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Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4 at PlayStation E3 2018
I was so excited to see gameplay from Marvel’s Spider-Man at E3! To get my full thoughts, check out the latest episode of the Face Front Podcast RIGHT HERE. This post is for conversation! What did you guys think? Let me know below and we’ll talk. Here’s the video below in case (somehow) you missed it.
A Flick and a Wave: Spider-Man Homecoming
So this is a new segment I’m doing called a flick and a wave! Both hand gestures, yes, but in this case, I mean a flick as in a movie and a wave as in a wave of action figures pertaining to said movie. First up is Spider-Man: Homecoming! So check them out and let me know what you think!
Group Shot
Focus on Tony and Mask-less Peter
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
The Vulture and Homemade Suit
A New Angle
The Final Shot
We’ll Avenge It.
WARNING! INFINITY WAR SPOILERS!
“There’s no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it’s too much for us, but it’s all on you. Because if we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we’ll avenge it.”
-Tony Stark, The Avengers 2012
I was broken after Avengers: Infinity War. When watching TV with my family, every time they would fast forward through a Marvel commercial, I’d shout “Wait! Stop! Rewind it! There’s 0.03 seconds of footage in this TV spot that hasn’t been in any trailers!” After Infinity War, I began to say “Keep going, fast forward over this.” I went to work and informed everyone I was a DC fan for the time being. I rocked myself to sleep, silently telling myself I was going to be okay. But worst of all, whenever I saw the Avengers A, I sighed, groaned in disgust. Because the boy that cried in 2012 when we pan out of Stark Tower and see only the A remaining, now in 2018 saw a symbol of failure. A group of super powered losers that couldn’t beat one purple bum.
The Avengers A was meaningless to me. They lost. They failed. They couldn’t stop Thanos. So why would I believe in heroes that can’t save the day? That can’t protect the Earth? Then boom. That line from the first Avengers movie hit me like Stormbreaker. They couldn’t protect the Earth. But, if Tony’s words ring true, then we can be damn well sure they’ll avenge it. Because they’re not called The Protectors, or the Guardians (who also failed) or the Defenders (who were MIA), but they’re The Avengers. And yes, they lost. Thanos beat them. He has a throne. There’s 14,000,604 versions of this where he comes out on top. His army came and it was too much for them. But now they’re mad. Now they’re ready. There’s only one thing left to do, to stop Thanos and save the universe. The Avengers must assemble. Once and for all.
All this to say I’m cool with Infinity War now. Lol.
The Spider-Sense in Infinity War is Cool, But…
WARNING! INFINITY WAR SPOILERS!
Okay, so from the moment we saw it in the trailer, we all lost our minds. Peter’s on the bus, and the hairs on his arm stand up. He looks out the window and see’s Ebony Maw’s donut ship hovering over the city. In the distance. Who knows how many miles away. What I’m saying is, while that moment got every Spider-Man fanboy, myself included, dancing with joy, that’s not how his Spider-Sense works!
Peter’s Spider-Sense is an early warning system for immediate danger. When someone is sneaking up on him, or if he’s about to spin a web to a loose ceiling tile. It doesn’t let him know what’s coming, but it does let him know to watch out or get out of the way. It works in tandem with his reflexes, allowing him to dodge and move at lightning speed, avoiding any sort of damage, and the only time it falters is if Venom is around.
The Raimi trilogy illustrated the Spider-Sense perfectly in the scene where he fights Flash Thompson. He gets the tingle, and we see a fly, a spitball, and Flash’s fist. Spider-Sense warns him of anything around that could cause potential harm, even if it’s something as small as a fly or a spitball. The thing is, it’s meant to sense things that are dangerous to Peter, and not the rest of the world.
For instance, in The Amazing Spider-Man, when he’s kissing Gwen on the roof, then his Spider-Sense tingles because Lizard is attacking the bridge. But it’s miles away, across the city, and Peter is in no immediate danger, so it should not have tingled. In that case, if Scorpion or someone is robbing a bank across town at night, Peter’s Spider-Sense would wake him up! Then he’d have to sleep in a tank of water like Daredevil in the ’03 movie!
In Civil War, we see very subtle references, but it’s demonstrated perfectly. As Ant-Man is about to sneak attack Spidey from Cap’s shield, Spider-Man says “Hey, guys, I think that something-” then gets cut off as Ant-Man attacks. And he cries “Oh God!” when Bucky hurls that sign at him, and chucks it back. That’s because both times, something was directly attacking Peter. His Spider-Sense didn’t tingle when Wanda threw the cars at Tony, or when Vision shot Rhodey down. Because that’s not how it works.
So, while it was really great to see Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense manifest in a very clear, very cool way in Infinity War, it was not really the most accurate portrayal. That ship was miles away, and no immediate threat to Peter. It didn’t bug me or anything, I’m just being a nerd and pointing things out. Now there is a theory going around that Peter fought off disintegrating so long because his Spider-Sense warned him that it was coming, and while we’ve never seen it work that way either, there’s nothing suggesting that it doesn’t. After all, I’d say turning to dust qualifies as immediate danger! R.I.P. Spidey (sad face emoji).
