If you're someone who's tired of shared universes, then allow Spider-Man: Homecoming to show just how great they can be. After all, while there's certainly a lot of intriguing elements to Spidey's latest reboot, the thing that's obviously drawn the most attention is that this time Peter Parker's in the MCU; after his assured debut in Captain America: Civil War, this solo outing features Iron Man and sees the webhead as obsessed with The Avengers as a teenager in the real world.

In a landscape that allegedly "revolutionizes" every few months, Homecoming feels genuinely like a major step. It's the result of a now-historic deal between Marvel and Sony to share the character, ostensibly stripping back narrative concerns to make clear everything is blatantly business motivated; Sony needed serious help correcting a brand that was sullied after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 while Marvel can always do with more A-list power to add to the MCU.

We've already looked at how the deal works and is specifically structured to benefit both parties equally (even though Marvel totally make more money), but what's important is that - regardless - the resulting films are a creative triumph. Captain America: Civil War has already been heavily analyzed, but it's worth repeating just how assured it works as a culmination of every film in the world thus far (Guardians of the Galaxy aside) while also doubling as a springboard for the likes of Spider-Man and Black Panther and, if Kevin Feige is to be believed, will retroactively become essential set-up for Infinity War.

Homecoming is the flipside of this; a smaller film against the backdrop of an epic. But for every Spidey fan burned by what Sony did with The Amazing Spider-Man delighted to see it done right, there's a dissenter ready to roll their eyes at the mere thought of everything being connected.

The Shared Universe Backlash

Shared universe have been in vogue pretty much since The Avengers, with every major studio trying to spin one off whatever IP is to hand. However, despite their seeming financial advantages and Marvel in particular's continued success, there's been an emerging backlash against the idea. And a lot of it's fair - having an overt focus on the bigger picture can lead to choppy storytelling, something amplified when you have franchise launchpads like The Mummy that presume interest without ever offering anything. Further not everything needs to be a shared universe, and the cases where mega-franchise filmmaking has worked beyond the MCU - thus far Star Wars and the MonsterVerse - have tailored their structure to their individual ideas. Indeed, it's worth pointing out that the Marvel model is specific to superheroes, built from the comic books - you can't just do the same for, say, classic monsters. Bad attempts don't intuitively mean a bad core idea.

However, it's easy to bandwagon jump and hate on shared universes, and 2017 has definitely given a lot of fuel; Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Wonder Woman were all part of bigger franchises yet were considerably more concerned with just their own story in contrast to previous series entries, while Transformers: The Last Knight and The Mummy were sluggish as a result of continuity obsession.

Complaints against the established MCU tend to center on how unwieldy they can be, taking down the very narrative freedom that first made The Avengers such a delightful prospect. As the critics tell it, to see the latest Spider-Man film requires days of research - you just have to watch Civil War, which requires The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron to get the most out of, which in turn necessitates going back through the MCU to see pretty much everything since Iron Man. And that's nothing on having to reimmerse yourself in the character's separate lore.

But, frankly, that's an obtuse reading that seems to push against franchise filmmaking as a pure concept. The whole shared universe idea relies on give-and-take; you're making a standalone movie that forms part of a bigger narrative, and so need to ensure both sides feed each other. The story at hand is strengthened by context and advances arcs, but done right you can enjoy things on a plainer level. As such, the claims that it's just like television on the big screen aren't quite fair - you're not making something explicitly episodic or serialized but want to instead have movies that operate on multiple levels - and neither is the suggestion you need to have a full canon of details in your memory banks to remotely enjoy the films.

And, thankfully, Spider-Man: Homecoming is a perfect antidote to all this chatter.

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Spider-Man Is Better In The MCU

While it's hard to really knock the first two Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire Spidey films from 2002 and 2004 respectively, it's ever harder to not call the take of the character presently in the MCU the best big screen version of Peter Parker. It gets to the core of his character as laid out in Amazing Fantasy #15 and the earliest issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, lifting the essential parts of Parker's personality while updating them in a way that makes it feel unashamedly fitting fifty years later; the loner nerd, the school bully, the cool girl, the doting Aunt and even the high-tech villain are all different because directly applying 1960s funny books to the 2010s big screen would be gratingly camp. What's remarkable is that each of these elements is still truthful (even the approach to his secret identity).

Obviously, there's a major behind-the-scenes shift occurring here, with Marvel taking a much stronger role in the production, and if Sony had been smart they could have done something like this with Amazing or earlier. But it would be churlish to not consider how much being a part of a pre-existing background made the studio confident to take these steps. On paper you can do anything in cinema and don't need a multi-film arc to realize it, but, under practicalities of tentpole filmmaking that's harder. Bringing Spider-Man into the MCU in Civil War created a shorthand and enabled all of these elements to be fully delivered.

And that's before we get into the ways the MCU more directly impacts Peter Parker. The Avengers dominates his viewpoint in a comic-faithful conflicted way - although he was introduced fighting with the gang in Civil War and his part in Infinity War is set, in the comics Peter was constantly failing to sign up - that only highlights how he is, in Stark's words, a friendly neighborhood hero. And, of course, while it's traditionally unconventional, having Tony Stark fill the role of father figure provides a refreshing twist on the overdone origin story without undercutting Uncle Ben (something The Amazing Spider-Man series struggled doing with Richard Parker).

Spider-Man is better in the MCU, no two ways about it. And each of these reasons is related to the character at hand, not building the world. Although it does that too.

Homecoming Helps The MCU In Return

Spider-Man Homecoming - Fake Avengers

What's so interesting is that Homecoming helps the MCU so much. Let's run with that Iron Man point. Many have felt this was the most superfluous appearance of the character - a flagrant attempt to drum up interest in the MCU connections - but, while his screen time is lesser than the misleading trailers suggested, in terms of arc we see Tony develop to a magnitude not too far from what we'd expect from an Iron Man 4. His relationship with Happy is deepened (and that character in general expanded upon), the Pepper Potts complications are resolved in the most Stark way, and altogether we see him forced into a position of mentor. This is a proper bridge between the angry, broken man we left at the end of Civil War and the gallant hero we'll no doubt see in next year's Infinity War that pretty much sets him up for departure.

It also directly addresses and to some degree explains away that long-standing question of collateral damage. For all its motivation of the Sokovia Accords, this aspect of Civil War was never fully resolved in that film itself, but through Damage Control and the Vulture we get a sensible retcon that never feels preachy.

Although that's nothing to the meta-narrative of having Spider-Man essentially be an MCU fan. Homecoming isn't the most thematically reaching film of the series or the summer, but it uses its fresh setting to pass comment on the bigger picture and deepen what it's like to live in that world. This is something the Netflix shows have explored in a gritty way, yet they're being purposely kept separate; here we had it as part of the lighter movie world.

Yes, besides all this the film does create the biggest plot hole in the MCU when it practically breaks the timeline saying it's eight years after The Avengers, but that's creative oversight and representative of a wider Marvel Studios ethos that doesn't take away from the film itself.

It's that give-and-take we talked about happening harmoniously, although Jon Watts' real success is having all of this occur while operating on singular terms.

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Tom Holland Spider-Man

It's Also A Standalone Movie

Despite all that's been discussed, the film also works as a jumping on point free of any "homework". Spider-Man is and always will be the biggest superhero around, regardless of how bad his movies get, and likewise people will turn out for his latest film regardless of reviews (Amazing 2 "only" made $700 million). And Homecoming knows that - while knowing what's brought Tony Stark to this point and particularly having witnessed Spidey's introduction in Civil War helps, the film manages to frame all references to those things we've discussed in a way that is instinctively understandable and then gets on with telling a great story with the web-crawler.

This means that Spidey fans who've not seen all "required" MCU movies can still enjoy it as the earnest Peter Parker film it is, and - better - those wanting in on the shared universe without having to wade through fifteen previous movies have a neat entry point (and, like with comics, are free to go back and see specific entries should they now be interested). It really is a counter to every prominent complaint about shared universes without every being overbearing.

Just look at what's dominated discussion post-release. Going in, everyone was excited/curious about Iron Man and Infinity War setup and post-credit teases. And, sure, that's been a big topic after, but so too has the Vulture twist and Michelle-as-MJ; things that were unique to this movie and its characters.

The Problem Isn't Really With Shared Universes

2017's been a solid year for superhero movies so far, with each of the four released landing to critical and commercial acclaim - including claims of being landmarks in the genre. Now, regardless of which you personally prefer, there's no denying that Spider-Man is the most integrated into its wider series, and yet it's no weaker or less insular because of that; based on box office, it may end up being the biggest of the lot. It shows the shared universe backlash as shortsighted, or at least over-eager.

The cold truth, though, is that many of these concerns aren't exclusive to shared universe but franchise filmmaking in general. Too for the fans? Too involved mythology? Too aware of future installments. These issues date back decades, to Star Wars and prior, and are often accepted regardless. The Lord of the Rings is more episodic than any MCU run by design and, going more contemporary, War for the Planet of the Apes (another excellent Summer 2017) is the third part of a prequel trilogy that is the near epitome of fragmented storytelling - while Rise, Dawn and now War all had their own individual arcs, the full story is only evident now.

This isn't a knock against any of these movies, far from it - the beautiful thing is that they all work both individually and as a whole. It's almost like them being in a shared universe or a back-t0-back adaptation or impeccably conceived prequel saga doesn't matter as long as their well-delivered. It's always possible to mess it up, but the same true of any genre or filmmaking style.

For all the doubters, Homecoming shows - or rather, reminds - that shared universes in particular can be done right.

Next: Spider-Man: Homecoming Easter Eggs & Marvel Secrets

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