Spider-Man: Homecoming will be the young webslinger’s first solo film in the MCU. Along with the familiar characters of Peter Parker, Mary Jane, Aunt May, Tony Stark, Betty Brandt, and Flash Thompson, we’re also getting several who are new to the screen. Donald Glover’s unannounced character, Michael Keaton’s Vulture, and Bokeem Woodbine’s Shocker will all be coming to the big screen for the first time.
While Vulture is set to be the main villain, we don’t yet know how Shocker is going to factor into the story. At least, we didn’t until the film’s director, Jon Watts, posted a seemingly innocuous image to his Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJeSYo2gbYo/
We see Spidey sitting on a ledge, eating Chinese takeout in the rain. Doesn’t look particularly significant, does it? But we know how meticulously everything is planned in the MCU. There must be a reason why he chose to post *this* picture. So, let’s check out some context.
The image is from Amazing Spider-Man #578, a two-issue story arc in which Peter Parker’s monumentally bad luck rears its ugly head yet again. Our young hero is hungry and pretty much broke. He scrapes together enough to buy a meal, but then has no money to buy a subway token so he can go home dry. But then a metro card literally falls out of the sky, and, with his belly full, Peter gets on the subway to go meet Aunt May.
The Spidey-sense begins tingling out loud, pulling him towards the last car of the underground train. As soon as he steps into the car, it detaches from the rest of the train, leaving Peter and a handful of passengers stranded inside a tunnel. He quickly realizes who these passengers are – the jurors for the trial of the mobster Giacomo. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that they’ve been targeted, in an attempt to force a mistrial.
Spider-Man, of course, does his best to help, but not everyone on the train trusts his motives. But one kindly old fellow does – J. Jonah Jameson Sr., father of the Daily Planet’s asshole editor. JJJ senior apologizes to Spidey for the way his son has treated our hero for so long, and for his demeanor in general, to which the ever-quippy webslinger replies, “Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to the human race.”
Peter soon realizes who is behind the assassination attempt – The Shocker. He was hired to bump off the jurors, in a desperate attempt to ruin the case against Giacomo. When he shows up to see if the train “accident” had its desired outcome, Spider-Man is understandably pissed off. The two battle for some time, causing part of the tunnel to collapse. Peter notices the passengers are starting to get woozy. Realizing they’re running out of air, he beats Shocker into submission, forcing him to lead them out of the rubble. The two work together for a bit, with Spidey using Shocker’s electromagnetic gauntlet to move chunks of tunnel out of the way. Of course, villains are dicks, so Shocker eventually detonates the glove, and uses the distraction to get away.
Our hero is able to rescue all of the jurors, and has made a new friend in the elder Triple J, who not only remains in Peter’s life as a friend, but eventually ends up married to Aunt May.
So. As we’ve said, nothing is an accident or coincidence in the MCU. This picture has to be referring to the particular storyline. Is this the way we’re going to meet Shocker in the film? It seems likely, although there are sure to be a few tweaks in the plotline. Especially the bit about Aunt May – who is now 40ish and hot instead of a sweet white-haired grandmotherly type – marrying the kindly old man. I mean, anything’s possible, but she’s more likely to have a roll in the hay with Tony Stark.
Are you excited to see this story on the screen? An do you think this will be the last we see of Shocker? Let us know in the comments!