Spoilers ahead for Captain America: Civil War.
It’s no secret that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man absolutely stole the show in Captain America: Civil War. He probably has no more than ten total minutes of screen time, and Marvel manages to nail the character in unprecedented fashion within those ten minutes. That being said, it’s still a bit confusing as to how Tony Stark even managed to find Peter Parker. Fret not, Marvel fans; the writers of Civil War have a completely satisfactory answer to that question.
During a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Captain America: Civil War co-writer Christopher Markus opened up about the logical narrative reasons that Tony Stark could find Peter Parker so easily:
I think he's been keeping tabs. I think he might know about everybody. Tony has A.I. somewhere running crime statistics. He can see where it's going up and heroes might be needed and where it's going down and there might be heroes. It's why he built Ultron in the first place.
Although he doesn’t quite look as menacing or badass as Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man in 2008, Tony Stark’s arrival at Peter Parker’s apartment in Queens essentially serves the same purpose. He arrives to tell a burgeoning hero that he has just stepped into a much bigger world, and that he has the support of The Avengers if he wants to make a real difference. Christopher Markus rationalizes that Tony Stark probably knows all about the enhanced individuals all over the world, and has used F.R.I.D.AY. to keep tabs on all of them in the event that he must go on a recruitment mission.
Honestly, we were so giddy with excitement about seeing Iron Man and Spider-Man on the silver screen together that we didn’t even consider that potential logic hole. The scene between Tony and Peter is amazing because it highlights the very core of both characters personalities: Tony is quick-witted and cocky, and Peter is dorky, but good-hearted. If nothing else, we probably wouldn’t mind if Marvel Studios dropped the Tony / Pepper relationship in favor of a "will they, won’t they?" between Tony and Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May.
Reading between the lines on this statement also presents some pretty awesome implications for the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. If Tony Stark knows about "everybody," then who’s to say he didn’t stop by Hell’s Kitchen on his way home from Queens to pick up a certain blind vigilante? Although we haven’t seen or heard anything about The Defenders making their way to the silver screen any time soon, it’s nice to think that the screenwriters have actively thought about ways to make that work.
So if you think there’s a plot hole in Civil War, chances are that the screenwriters have a way of explaining it. If you’ve seen the movie though, you know that there aren’t too many plot holes to speak of. We will keep you up to date with all of the coolest Civil War news as it becomes available to us; the behemoth Marvel movie is in theaters now.
