In about a week, Spider-Man: Homecoming will finally be upon us. With Peter Parker now officially part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we should expect plenty of crossovers in the character's future. Homecoming features Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark as a major character, mentoring the teenager he plucked from obscurity in Captain America: Civil War. But it turns out that Iron Man wasn't always the MCU character that was going to join the cast of Homecoming, and the film's director just revealed which figure originally showed up in Queens: Nick Fury.
This news comes to us from director Jon Watts himself, who has been doing the press rounds ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming. And although Tony Stark was the most obvious choice for a MCU crossover in Homecoming, Watts originally thought it would be fun to bring back Samuel L. Jackson's iconic character, and have him team up with the titular teenage superhero. And although he's aware that it might not make as much logical sense, Watts still wanted it to happen, telling io9:
I don't know what the situation would be. But that would be a person he'd want to get in trouble with.
While the folks behind Spider-Man: Homecoming made the right choice in keeping Tony Stark around as Peter's mentor, it definitely would have been cool for the cycloptic S.H.I.E.L.D. agent show up and talk some sense into Spidey.
Perhaps Jon Watts' original intention to include Nick Fury in Homecoming is due to his long absence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Fury was the original string connecting the various heroes in Phase 1, the character has faded into almost non-existence in the past few years. He was last seen in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, telling Black Widow about how Bruce Banner departed in the Quinjet following their victory against the robotic villain. But both Fury and Maria Hill have been notably absent in Phase Three, despite Samuel L. Jackson's insistence that he should be included in more films.
That being said, Tony Stark and Peter Parker's relationship is one of the most intriguing aspects of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Because while Tony may want Spider-Man to keep his head low and stay out of trouble, he's already introduced him into the world of superheroics and equipped him with a high-tech suit. Peter is itching to become a full fledge member of The Avengers (he's about the only one), but Tony also doesn't want to put the high school student in any more danger. I'm not sure that Nick Fury could have provided as many layers to the narrative.
Spider-Man: Homecoming will swing into theaters on July 7th. In the meantime, check out our full 2017 release list and plan your next trip to the movies.
