Let's Talk About That 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Credits Scene
Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters this weekend, and like every other Marvel Studios movie, there are some bonus scenes both during and after the credits. It's not quite as involved as the five credits scenes from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but there's one after the animated closing credits sequence and one after the all the credits have scrolled by. The latter is merely a gag scene that we won't give away here because it's much better to just wait and experience yourself, but we'll say it's easily one of the funniest post-credits scenes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ranking up there with dancing Baby Groot.
However, it's the mid-credits scene in Spider-Man: Homecoming that we want to talk about, because it might be perplexing to audiences for a number of reasons. So join us below as we talk about the Spider-Man Homecoming credits scene, but do not read any further if you want to avoid spoilers for the movie, because they're all over the place.
Setting the Stage
In the middle of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker tries to stop a weapons deal referred to as "the Gargan job" from happening on the Staten Island Ferry, a sequence that has been all over the marketing for the movie. Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) is present to make sure the deal goes smoothly since Spider-Man has been showing up to create problems for he and his crew trying to steal various technology leftover from both the Battle of New York in The Avengers and the attack on Sokovia in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
At the back of the ferry, Herman Schultz (played by Bokeem Woodbine), who is given the moniker of Shocker, is the one tasked with finalizing the deal. The man present to make the purchase is MacDonald "Mac" Gargan, played by Michael Mando (Nacho from Better Call Saul). But before any deal can be made, Spider-Man shows up to stop the transaction, and eventually, the FBI reveal that they were waiting to stop the deal from happening too. Of course, Michael Keaton suits up as Vulture, all hell breaks loose and Iron Man has to come in and save the day. End of story...or is it?
Spider-Man: Homecoming Credits Scene Explained
Honesty, the Spider-Man: Homecoming credits scene isn't all that complicated. We see Adrian Toomes being escorted through prison and Gargan, the man from the busted Staten Island Ferry weapons deal confronts him. He makes sure Toomes knows that he's not there to threaten him, even though the looks of his face show that he took some damage in that face-off with Spider-Man and the FBI. But he does have something he wants to ask Toomes about.
Gargan says he has some people on the outside who have been telling him that Toomes knows the secret identity of Spider-Man. Toomes is indeed one of the few who does know Peter Parker is Spider-Man after figuring out his secret thanks to some quick deductive reasoning he made while driving Peter and his daughter Liz (Laura Harrier) to the school homecoming dance. You would think he has a bone to pick with Spider-Man for catching him, but instead, Toomes says, "If I knew who he was, he'd be dead already." And he walks away, a slight smirk on his face, before the rest of the credits roll.
Some fans think that this might be a set up for Vulture to make a return and seek revenge on Peter Parker for himself, not wishing anybody else to take him out. But what if it's not as sinister as all that? What if the scene is just meant to give Adrian Toomes a little bit of redemption?
Kevin Feige and Jon Watts Discuss the Credits Scene
Our own Peter Sciretta sat down with Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal for an interview about Spider-Man: Homecoming, and the discussion turned to this particular credits scene. Perhaps like some of you, Peter wasn't entirely sure what to make of the scene in question, so he asked Feige and Pascal what they're supposed to take away from it. Pascal wasn't as forthcoming with her answer, opting to ask Peter what he thought it meant, and then Feige laid things out pretty well:
"I think it is different from the other credits sequences. I think people are conditioned to look for a forward facing tease about what's to come. But that's not always, maybe not even half the time, what our gags are about. Certainly, the one at the very end of the movie is clearly not that. But this was basically just meant to show that Toomes was not a horrible guy, had found himself in this position, and realized this kid saved his daughter, this kid saved his own life. He wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for this kid. And in that moment where he had the opportunity to rat him out and have a guy go after him, he decides to keep the secret, because he appreciated ultimately what Peter did for him. He is one of the few villains to survive a movie, and I think you appreciate it."
Director Jon Watts echoed those sentiments when he spoke to JoBlo about the scene:
"That's what is cool — he gets a moment of redemption and he gets to protect Peter, even though Peter would never know. It's his way of saying thank you. It was a really interesting thing in the development of the story. You couldn't just rely on the tropes of the villain being a murderer and killing a bunch of people. He had to be redeemable in some capacity in the end and that he believes everything he said, especially about his family. So it was a really fine walk to create a villain that still has that moment of redemption in the end."
Honestly, the fact that this scene is meant to give Adrian Toomes redemption instead of teasing something to come involving the return of the Vulture makes me wish that the scene was part of the movie rather than being a credits scene. Feige is right in that we've been conditioned to think that at least one of the credits scenes in question will tease what's to come in future installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that makes the scene a little harder to get a grasp on in the moment.
The good news is that for fans hoping for some kind of tease of what to expect in future Spider-Man movies, the credits scene in question does have one thread that could turn into something down the road.
A Villain for the Spider-Man: Homecoming Sequel?
To hardcore Spider-Man comics fans, the name Mac Gargan certainly set off their Spidey Sense. That's because it's the alter ego of Spider-Man's nemesis known as The Scorpion.
In the comics, Gargan was a private detective hired by J. Jonah Jameson to find out how Peter Parker was able to get such incredible pictures of Spider-Man for The Daily Bugle. Of course, Peter's Spider Sense is triggered and Gargan doesn't really get anywhere. Then, in the hope of giving Gargan the upper hand, Jameson enlisted the man in an experiment that would give him the useful characteristics of animal, in this case a scorpion, in an effort to thwart Spider-Man. Though he defeated the webslinger twice, the mutagenic treatment that turned him into a villain began to take a toll on his mind and drove him insane.
Obviously this iteration of Gargan isn't anywhere near the same as the comics, but it has been confirmed by Michael Mando himself that he is indeed playing the character who would become The Scorpion:
A post shared by Michael Mando (@michaelmando) on
For those who didn't notice, there was a hint at Gargan's future as a villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming because the character has a scorpion tattoo on the left of his neck. But will we see him become The Scorpion in the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel that will arrive after The Avengers 4?
More than likely, we shouldn't expect Gargan to become the full fledged version of the villain we've seen in the comics. I'm betting that we'll see a version of The Scorpion that will be akin to the adaptation of Shocker that we saw in Homecoming. y guess is that Scorpion will just get his hands on some kind of weapon and will create some second tier trouble for the webslinger while a different villain takes top billing.
Unfortunately, we'll be waiting awhile to find out what will happen with a Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel because it won't arrive until after The Avengers 4 in 2019.