SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING is one of the funniest Spider-Man movies in the series where the character of Peter Parker (Tome Holland) is just the right kind of awkward and he is coming into his own as Spider-Man with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in the mentor role. The movie starts off during and then after the events of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. Peter is learning how to fight crime when he stumbles upon the alien technology stealing gang of Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) who are selling the left behind alien tech from the conflict the Avengers fought in the first AVENGERS movie. Tony tries to persuade him off of fighting the bad guys and be a neighborhood friendly Spider-Man, but Peter must investigate because he wants to prove to Tony that he is worthy of being a hero that could join the Avengers.

Meanwhile, Peter deals with teenager life at the Midtown School of Science and Technology. He has a crush on Liz (a senior while Peter is still two to three grades under her) and he has a best friend (Ned) who accidentally discovers Peter is Spider-Man. Flash Thompson nicknames Peter as Penis Parker while Peter shies away from all academic activities outside of class to be Spider-Man. He must learn to balance a regular life with a superhero life, but the movie shows the problems that lies in Peter trying to do that (as he hides the truth from his friend and Aunt May what he is actually doing after school in place of the Stark internship cover story).

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING is one of my favorite Spider-Man movies since the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and better than the Sam Raimi ones. Michael Keaton's vulture is one of the best written Marvel villains as you understand why he turned to a life of crime (Tony Stark and the government screwed Toomes out of a salvage cleanup job after the first AVENGERS movie. You even get to see some fun Easter Eggs (discover how MJ fits into the movie) and other Spider-Man rogues (Shocker, Prowler). The Captain America videos are fun to watch while the Spider-Man humor is dead on for the character. It is great to see other IRON MAN characters like Pepper Potts and Happy make an appearance too. I do hope they deal with little romance in Peter Parker's life along with him working for the Daily Planet somehow in this environment where newspapers are struggling to stay open in big cities. I also wonder what Spider-man villains will appear next, but we will have to wait for those answers after Spider-Man first makes his appearance in the next two AVENGERS movies.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
SPIDEY STUDY GUIDE is a pop-up trivia track option which you can activate to play while you watch the movie

Gag reel
16 minutes of deleted and extended scenes that includes Peter Parker's full home movie of his trip to Berlin, scenes cut for pacing, and some humorous school news bits

Featurettes:
A TANGLED WEB- how Marvel Studios and Sony partnered together to bring SPIDER-MAN to the MCU
SEARCHING FOR SPIDER-MAN- all about the new actor to play Peter Parker akka Spider-Man, Tom Holland, who has the right energy and plenty of dancing/ gymnastics training for what the cast, crew, and Stan Lee dub as the perfect actor for the part. Tom Holland even mentions one of his goals was to be the next Spider-Man after Andrew Garfield (and he somehow got his dream part)
SPIDEY STUNTS- a behind-the-scenes look at the stunts (many performed by Tom Holland due to his physical training in dance and gymnastics) and motion capture work that has interviews with director Jon Watts, the stunt coordinator, and Tom Holland
AFTERMATH- all about bridging the gap between the first AVENGERS movie and the new SPIDER-MAN movie
THE VULTURE TAKES FLIGHT- a featurette that focuses on the re-imagining of the vulture for SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING and Michael Keaton who plays the main villain
JON WATTS: HEAD OF THE CLASS- a featurette about co-writer/ director Jon Watts and what he brought to the making of the movie
PROS AND CONS OF BEING SPIDER-MAN- a promo fluff featurette as actor Tom Holland and the actor who would play Peter's best friend Ned talk about the pros and cons of being Spider-Man

RAPPIN' WITH CAP shows the various Captain America school PSAs
Photo gallery of movie stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and production art
Trailers for SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING VR Experience and AN INSIDE LOOK AT MARVEL'S SPIDER-MAN for PS4
Previews for other releases from Sony Pictures play before the main menu

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING in standard definition on DVD and a code for a digital copy of the movie

Target has a an exclusive edition with a mini-comic and a bonus blu-ray that contains a 20 minute featurette where Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, and others talk about how SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING gets its right and how it ties into the comic origins

FINAL ANALYSIS: Skip the Target exclusive edition with the comic and extrea featureete. It isn't worth the extra two bucks. If you love the movie, buy the regular blu-ray or 4K UHD (if you have a 4K TV and player). I do wish there were more making-of material, but this release sounds like Sony wants to do a double dip in the future (or they don't care about making more extras).

This review is ©10-26-2017 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com