Spider-Man: Homecoming | 2017

Now being assimilated into the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man is rebooted with a much younger Peter Parker (Tom Holland) presumably to ensure the longevity of the franchise.

▶ The film is set mainly, of course, in Queens, New York, but, like so many recent productions, was tempted to Georgia to be based at Pinewood Atlanta Studios, 461 Sandy Creek Road, Fayetteville. ⏏

The film opens with a prologue set in the ruins of 'Grand Central Station' in ‘New York City’ following the Avengers’ savage battle against the Chitauri which climaxed 2012’s The Avengers.

Salvage company owner Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) is looking forward to making a killing from the plum job of clearing up the mess and, in the process, taking possession of all kinds of valuable wreckage.

He’s far from pleased when his potentially lucrative contract is scuppered by the arrival of the U.S. Department of Damage Control arrives, led by Anne Marie Hoag (Tyne Daly,), to take control of the ‘exotic’ technology scattered about.

Adding insult to injury, Toomes learns that Damage Control is working with Stark Industries which means that the profit from the clear up goes to the very people who helped create it.

Having already whisked away a small but precious hoard of alien technology, Toomes is determined to capitalise on his only remaining asset and, eight years later, is running a nicely profitable underground business peddling hi-tech weaponry. And he’s also developed for himself an impressive winged flying suit, the ‘Vulture’.

The Avengers are now fighting another almighty battle, this time in Berlin, against – of all people – goody-two-shoes Captain America (Chris Evans) and his allies.

Overlapping with the climax of Captain America: Civil War, the team drafts in Peter Parker to help out.

▶ ‘A Peter Parker Film’ follows Peter’s first mission home-movie-style. As Peter is driven by 'Happy' Hogan (Jon Favreau) to JFK Airport, there’s a glimpse of the giant globe of the 1964-65  New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadow, Queens, made famous by its appearance in Barry Sonnenfeld’s 1997 Men In Black. ⏏

▶ Their destination is Berlin (with footage presumably filmed during the production of Civil War), where they arrive at Tegel Airport, before doing a spot of sightseeing at the Brandenburg Gate. ⏏

▶ But this is an Atlanta-based production so, as soon as the European setting has been established, the interior of the hotel in which Peter discovers his suit has been given a ‘minor upgrade, by the Stark company, is the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 3376 Peachtree Road NE, in the Buckhead District of Atlanta. ⏏

▶ Peter puts his new outfit to good use during the battle (seen in full in Captain America: Civil War), before returning home to the apartment he shares with Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) on the 7th Floor of 43-25 43rd Street, north of Queens Boulevard, Long Island City, just northwest of the famous Calvary Cemetery, where the Don was buried in The Godfather. ⏏

▶ The fire escape on which Peter sits forlornly waiting for a call from 'Happy' is on Queens Boulevard between 44th and 45th Streets, facing the elevated IRT Flushing Line. This happens to be just alongside where Tobey Maguire ran for the school bus on 44th Street in Sam Raimi's 2002 Spider-Man. ⏏

After the whizz-bang fireworks of his first mission with the Avengers, Peter understandably has problems returning to everyday life at school.

▶ Nevertheless, he takes the train to the elevated rail station, ‘36th Avenue Station’, which is 75 St-Elderts Lane Station, on Jamaica Avenue. ⏏

▶ The station’s stairway is moved digitally to keep that impressive view of what is Franklin K Lane High School, 999 Jamaica Avenue, Brooklyn, as 'Midtown Science & Tech'. The school’s former alumni include musician Richie Havens and – less likely to be mentioned in its roll of honour – mob boss John Gotti. ⏏

▶ Having set up the exterior as real New York, the interior of the school is supplied by Henry W Grady High School, 929 Charles Allen Dr NE, Atlanta, much closer to the production’s base.

Several other movies have been shot on Grady's campus, including 2000’s Remember the Titans, with Denzel Washington, 2014 action comedy Ride Along, 2015 highschool comedy The DUFF and 2018’s Love, Simon. ⏏

Impatiently waiting for a new assignment, Peter passes time working on a Lego Death Star with geeky best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) while nursing a crush on a senior girl called Liz (Laura Harrier). He even drops out of the ‘Academic Decathlon’ team national final in Washington DC in order not to miss an urgent call.

▶ After exchanging a bit of friendly banter with the owner of his fave local deli, ‘Delmar’s Deli Grocery’, which is 92 Peachtree St SW on the eastern corner of MLK Jr Drive, Peter can’t wait to dash across the road and change into his swanky new Spidey suit (BTW, once we get to Spider-Man: No Way Home, 'Delmar's' has moved to the real Queens). ⏏

▶ Atlanta doesn’t have an elevated rail track so suddenly, it’s back to New York, with Peter chasing across 31st Street between 23rd Avenue and Ditmars Boulevard (although the gated alleyway beneath Ditmars Boulevard Station, where he changes, is rebuilt on a slightly larger scale in the studio). ⏏

After two months Peter is still waiting to hear from Happy about a new mission, staving off boredom by moonlighting as Spider man, albeit concerned with modest local street crime such as – um – bicycle theft.

▶ Nabbing a bike thief, Spidey leaves the stolen cycle with a note for the owner outside Rainbow, a ladies’ clothing store in the old art deco Lerner Shops Building at 62 Peachtree St SW, Atlanta – only a few doors away from ‘Delmar’s' deli. ⏏

Much of the rest of Spidey’s patrol establishes the real New York as a montage set to The Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop sees Spidey swinging past commuters waiting at Astoria Boulevard Station, with Robert F Kennedy Bridge in the distance, and casually riding atop the subway car on the curve between Court Square and Hunters Point Avenue in Long Island City.

▶ On the rooftop of King’s Fried Chicken, 116-23 Jamaica Avenue at 117th Street in Jamaica Hill, he’s happy to perform a flip for the guy running a halal hot dog stand on Jamaica Avenue below. ⏏

Just when you might be seduced into believing this is all the real New York, the water tower to which Peter attaches a thread and does backflips is on the roof of Original Nails, 85 Peachtree Street SW at MLK Jr Drive SW, downtown Atlanta. ⏏

▶ There's finally a little more excitement when Peter sees four crooks wearing Avengers masks robbing ‘Queens Community Bank’, supposedly ‘51-116A 21st Street’. In fact, the building is 99 Peachtree St SW, Atlanta, directly across from 'Delmar’s' deli. ⏏

The bank robbers turn out to be in possession of an extraordinary weapon which destroys not only the bank but pretty much writes off the deli too (spoiler: Peter manages to save the owner and his cat).

Worried about Peter’s odd habits, Aunt May takes him for dinner and a chat at ‘Prachya Thai’, where Peter deflects her suspicions by admitting that the ‘Stark Internship’ he’s supposedly undertaking is tiring him out.

▶ Don’t rush to book a table here. The restaurant was built in the empty property at 233 Mitchell Street, in the Sylvan Building, at Ted Turner Drive SW, Downtown Atlanta.

This building was originally the Sylvan Hotel, part of Atlanta’s historic Hotel Row, a block of 3-to-4 storey early 20th-century commercial buildings, now largely used as offices, on Mitchell Street west of Forsyth Street in the South Downtown district of Atlanta. They were built as hotels with ground level retail shops to serve the needs of passengers from Terminal Station, which opened in 1905 but was demolished in 1971. ⏏

Peter’s double life is constantly vulnerable to exposure. Once Ned discovers the secret identity, it’s only a matter of time before he can’t resist blurting out at school that his pal knows Spider Man, in an ill-advised attempt to appear cool. This does, though, get the pair an unexpected invite to a party at Liz’s house.

▶ Liz’s family is obviously well-to-do, owning the impressive glass-walled modern house at 229 Little John Trail NE, Atlanta, built in 2015 in the Ansley Park Sherwood Forest neighbourhood overlooking the Ansley Golf Course.

In 2016, this striking home also featured in Garry Marshall's final film, Mother’s Day, starring Jennifer Aniston. ⏏

▶ The evening doesn’t go quite to plan as Peter notices the flash of a distant explosion and disappears, without warning, to investigate.

What he finds is Toomes’ employees-cum-henchmen attempting to sell strangely advanced weapons to bemused smalltime local gangster Aaron (Donald Glover) beneath Park Drive Bridge, Park Drive NE, Midtown Atlanta, which really is just south of the golf course. ⏏

Obliged to intervene when a ringing phone gives him away, Spidey is suddenly whisked away by a huge flying creature which unceremoniously drops him into the river. This of course is Toomes himself in his Vulture outfit. Before Peter can drown he’s hoiked from the water by – apparently – Iron Man.

▶ The rescuer turns out to be nothing more than Stark’s remotely-controlled suit, and the real Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) calls Peter from ‘India’. It’s here Atlanta proves why it’s so adaptable for film-makers. The blazingly sun-drenched locale is no more exotically eastern than the Hindu Temple of Atlanta, 5851 GA-85, Riverdale, GA 30274, built in 1990, in the city of Riverdale a few miles south of Atlanta. ⏏

Tony gives Peter a serious warning about getting out of his depth but no sooner does Peter discover one of the weapons unwittingly left behind after the arms deal, he’s straightaway off to find its source.

A tracking device points Peter to ‘Maryland’. Fortuitously, the Academic Decathlon team of ‘Midtown Science & Tech’ is entering a national competition to be held in Washington DC, and the formerly reluctant Peter develops a sudden loyalty to the team.

▶ The ‘DC’ hotel in which the team is ensconced, with its vast atrium and waterfalls, is the Embassy Suites by Hilton Atlanta Perimeter Center, 1030 Crown Pointe Parkway in the Perimeter Center north of Downtown. ⏏

Once in ‘DC’, Peter’s loyalty to the team evaporates as quickly as it appeared and he’s soon sneaking off the night before the tournament to track down the bad guys.

▶ Thanks to the help of quirky loner Michelle Jones (Zendaya), the Midtown team wins anyway and celebrates with a visit to the very tall, very vulnerable Washington Monument, 2 15th Street NW, on The Mall in Washington DC.

Almost due east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial, the marble and granite monument was, on completion in 1884, the tallest structure in the world for five years. It remains the world's tallest stone structure, at 554 feet 7 1/2 inches.

It contains an iron spiral staircase but, don't fret, an elevator too, up to the pyramidion, with eight observation windows.

This venue may be not the best of ideas once the alien technology – now being carried by Ned in his backpack – is triggered. It naturally falls to Spidey to mount a spectacular rescue from the Monument in a spectacular sequence which merges the real landmark with studio sets and digital effects. ⏏

▶ Tracking down Aaron, who in comparison with Toomes and his crew, turns out to be not such a bad guy, Peter gets a tip-off that Toomes is scheduled to conduct a clandestine arms deal aboard New York’s Staten Island Ferry, leaving from the Whitehall Terminal at the southern end of Whitehall Street, Lower Manhattan. ⏏

As Spider-Man, Peter singlehandedly launches his own attack on the criminals but eventually gets out of his depth and ends up slicing the ferry neatly in half.

Fortunately, Iron Man, who’s wisely been monitoring the events, is on hand to save the day.

▶ The strange circular construction on top of which Peter gets a severe dressing down from Tony Stark, who even demands the return of the hi-tech suit, is the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel Ventilation Shaft off Governors Island in New York Harbor. ⏏

Peter reluctantly acquiesces and returns to modest life as a student until an unexpected revelation (no spoilers) thrusts him back into the fight.

He discovers a planned attack by the Vulture on a plane carrying the Avengers’ advanced weaponry from Avengers Tower in New York to the team’s new HQ.

▶ Unable to summon help, Peter has to thwart this attack aided only by Ned. The unmanned plane is eventually downed at Coney Island – in the process destroying the Parachute Jump (recognisable from the background of Requiem For A Dream).

Peter watches the clear-up from his perch atop the Cyclone roller coaster at Luna Park. ⏏

▶ He faces one last test of character at the new Avengers HQ which, as we know from Captain America: Civil War, is the the Aerotropolis Atlanta Porsche Experience Center, One Porsche Drive, Atlanta. ⏏

---