Spider-Man: Homecoming director reveals certain shots were only made for the trailer

Originally published July 8, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.

If you came out of Spider-Man: Homecoming thinking you must have dozed off for a second and missed the trailer’s money shot of Spider-Man and Peter Parker flying through the streets of Queens, then fear not as director Jon Watts has revealed that it was created specifically for the marketing campaign, and was never intended to be part of the movie.

“I think what happened was in the very first trailer they wanted a shot of Spider-Man and Iron Man flying together,” Watts told ScreenCrush. “And they were going to use something from the Staten Island Ferry [scene], but it just didn’t look that great, the background plate, because the Staten Island terminal is a very simple building. It almost looks like an unrendered 3D object. So I think I was like ‘Let’s just put them in Queens. Let’s use that as a backdrop.’ Because we couldn’t just create a whole new shot, so let’s just use one of these shots of the subway; put them in there. I feel a little weird that there’s a shot in the trailer that’s not in the movie at all, but it’s a cool shot. It’s funny, I forgot that we did that.”

SEE ALSO: Jon Watts on the possibility of Morbius, Blade and The Chameleon in Spider-Man: Homecoming 2

The Iron Man / Spider-Man scene wasn’t the only shot created especially for marketing purposes, with Watts adding that: “The hotel atrium shot [of the Vulture] was originally created for Comic-Con, for like a sizzle reel before we had really shot anything; we had shot like two weeks of footage or something. That was never meant to be in the movie. But I did use that angle for Vulture’s reveal at the beginning of the movie; Vulture’s hovering, swooping towards the camera like that. I used that shot, it’s just no longer in an Atlanta hotel atrium.”

This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen shots created exclusively for promotional purposes, with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards revealing earlier this year that the shot of Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso squaring off against a TIE Fighter was never intended to be in the film. Seems to be a growing trend. Perhaps we’ll soon have to start seeing a “Not Actual Movie Footage” disclaimer a la the video game industry…

SEE ALSO: Binge-Watching the Spider-Man Movie Series

A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.