These days, most major releases come with trailer teasers, teaser trailers (yes, those are different things), multiple “official trailers,” clips, and some viral-style bonus content to boot. That said, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen quite a few previews of Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Homecoming already. What the studio did earlier today, however, isn’t exactly par for the course.
As reported by ScreenCrush, the first four minutes of the film of the film have been released online and are available to watch for free. This is not a drill. This is not a trailer. This is the first four minutes of the actual film. You can watch the extended preview above, and while it doesn’t really get into the actual story, it’s a pretty funny recap of how young Peter Parker got where he is now.
Mostly, it’s a recap of the events of Captain America: Civil War, from Parker’s point of view. Think of it as a live video blog from your favorite superhero — who, it seems, is a true product of the social media age. Heck, he even recorded the superhero battle royale in which he tangled with Captain America & Co.
We also get a peek at how the superhero got the snazzy suit that he uses in the film and another peek at the budding mentor/mentee relationship between Parker and Tony Stark.
It’s a unique way to bring folks who didn’t see Civil War up to speed and a unique way to open a film. Speaking of said film, don’t let the fact that this is reboot No. 2 deter you: This is perhaps the strongest showing for the web crawler yet. Here’s a snippet of what we had to say about the film in a recent review:
“In one of many smart decisions made by the film’s creative team, Homecoming dispenses with the typical retelling of Spider-Man’s origin story and jumps right into the action, wisely assuming some audience familiarity with one of the world’s most popular superheroes and the subject of more makeovers than a red carpet gala. The key points in Spider-Man’s transition from average teenager to super-powered crime-fighter are referenced without dwelling on them, leaving the bulk of the film’s 133-minutes to focus on telling a new story.
And tell a new story it certainly does — with ample help from its talented cast, some impressively crisp action sequences, and a script that highlights Spidey’s best attributes in ways that few of the prior Spider-Man films managed to do.”
You can check out the entire thing here, and you can catch Spider-Man: Homecoming in theaters Friday, July 7.
