People have already established that Tom Holland is the new Peter Parker slash Spider-Man, so now attention has shifted over to who his nemesis will be. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige happily provided the answer, saying that the new villain for the web slinger's standalone film will be inspired heavily by American filmmaker John Hughes.
Parker dealt with a lot of drama in high school, facing bullies such as Flash Thompson and then developing a crush on his girlfriend Liz Allan, who also develops an interest in Parker. Liz also clashes with Betty Brant, who also has romantic links with Parker. That drama is something that they will highlight in Spidey's new film, said Feige.
"It's the soap opera in high school, and those supporting characters, that are interesting," Feige told Birth Movies Death. "Just as we hadn't seen a heist movie in a long time, or a shrinking movie in a long time, we haven't seen a John Hughes movie in a long time. Not that we can make a John Hughes movie - only John Hughes could - but we're inspired by him, and merging that with the superhero genre in a way we haven't done before excites us."
The stakes will be different in the new film, he added, since simple things such as coming home late and battling an evil villain will weigh in the same magnitude.
"Stakes don't need to be end of the world. Oftentimes, in our films, it is, and in our future films Thanos doesn't work small. But sometimes the stakes can just be 'Will this little girl grow up to be healthy and well put-together, or are there too many issues for her to overcome?' That's HUGE!" he said.
And "Spider-Man" actually tackles those stakes in a fun way in the comics, and Feige hopes they would be able to do so in the film.
"What we wanted was a movie where the stakes could be as high as 'This bad person is going to do this bad thing, and a lot of people could die' or 'You don't get home in time and your aunt is going to figure this out, and your whole life is going to change,'" he said. "Particularly at that age, in high school, everything feels like life or death. The tests feel like life or death. Coming home from being out with your friends seemed like life or death."
