Sugiyama Supitoyo's Cinema Figure Theory vol.9 "S.H.Figuarts Spider-Man: Far From Home Series"

Many people want to keep their favorite hero movie or monster movie character at hand. BANDAI SPIRITS' collector's item brand "TAMASHII NATIONS"'s Cinema figures will fulfill such a wish. I would like to talk about its charm from the perspective of a film writer. This time we will feature Spider-Man!
He is also very active in the MARVEL Cinematic Universe (MCU), but please check out the figures of "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017) and "Spider-Man: Far From Home" (2019) where he played the leading role. Let me introduce you!

Among the many American comic characters, Spider-Man is the most famous and popular hero. A young man named Peter Parker who has the power of a spider. He becomes a masked hero Spider-Man who uses his powers to help people.
His weapon is an idiom that can stick to the wall and an artificial spider silk launcher that he developed himself.

This hero made his debut in 1962 MARVEL Comics. At that time, MARVEL wasn't trying to sell this hero on a large scale, and it seems that they published it in a magazine that had been decided to be discontinued, saying, "Since it's the last time, let's put a slightly different one-shot hero story." However, it was decided to continue as a hero story because of unexpected response.

Why was Spider-Man mad? It's a plot where a dull high school student becomes a hero. Until then, the majority of heroes were “adult men”. For the first time the main character is a teenager. What's more, he's a character like "Nobita-kun" (but he's also a science genius, so maybe Kiteretsu-kun is being bullied). By chance, he is bitten by a special spider and becomes a superhuman. He becomes ecstatic, but loses his beloved uncle in his arrogance. This tragedy teaches us that with great power comes great responsibility.

There are no supervillains in this birth story, and it ends with the main character suffering and depressed. There is a taste like a youth short knit rather than a hero thing. This was greatly supported. That's why Spider-Man has gained popularity by following a youth drama route that takes the format of a hero. His adventure isn't about protecting the earth from aliens or fighting against a huge evil organization plotting to take over the world, but rather protecting people from monsters that appear in the streets of New York, who are more than ordinary people and less than monsters. Mainly. His nickname is "Your City's Dearest Neighbor".

Spider-Man gave children two big hopes. First, he was "slender". Until then, heroes were mainly macho and had impressive physiques, but Spider-Man was a little skinny and small. This encouraged children who were not confident about their body shape. And the mask. Full masks that completely hide the face are rare among American comic heroes. Therefore, children of all races can imagine their own face under that mask. With this in mind, it is no wonder that Japanese versions of Spider-Man were made, with Kodansha's comics and Toei's special effects drama. There are not many Japanese people with the face and physique of SUPERMAN, but Spider-Man can be made with a Japanese body type and face.

There is no doubt that the secret of Spider-Man 's popularity is such familiarity and sympathy, but there is also the appeal of looks and actions as a hero. It's the same with Batman, but in the first place, it's cool to have a hero made with a villainous motif, such as a bat or a spider. Moreover, in the case of Spider-Man, the gap between red and blue, which does not look like a spider, is also catchy.

Furthermore, Spider-Man 's action is also unique. I once interviewed the late Stan Lee, creator of MARVEL legends and the creator of Spider Spider-Man. came up with But Mosquito Man and Flyman wouldn't make him a hero, so I chose Spider. Then, instead of flying in the sky, the image of moving between buildings with a rope like Tarzan came to mind, and the spider thread swing was born. A delicate body and a unique movement inspired by insects. If Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man are Head-Long Rush power systems that beat their opponents, Spider-Man is an acrobatic system that features supple movements. Thanks to these ingenuity, Spider-Man becomes a character representing MARVEL. Beyond comics, they have appeared in various media such as anime, dramas, merchandise, theme park attractions, and movies.

Spider-Man 's full-scale movie adaptation will begin in 2002 with three "Spider-Man-Man" series starring Tobey Maguire, and the "Amazing Spider-Man-Man" series, which resets it once and welcomes Andrew Garfield as the main character from 2012 I have two works. Actually, at this time MARVEL handed over the movie rights of Spider-Man to Sony Pictures, and these Spider-Man existed as a separate MARVEL movie from the MCU. However, as with comics, fans wanted to see a movie in which Spider-Man and the Avengers co-star, and Sony and Disney, which develops the MCU, collaborated to create a new Spider-Man thing. That's the MCU version of Spider-Spider-Man, with Tom Holland playing Peter Parker.
MCU debut in "Civil War / Captain America" (2016), "Spider-Man-Man: Homecoming" in which he appeared alone, and "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018) "Avengers: Endgame" (2019) ) to become “Spider-Man: Far From Home”.
At the time of "Infinity War" and "Endgame", it is an "Iron Spider" that should be called armor with full combat ability, but in "Homecoming" and "Far From Home", the costume is "This is Spider-Man we know!" has become

So let's take a look at the figures this time.
The "Homecoming" version of the suit, S.H.Figuarts Spider-Man (Spider-Man: Far From Home), has a brighter red and blue costume than the previous movie Spider-Man, and the colors are reproduced beautifully.

The "S.H.Figuarts Spider-Man Upgrade Suit (Spider-Man: Far From Home)" is similar in color to the red and black suit from the Superior Spider-Man comic.

To be honest, I thought that there was not much difference between these two spider suits except for the color, but when I compared these figures side by side this time, I realized that the details other than coloring have changed considerably. I did.

In the setting of the movie, the normal suit is the suit given to Peter by Tony Stark aka Iron Man, and the upgraded suit is Peter's own design. In other words, there is a difference between "clothes given to a chick by an adult" and "clothes chosen by an independent young man".
Maybe that's why "S.H.Figuarts Spider-Man" is a bit more well behaved and "S.H.Figuarts Spider-Man Upgrade Suit" is a bit more evil. The school bag that comes with the "S.H.Figuarts Spider-Man" costume is appropriate for this costume, but not for the "S.H.Figuarts Spider-Man Upgrade Suit.

I dare say that the adorableness as a hero doll is "S.H.Figuarts Spider-Man". I feel cool as an action figure is "S.H.Figuarts Spider-Man Upgrade Suit".

However, both have many movable points so that you can reproduce acrobatic poses that are typical of Spider-Man. Also, since Spider-Man hides his face with a mask, he expresses his emotions by moving his eyes.

The charm of the MCU version of Spider-Man is that it is interesting that Spider-Man is a fledgling and is disapproved by senior heroes. So when you line up with other MCU figures, Spider-Man seems cute. And this December, Tom Holland's third MCU Spider-Man-Man movie will be released. I'm sure there will be a new spider suit here, so let's start by collecting these two in preparation for that!

Text: Sugiyama Supitoyo

*The images shown include prototypes that are under development. The actual products may differ slightly.
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