He takes a glance at the framed wedding photo on his desk. Farina changes course and says they could go a little older so how about college kids? Fisk is warm to this idea and instructs Farina to round up the team, but to keep an eye on the Cat.
Peter studies for his final exams when the camera slowly rotates and it is revealed that he is lounging upside down against the wall. Suddenly his spider senses are tingling. He suits up and slings to the expansive ESU student activities center, where hundreds of students are in a panic over the arrival of the Sinister Six, sans Rhino. Spider-Man arrives and he asks if they’re wanting to play “best 2 out of 3”. Sandman says he doesn’t like math and swings a fist at Spidey. NYPD officers arrive but Shocker electrocutes their weapons using his shockwaves. He then hits Spider-Man with multiple shockwaves, causing Peter to gasp for air. A lone student begins to run away and Hammerhead instructs Black Cat to make sure no one leaves. Black Cat begins to move in that direction but stops and lets her go. Hammerhead immediately calls out that she has turned, prompting her to do a back handspring to the point where she is standing over Spider-Man. She helps him up and the two of them size up their enemies.
Meanwhile, Iron Patriot watches this news unfold as he injects himself with a small dose of the reformulated Jackal serum. He sees that he has a message from Fisk telling him to stay out of the next job. He ignores it and suits up.
Spider-Man instructs Black Cat that he is going to distract the team while she can start helping evacuate the students. A nearby set of doors burst open as Rhino enters the fray, apparently now out of jail. Spidey shouts to Rhino that Kingpin set him up. He brokered a deal with Iron Patriot and Rhino was the fall guy. Rhino, enraged, goes on a rampage and ends up catching Shocker in his crosshairs, badly injuring his former ally.
Iron Patriot flies in and immediately demands Hammerhead and Sandman to stand down. Hammerhead begins asking who this guy thinks he is and Iron Patriot shoots him with an ultra-powered beam that knocks out Farina. Sandman is confused and Iron Patriot assures him that his target is Spider-Man. The two of them team up to battle with Spider-Man and Black Cat, who are less powered but more agile.Spider-Man and Black Cat devise a plan to divert the fight to a less populated part of campus: the Norman V. Osborn College of Business. Meanwhile, Capt. Stacy is barking orders at his officers but takes a brief break to text Gwen and ask if she is safe. She confirms that she is. An armored vehicle then bursts through the police barricade and Kingpin emerges, decked out in armor to protect his identity.
Spider-Man sees the place surrounded by police and he tells Black Cat that he would understand if she wants to bail. She thanks him but wants to take down Fisk. Black Cat and Kingpin begin to fight, with her smaller size being able to evade his massive frame. Sandman is able to use his strength to dislodge a stone column at the front of the building. Kingpin breaks from his fight with Black Cat to single-handedly lift up the column. He is looking at Felicia when he says this but he instead throws it at Spider-Man. Spidey is able to avoid it but sees it heading towards a busy classroom so he uses all the webs he can to divert its path. The column comes crashing down into a nearby park, where a handful of students were hanging out. Spider-Man immediately goes to check on the victims. He stops in his tracks, seeing Harry is badly injured by the debris. “Harry?” Spider-Man lifts it up to pull his friend out from under. He looks around and finds that Iron Patriot is nowhere to be seen.
Stacy and the NYPD use this opportunity to swarm in and apprehend Kingpin, Sandman, and Black Cat. However, Felicia has secretly changed and is now blending in with the ESU student onlookers. She smiles as Fisk is handcuffed. Due to his legal expertise, Fisk is able to talk himself into a lighter sentence and is taken to a country club prison while the rest of his team are shipped off to the Ravencroft Institute.
At Thanksgiving, the Stacys host Peter and May and seem to be having a good time. George, seemingly still suspicious of Peter, asks what his plans for the future are. Surely the newspaper business won’t be around much longer. Peter retorts that neither is the NYPD if superheroes are going to always be the ones saving the day. Gwen kicks him under the table, although she is a little proud of him standing up to her dad.
Norman Osborn sits silently at his son’s bedside in the hospital. The events at ESU are on his mind and Spider-Man saying Harry’s name rings over and over again in his head. In just that instant, Peter enters the room to visit Harry. “Mr. Osborn” he says, extending a hand. A look of realization washes over Norman’s eyes. He lowers Peter’s hand and gives him a hug instead.
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