September 2019 : Movie: Spider-Man: Homecoming

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CLIP: 00:21:43–00:24:22
RATING: 12A 

SYNOPSIS 

Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home to New York, where he lives with his Aunt May. Under the watchful eye of his new mentor, Tony Stark, Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine, distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. However, when  the Vulture emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds  most dear is under threat. 

There have been a few Spider-Men over the years, and many people felt suspicious when yet another iteration was announced. But when it became apparent that this version of Spider-Man would be appearing in the Marvel Universe along with Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers a whole new world of possibilities, villains and friends opened up. With a renewed focus on a young Peter Parker (played by the excellent Tom Holland) living his life at high school and trying to balance his superhero duties with the many issues facing a teenage boy, this version helps open up the potential to talk about life and faith. And with the sequel, Spider-Man: Far From Home, out in cinemas last month, this is a good opportunity to use the community-focused hero to generate some discussion and debate. 

This clip sees Peter return home after a semi-successful mission to stop a bunch of criminals stealing some money. A somewhat dejected Peter sneaks into his bedroom, taking extensive care to be as silent 

as possible so as not to arouse any suspicion from his aunt. After managing to close his bedroom door, Peter turns around to discover his best friend Ned sitting on his bed. Having managed to keep his superhero identity secret from all of those around him, Peter’s secret life is finally discovered. 

DISCUSS 

After showing the clip as a stimulus, break into small discussion groups (you may wish to have a designated discussion leader for each group) and consider the following questions: 

• How would you feel if you were in Ned’s position in this clip? 
• How do you think Peter would feel about keeping his secret? 
• What do you think will happen now that Ned knows? 
• Is it possible for Peter to have a genuine relationship with his aunt if he is keeping such a big part of his life from her? 

There are many passages in the Bible that explore keeping secrets, but for this session we will focus on Proverbs. After discussing the first set of questions, hand each group a copy of Proverbs 11:12-13. Ask your groups to read the verses and discuss the following questions: 

• Should secrets always be kept? 
• What sort of person would you tell a secret to? 
• Is it possible to keep a secret from God? 
• Is keeping a secret the same as lying? Would that make it a sin? 

Spider-Man: Homecoming is available to stream on Netflix. Spider-Man: Far From Home is in cinemas now.