Was Tony Stark Ready To Reveal Spider-Man's Identity In Homecoming?

07/07/2017 12:14 pm EDT

Spoilers ahead for Spider-Man: Homecoming, in theaters today.

In the final few scenes of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker/Spider-Man was called to an Avengers facility in Upstate New York to meet with Tony Stark/Iron Man. Once there, Peter learned that Tony planned to give him a new, more advanced Spider-Man costume and introduce him at a press conference as the newest member of The Avengers.

Ultimately, Peter politely declines and returns home to Queens to await Avengers: Infinity War -- but in those moments, hardcore comic fans were likely wondering the same thing we were: was Tony Stark about to out Peter's secret identity to the world?

While Captain America: Civil War introduced Spider-Man in the movies, the Civil War comics upon which the film was loosely based saw a different landmark in the life of the wall-crawler: after recruiting Peter to the pro-Registration side, Tony brought him front and center at a press conference, and had Peter unmask.

Of course, in the comics, things were a bit different: by this point, he was older, married, and both his wife and Aunt May knew he was Spider-Man, so he wasn't going to be shocking the people closest to him with a public proclamation, which he would have if the press conference had gone that way in Homecoming.

There is also no guarantee that Tony would have "outed" Spider-Man, although in the context of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all of the Avengers appear to have public identities (or at least operate without masks, a la Hawkeye and Black Widow)...so unmasking would have seemed like the logical way to go.

There were two scenes at the end of Homecoming -- we won't spoil them here, but we'll say one involving friends and one involving foes -- that would have been radically different if Peter's identity were revealed, so at a minimum it appears safe to say that the screenwriters never seriously entertained the notion to come fully to fruition.

The film has earned glowing reviews, with over 90% positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. ComicBook.com's own Brandon Davis said it was the best Spider-Man movie to date.

Spider-Man: Homecoming premieres in theaters July 7.

A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging superhero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with theAvengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.

The cast includes Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Zendaya, Donald Glover, JacobBatalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Tyne Daly, Bokeem Woodbine, withMarisaTomei, and Robert Downey Jr. It also includes Jon Favreau, Martin Starr,KennethChoi, Michael Mando, Selenis Leyva, Isabella Amara, Jorge Lendeborg, Jr., JJ Totah, and Hannibal Buress.

MORE SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING:

• Spider-Man: Homecoming Blows Away Preview Night Projections
• Civil War, Kingsman Writer Calls Spider-Man: Homecoming Marvel's Best Movie
• Spider-Man: Homecoming Director Not Committed To Sequel Yet
• Surf The Web!: The Best Spider-Man Games Of All Time

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