Among the many Easter eggs and connections to the larger cinematic universe in Spider-Man: Homecoming is a handful of cameos from Captain America in the form of educational videos.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Several times throughout the latest Spider-Man movie Chris Evans is seen in full Captain America costume delivering messages to students in Peter Parker’s high school. Among them: a fitness message, a lesson about getting detention, and more. As it turns out, the Captain America cameos in Homecoming were an idea which spawned from director Jon Watts.
“I think that was my idea, to have the Captain America Fitness Challenge,” Watts told CinemaBlend. “You know, it’s so collaborative. I really don’t remember whose idea is what, at this point. But I just remember having the President’s Fitness Challenge when I was in elementary school and middle school. You had to do different activities, and at the end of it, I think you got a little pin or a badge. I was like, ‘How do we incorporate Captain America into high school?’ You would have the Captain America Fitness Challenge .He would be the person teaching you about proper nutrition, and brushing your teeth.”
Shooting Evans’ cameos for Spider-Man: Homecoming was unlike any other part of the film. “When we shot those… you talk about feeling like you are filming a documentary?” Watts recalls. “That’s what it was like. It was like Captain America showed up. I generated so many of these dumb things, along with one of the other writers. We just wrote — everyone had ideas for things that Captain America could say [on screen]. So we just put them into a teleprompter, and had Evans stand there and really read through them. It’s really funny, because Chris is so not like Captain America in person, but him being Cap and then just reading this stuff totally fresh, in that old costume, was so funny. It was all so very funny. … There’s a very fun improv comedy to all of that. We shot so many more than are in the movie, too. Which will probably be on the Blu-ray someday.”
Spider-Man: Homecoming is hardly Evans’ first time pulling off minor cameos in a film which have major impacts on audiences. In Thor: The Dark World, the actor put on his full costume for a sequence which saw Loki impersonating Thor’s pal from the Avengers. However, in Homecoming, the connection is crucial to establish the fact that this new take on Spider-Man is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe which the Avengers characters call home for average moviegoers.
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You can find the official synopsis for Homecoming below, which has a 4.13 out of 5 on ComicBook.com’s anticipation rankings 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 super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, 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, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Tyne Daly, Bokeem Woodbine, with Marisa Tomei, and Robert Downey Jr. It also includes Jon Favreau, Martin Starr, Kenneth Choi, Michael Mando, Selenis Leyva, Isabella Amara, Jorge Lendeborg, Jr., JJ Totah, and Hannibal Buress.
