The Wonder Woman and Spider-Man: Homecoming clips tell two very different stories

Both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Wonder Woman released new clips recently, but the two of them reveal two very different approaches to marketing.

About the only summer month this year that doesn’t have a superhero movie is August. This month has Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. June has Wonder Woman. Finally, in July, Spider-Man: Homecoming will arrive in theaters. It’s the latter two that are relevant right now, because Guardians is already in theaters.

Instead, both films recently released clips. Wonder Woman released this prior to an MTV Awards trailer. You’ve probably seen it before, but why not watch it again?

Now, for Spider-Man: Homecoming, this clip debuted in full at the MTV Awards as well:

Notice something different about the approaches being taken here? We’ll start with Homecoming. The emphasis here is on comedy: the Death Star breaking apart (although it also hurts for fans familiar with that kit), Peter Parker’s voice cracking a ridiculous number of times in such a short span, and Zendaya’s mysterious character sending him into terror that she, too, knows his secret. My Culturess colleague called it “teenage-ness,” and that’s certainly present as well. It’s a mix of the two, really.

Wonder Woman definitely has some moments of humor. Chris Pine certainly does the work there as Steve Trevor, with a few quips to take that action scene to a new level. The whole focus isn’t on how Diana Prince is having trouble adjusting to man’s world — it’s how man’s world is having trouble adjusting to her having bulletproof bracelets and the reflexes to put them to good use.

These are both superhero movies, so the question is why? On one hand, it’s symptomatic of different approaches at the hands of the DC Extended Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The DCEU has often taken a darker, grittier approach to things, even down to the generally gray tones of the scene above. Meanwhile, the MCU doesn’t shy away from funnier moments, and even in the above you can see that the colors are brighter and warmer.

Both of them did play roles in previous films, however. Spider-Man got to swipe Captain America’s shield in Captain America: Civil War. Wonder Woman had an appearance in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, too. She saves Batman and is the only person who looked like she’s actually enjoying some part of testing her strength against Doomsday. So they share stealing scenes from more established characters.

But it seems like Wonder Woman is trying to sell her being an action hero more. Then again, her franchise is a little less established and there might be some doubt in her abilities to lead a film. There shouldn’t be, but here we are, wondering about the marketing anyway. Does anyone have that concern for Spider-Man at this point?

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Wonder Woman debuts June 2; Spider-Man: Homecoming follows July 7.