Spiderman Homecoming Opens in Singapore!
It was a packed auditorium at Marina Bay Sands’ Art Science Museum on Wednesday night as over 200 people waited for Tom Holland and Jacob Batalon to kick off the media launch for Spiderman Homecoming, Marvel Studios’ 16th film.
This is also Spiderman’s third iteration in Sony’s hands so Holland was aware that it is “important to make this character different from the other two” and when asked how he would make it different, he replied that his version was “grounded in reality. If a 15 year old was given superpowers, he would have the time of his life!” Fun aside, Holland mentioned that as a younger and more youthful version of Peter Parker, the hardest part was developing his physicality “so that when I’m in the suit, you still feel like it is Peter Parker in the suit”. He also gave thanks to the Marvel costume designers for helping him have expressive eyes in the costume.
Batalon, on the other hand, recounted his contribution to the character, Ned. As a rather minor character in the comic books brought up to prominence as Spiderman’s best friend in Homecoming, Batalon was given free reign to develop his character. As Batalon is a self-confessed Star Wars nerd, he mentioned making Ned a huge Star Wars fan as well. He also mentioned that most of the time he and Holland would just improvise scenes to make them funny, particularly the one where Ned discovers that Peter Parker is Spiderman and drops his Lego Death Star so that’s one scene to look out for.
Kevin Faige, Marvel Studios President and producer also made an appearance by Skype to give an insight into the film and its production. Faige said that at Marvel Studios they approached the film with the question “What is it like for someone to live in the Marvel Cinematic Universe if they were just a kid?” Thus, they also focussed on making Spiderman’s nemesis, Vulture, a normal person to explore how people respond differently to the extraordinary events that the Avengers face. Ultimately, Faige shared, Homecoming is about Peter Parker realising he is a hero with or without all the gadgets Tony gives him.
Spiderman Homecoming is currently playing in theatres across Singapore.
All photos by Jenson Chen