Sony Pictures has officially announced that the solo "Spider-Man" movie will be titled "Spider-Man: Homecoming," per a report from Entertainment Weekly. The announcement was made during this year's CinemaCon. As stated in the report, the new title has a few double meanings.
"Homecoming" is viewed by many as a reference to the character's return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which was only made possible with Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios agreeing to work together in order for both studios to use the character. It is also a reference to a specific comic book storyline which is set during the character's high school life.
In the original "Homecoming" comic books, Peter Parker aka Spider-Man (Tom Holland) returns home after battling in the Secret Wars. This storyline marks Peter Parker's return to his alma mater and also the first time he sports the black costume, the symbiote that would later bond with Eddie Brock and become the villain known as Venom.
That being said, the movie is expected to focus on the high school setting of "Homecoming" and the story arc of Peter Parker trying to find his place in the world and not reveal the black costume just yet. With Venom out of the likely list of villains, a new report from Variety points out that Sony is looking into casting Michael Keaton for the main villain role.
According to a report from Cinema Blend, Keaton is likely to play either the Vulture or Mysterio, both of whom were villains appearing in Spider-Man's early days, before Green Goblin and Venom became prominent obstacles. There are rumors that Vulture will indeed be the main villain, and given how Keaton fits the description and age of the character, it is likely he will be playing this character from Spider-Man's rogue gallery.
The Vulture was also rumored to be the villain of several past "Spider-Man" films, with both Sam Raimi and Marc Webb expressing interest in using the character but ending up with different villains for their films.
"Spider-Man: Homecoming" will release in theaters on July 7, 2017.
