A significant way that Jon Watts' Spider-Man: Homecoming differentiates itself from previous Spidey movies is that it leaves its hero in high school, and makes the location of Midtown High School a significant angle into the story. Peter Parker struggles to juggle his commitments in class with his desire to be a full-time crimefighter, and maybe even an Avenger. And the students in Peter's class are integral to the hero's journey as Homecoming rolls along, with Spidey (Tom Holland) drawing support from Ned (Jacob Batalon), his "guy in the chair," and making an Academic Decathalon a memorable plot point. School is an important component to Spider-Man: Homecoming, which explains why Sony and the team behind this movie just donated money to help one school out.
Sony and Synchrony Bank have partnered on a $25,000 grant for Queens High School for the Sciences, which is a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) school in conjunction with Spider-Man: Homecoming. As part of this new partnership, the companies collaborated on this new video starring Tom Holland and Jacob Batalon. Check it out now:
The partnership, besides being beneficial for the school for the sciences, makes sense on so many underlying levels. Margaret Keane, the President and CEO of Synchrony Financial, is from Peter Parker's home town of Queens (she is featured in the above video). Spider-Man: Homecoming draws inspiration from all of the academic components of the STEM anagram -- with scenes of Peter perfecting his web fluid in class, and using Ned's computer skills to hack Tony Stark's advanced spider suit.
Also, Synchrony Bank has actually had a longstanding partnership in place with Marvel Studios that allows fans to being their fandom into their everyday lives. The Marvel Mastercard allows fans to earn cash back on select dining, entertainment and online purchases at Marvel.com and official Marvel merchandise booths. They also boast incredible designs. Which Guardians of the Galaxy fans wouldn't want a credit card that looks like Peter Quill's Awesome Mix Tape?
In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker is a sophomore in high school who has to adjust to everyday life after helping Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) take down Captain America (Chris Evans), who's "probably a war criminal now or something." In the process, he picks up a new super-suit, stops The Vulture (Michael Keaton) from building a criminal empire, and possibly meets the love his life. The movie is off to a roaring start at the box office. And as this video shows, some money is going back into a very good cause.
