Spider-Man: Homecoming might only be a few days into filming, but director Jon Watts still had a treat for fans in Hall H at San Diego Comic Con. "We just started shooting, we should actually be shooting right now probably," he said, when asked if he'd brought any footage with him. "We shot some of the high school stuff, so we could show that?" Needless to say, the crowd in Hall H screamed and cheered, letting him know that they absolutely wanted to see it. He told them: "They [the cast] literally flew here today, they’ll be flying back tonight, we’ve been shooting for 10 days, but here’s what we’ve been shooting."
Then he showed some amazing never-before-seen footage from the upcoming movie, before Marvel released it online. Sorry, that didn't happen. Marvel haven't released the footage, and they probably won't for a very long time, but I was there and if you didn't already know, I have a good memory.
Here's what you missed...
The footage opens with a retro-style intro complete with colourful, angular shapes taken straight from the ‘80s floating around, and a Joan Jett soundtrack. Old school photos of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, and the rest of the MCU’s heroes fly across the screen. They’re actually old (and hilarious!) photos of the actors, but the point is obvious: they all had to start somewhere before becoming superheroes. That’s when the screen opens onto a young Peter Parker walking the halls of his high school surrounded by his fellow students.
We see Peter (Tom Holland) being an average 15-year-old. He gets caught checking out a YouTube video of Spider-Man fighting a giant Ant-Man in class, but saves himself by answering the question correctly - earning an eye roll from classmate Flash (Tony Revolori). He eats lunch with his friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and checks out his crush Liz (Laura Harrier) as she walks by. “We should probably stop staring before it gets creepy though,” he says, but Michelle (Zendaya) overhears him, saying: “Too late. You guys are losers.”
There’s also a scene of Peter making his artificial webbing in secret during science class - something which looks like it’s going to be particularly difficult hiding from everyone. Then he’s doing sit-ups in gym when he overhears Liz and her clique talking about the Avengers. “So, for me it would be F Thor, marry Iron Man and kill Hulk,” one girl says. “But what about the Spider-Man? You know he lives here.” Liz replies. “Oh my god, she’s crushing on Spider-Man,” her friends make fun of her. Peter bolts upright and stares at her blushing.
Then it’s onto study group where he’s joined by Michelle who’s still giving him a hard time. Peter gets a message (maybe from Tony Stark?) and he has to leave. “Where are you going?” Michelle asks suspiciously. “What are you hiding Peter?” Cue a montage of kick-ass action sequences of Spider-Man doing his thing and then we’re back to Peter Parker’s blank face as he tries desperately to think of an excuse. “Just kidding, I don’t care,” she tells him. "Bye!"
The screen goes dark, the music dies, and we think that’s it, but before the audience can catch it’s breath the footage flickers back to life and the hugely intimidating Vulture flies down and tries to make a grab for… something or someone. If the concept art that Marvel released after showing the footage to Hall H is any indication, the someone he’ll be grabbing is Spider-Man.
Want to see the latest footage from Suicide Squad, Justice League and Blair Witch? You can watch all the best San Diego Comic Con trailers right here.
Images: Marvel
