‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Writers Swinging Back For The Sequel
Tom Holland’s fresh-faced Spider-Man stole scenes in last year’sCaptain America: Civil Warbut fully showcased his value to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in this summer’s excellentSpider-Man: Homecoming. We know we’ll be seeing the character again inAvengers: Infinity War, but beyond that, the web slinger has aHomecomingsequel lined up – and now we know who will write it.
According toVariety,Chris McKennaandErik Sommers, two of the writers ofHomecoming, are currently in negotiations to return for the still-untitled sequel that will be another co-production between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures. The site also confirms thatHomecomingdirectorJon Wattswill return to the director’s chair and he’ll co-write alongside McKenna and Sommers.
Spider-Man: Homecominghad six credited writers: McKenna, Sommers, Watts, Christopher Ford, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein. Generally speaking, when a project has that many scribes on board, the result ends up as a muddled mess (see:Cowboys & Aliens, which had five credited writers). But shockingly,Homecomingbucked that trend and turned out to be an excellent piece of storytelling. It’s one of the top tier entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as far as I’m concerned, and while a lot of that is due to casting and Watts' direction, it all begins with the script. I’m glad to hear that three of the first movie’s creative forces are reuniting, and I’m hopeful that they’ll be able to imbue the sequel with the same blend of humor, heart, and gravitas that made the original so robust.
McKenna and Sommers have worked together on TV shows in the past, most notably writing and producing the NBC comedyCommunity, so they clearly have experience crafting funny, dramatic stories set in school environments. (Official plot details are under wraps, but we knowHomecoming 2begins a few minutes afterAvengers 4and willkick off a new phase of the MCU.) The duo is also co-writing another upcoming Marvel Studios movie sequel inAnt-Man and The Wasp, so they’re well-versed in comic book lore. Bonus: they also haveThe LEGO Batman Movieunder their belts. The pair co-wrote Sony’sJumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which, frankly, looks god awful based on what we’ve seen in the trailers so far. But I’m choosing to assume that they’ll be able to recapture the magic ofHomecomingwhen they return to the world ofSpider-Manbefore production begins sometime next year.
Spider-Man: Homecoming 2swings into theaters onJuly 5, 2019.Header image: McKenna on left, Sommers on right, on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Credit: Chuck Zlotnick
