Spiderman: Far from home

[Kato]

I just saw it and I liked it well enough / quite a bit.
I'm not very familiar with Mysterio but enough to expect the twist, so slightly disappointed I wasn't wrong. And expositing toast is fun but a bit cheap from a writing perspective.
But overall, it was perfectly enjoyable. It's not going to write movie history but fine to watch.

Btw, I left after the JJJ scene, was there more I missed?

[JadedDM]

Btw, I left after the JJJ scene, was there more I missed?

Yes, there was a second credits scene at the very end.

Spoiler

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Nick Fury and Maria Hill are driving in a car, and then they both turn into Skrulls (specifically, Talos and his wife). "Maria" urges "Fury" to call the real Fury to tell him how much he nearly botched things. "Fury" calls the real Fury and tells him things 'went a little off the rails' but it all worked out in the end, but people keep asking him where the Avengers are, and he doesn't know, so could the real Fury please come back?

The real Fury is shown lying under the sun at a tropical beach. He turns off the phone and gets up, revealing that the 'beach' is actually just an illusion. He is actually on a very large space ship, somewhere in outer space, with lots of Skrulls on board. "Let's get back to work people!" he calls out to them, then complains that he can't find his shoes.

Many believe this scene is setting up S.W.O.R.D.

[Kato]

Yes, there was a second credits scene at the very end.

Spoiler

Show

Nick Fury and Maria Hill are driving in a car, and then they both turn into Skrulls (specifically, Talos and his wife). "Maria" urges "Fury" to call the real Fury to tell him how much he nearly botched things. "Fury" calls the real Fury and tells him things 'went a little off the rails' but it all worked out in the end, but people keep asking him where the Avengers are, and he doesn't know, so could the real Fury please come back?

The real Fury is shown lying under the sun at a tropical beach. He turns off the phone and gets up, revealing that the 'beach' is actually just an illusion. He is actually on a very large space ship, somewhere in outer space, with lots of Skrulls on board. "Let's get back to work people!" he calls out to them, then complains that he can't find his shoes.

Many believe this scene is setting up S.W.O.R.D.

Thank you for catering to my laziness
I guess we can expect a lot of rumors / theories coming from this..

[Kitten Champion]

I was personally impressed with Jake Gyllenhaal. He managed to be larger-than-life in a comic book-y sort of way without being too excessive.

Spoiler

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Also, I'm just glad to see live-action Mysterio as a villain. His battles with Spider-Man are generally quite memorable, he always seemed tailor-made for a cinematic adaptation where his illusions could come to life. Which were done really well here, you could really feel Peter's sense of confusion in his first fight and how he sort of figured things out in the final act.

The closest to this that I can remember was that Spider-Man PS2 game where Mysterio was inserted into the Raimi-verse as a main game villain, and was fairly cool though that game in general hasn't aged too well.

I also just like this and Homecoming as a very coming-of-age thing, it maintains an earnest appreciation for what this kind of school trip is in the life of a 16 year-old even ignoring the added Marvel-specific weirdness like the "blip". It's not just an excuse to put them in cheaper filming locations or whatever, you can empathize with Peter really wanting this cool, normal trip.

[The New Bruceski]

Yes, there was a second credits scene at the very end.

Spoiler

Show

Nick Fury and Maria Hill are driving in a car, and then they both turn into Skrulls (specifically, Talos and his wife). "Maria" urges "Fury" to call the real Fury to tell him how much he nearly botched things. "Fury" calls the real Fury and tells him things 'went a little off the rails' but it all worked out in the end, but people keep asking him where the Avengers are, and he doesn't know, so could the real Fury please come back?

The real Fury is shown lying under the sun at a tropical beach. He turns off the phone and gets up, revealing that the 'beach' is actually just an illusion. He is actually on a very large space ship, somewhere in outer space, with lots of Skrulls on board. "Let's get back to work people!" he calls out to them, then complains that he can't find his shoes.

Many believe this scene is setting up S.W.O.R.D.

It's kinda neat that while this was in no way important to the current movie, there are some tells of that last scene in hindsight.

Spoiler

Show

Hill calls Fury "Nick" when they first show up. Nobody calls him Nick.
"He's from Earth, just not your Earth."
His "how dare you speak her name"-ish response to mention of Captain Marvel.
"I thought Kree sleeper cells would have been top secret information" shop talk just before they detect the EM field in London. Could have been Fury grumbling about playing post-blip catch up, turned out to be Talos grumbling about some cover fumble.
And then there was just generally acting *off* throughout the movie, nothing obvious or bad but without the usual force of Fury.

[Dienekes]

#NotMySpiderman

Well of course he's not. But C.D. Barnes is too old to play the character now.

[ben-zayb]

Well of course he's not. But C.D. Barnes is too old to play the character now.

That didn't stop Tobey Maguire from playing the role back in the 2000s

[Anteros]

I honestly am not sure if I'll go watch this. Homecoming wasn't that interesting when the Vulture wasn't around and Holland's performance is good...but he's probably the least interesting Spiderman of the three versions.

Still prefer the Andrew Garfield Spiderman movies.

#NotMySpiderman

I agree about Holland, but it's not his fault. The problem is that they've changed so much about the characters that he's not Peter Parker at all. All they share is a name and some spider powers.

[Callos_DeTerran]

I agree about Holland, but it's not his fault. The problem is that they've changed so much about the characters that he's not Peter Parker at all. All they share is a name and some spider powers.

That's pretty much it to be honest. Holland, even if he's not my favorite Peter, is doing a great job with his performances but he's not the Spiderman I want to see. He barely resembles Peter to me to be honest, he's much more Miles Morales then he is Peter (until Miles got the Into the Spiderverse movie that is).

For me, Toby McGuire and Andrew Garfield at least felt like Peter himself...different sides of him, but both still like Peter Parker, I just prefer the Garfield half more than the McGuire half.

[Dilvish]

Yes, there was a second credits scene at the very end.

Spoiler

Show

Nick Fury and Maria Hill are driving in a car, and then they both turn into Skrulls (specifically, Talos and his wife). "Maria" urges "Fury" to call the real Fury to tell him how much he nearly botched things. "Fury" calls the real Fury and tells him things 'went a little off the rails' but it all worked out in the end, but people keep asking him where the Avengers are, and he doesn't know, so could the real Fury please come back?

The real Fury is shown lying under the sun at a tropical beach. He turns off the phone and gets up, revealing that the 'beach' is actually just an illusion. He is actually on a very large space ship, somewhere in outer space, with lots of Skrulls on board. "Let's get back to work people!" he calls out to them, then complains that he can't find his shoes.

Many believe this scene is setting up S.W.O.R.D.

Spoiler

Show

Fury being on a beach with a tropical drink immediately brought to mind Tahiti from Agents of SHIELD. :)

[Friv]

Saw it yesterday, absolutely loved it. Tom Holland is pretty much my favorite Spiderman, outside of maybe the Spectacular Spider-Man TV show, and he's nailed the awkward nerdiness, the covering with quips, and the constant, deep uncertainty and disbelief in his own abilities that I remember from early Spiderman comics. He's a bit less mopey that early Spiderman was, but I consider that a plus.

And I love the Mysterio reveal.

Spoiler

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My partner and I were both joking in the early stuff about "how the hell are they going to explain Mysterio pulling all this off, there's just way too much happening", and then it turns out that yep, there is way too much happening for one person!

[JadedDM]

Spoiler

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Fury being on a beach with a tropical drink immediately brought to mind Tahiti from Agents of SHIELD. :)

Spoiler

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It's a magical place. :)

[Dienekes]

I agree about Holland, but it's not his fault. The problem is that they've changed so much about the characters that he's not Peter Parker at all. All they share is a name and some spider powers.

Out of curiosity what do you feel makes up Spider-Man? Because to me he feels the closest to the awkward science nerdy who quips only in spandex to hide his fear that I know in the comics. At least more than skater boy who edits random women he barely knows did.

I mean, as much as a 16ish year old can feel like my Spider-Man anyway.

He hasn’t been in high school since the 60s before I was even born much less read the comics but everyone keeps going back to that well for some reason. I may have had some qualms with MacGuire’s constant crying face, but he at least grew up.

[Kato]

Spoiler

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My partner and I were both joking in the early stuff about "how the hell are they going to explain Mysterio pulling all this off, there's just way too much happening", and then it turns out that yep, there is way too much happening for one person!

I'll admit it's weird I say this here but... It seemed a bit too unrealistic. I know, I know, technology advanced enough to seem like magic. But especially the one on one fight in Berlin felt like it could not possibly happen like that, even though it was very well done otherwise.


On Spidermen... I like all of them, I guess? If I had to complain.. Somehow I feel like Holland is a bit too young, but that doesn't really make sense, considering Peter always was a kid. But all versions I can remember before seemed much more grown up (to me who was obviously younger then) and that twenty-ish Spiderman is what I'm used to.

[Anteros]

Out of curiosity what do you feel makes up Spider-Man? Because to me he feels the closest to the awkward science nerdy who quips only in spandex to hide his fear that I know in the comics. At least more than skater boy who edits random women he barely knows did.

I mean, as much as a 16ish year old can feel like my Spider-Man anyway.

He hasn’t been in high school since the 60s before I was even born much less read the comics but everyone keeps going back to that well for some reason. I may have had some qualms with MacGuire’s constant crying face, but he at least grew up.

Well, every single one of his support characters has been altered to be completely unrecognizable from the source material. He also doesn't act like Peter Parker. Parker is nerdy in a completely different way than Holland's character. He geeks out over isotopes and scientific discoveries, not Star Wars references. He's also much more aggressive and even kinda jerky in the comics where Holland's character is extremely passive.

Plus, like you said...Spidey hasn't been a geeky high schooler for 70 years now. Even when he originally came out they had him move past the nerdy high schooler thing almost immediately. Barring the Uncle Ben stuff, he wasn't a geeky high schooler for any of his iconic scenes or moments so I don't see why they keep trying to force that. Especially when they've gone out of their way to distance themselves from his origin story. In the comics his best friend is a jock and he dates super models. He might vaguely resemble Peter Parker as he appeared in his first 10 or 20 issues, but he's absolutely nothing like Peter Parker has been for the last 70 years.

[Kyberwulf]

I said this before, Tom Hollands Spider-man, seems more like a whitewashed Miles Morales. I know not a perfect whitewashing. They have just enough Peter in there to make it all not fit right.


Tom Holland would be the Perfect Spider/Parker. It's just the story that surrounds the character. I know what they were trying to go for with these movies. aka "the point" I think they failed miserable. They put WAY to much focus on Stark. So much focus that they don't get the point of Parker's character.

Parker has never been one about trying to find himself. He has always known who he was meant to be.

The Point of Parker was trying to find a way to make it work. His character was all about crushing responsibility.

Not only that, he was usually an underdog. Throwing together gear and technology with what he could find. He never had all these gadgets that he used, all he really had was a suit he tailored himself.

Think of this, Instead of Peter Parker, we had a Guy named Markus Willaby. He made a cheapo tech suit that let him do things. Place him in the All the scenes with Stark, and you wouldn't even really notice a difference. Instead of Parker, Stark give all his tech stuff to this guy.

Spider-man is almost an afterthought in his movies. Almost nothing his characters does as spider-man even really matters. It's just.. HOW FAST CAN WE GET HIM INTO STARK TECH!

And on his Non-origin origin story. This is still the Uncle Ben death, but like all the other Parker characters, they just changed the name and look of him to Tony Stark. The way he talks and obsessives about Stark, is the way he SHOULD be obsessing about his Uncle Ben, even in the first movie.

[Starbuck_II]

I said this before, Tom Hollands Spider-man, seems more like a whitewashed Miles Morales. I know not a perfect whitewashing. They have just enough Peter in there to make it all not fit right.


Tom Holland would be the Perfect Spider/Parker. It's just the story that surrounds the character. I know what they were trying to go for with these movies. aka "the point" I think they failed miserable. They put WAY to much focus on Stark. So much focus that they don't get the point of Parker's character.

Parker has never been one about trying to find himself. He has always known who he was meant to be.

The Point of Parker was trying to find a way to make it work. His character was all about crushing responsibility.

Not only that, he was usually an underdog. Throwing together gear and technology with what he could find. He never had all these gadgets that he used, all he really had was a suit he tailored himself.

Think of this, Instead of Peter Parker, we had a Guy named Markus Willaby. He made a cheapo tech suit that let him do things. Place him in the All the scenes with Stark, and you wouldn't even really notice a difference. Instead of Parker, Stark give all his tech stuff to this guy.

Spider-man is almost an afterthought in his movies. Almost nothing his characters does as spider-man even really matters. It's just.. HOW FAST CAN WE GET HIM INTO STARK TECH!

And on his Non-origin origin story. This is still the Uncle Ben death, but like all the other Parker characters, they just changed the name and look of him to Tony Stark. The way he talks and obsessives about Stark, is the way he SHOULD be obsessing about his Uncle Ben, even in the first movie.

I liked the movie, but that is interesting perspective.

I guess Stark is his true Uncle Ben.

Also, they messed up Universe numbering, they called it 616, but it isn't.

[Kato]

Also, they messed up Universe numbering, they called it 616, but it isn't.

Okay, this is not specifically directed at you but since a lot of people keep saying this... What's up with you? This is information from Mysterio which is obviously wrong / made up, since there is not even an established multiverse for the MCU (OK, kind of, thank you, Steven). Why are you calling out a movie for being wrong about something that cannot be true?
(Also, how would you even get started on numbering multiverses? I mean, is there a process?)

[Rodin]

I said this before, Tom Hollands Spider-man, seems more like a whitewashed Miles Morales. I know not a perfect whitewashing. They have just enough Peter in there to make it all not fit right.


Tom Holland would be the Perfect Spider/Parker. It's just the story that surrounds the character. I know what they were trying to go for with these movies. aka "the point" I think they failed miserable. They put WAY to much focus on Stark. So much focus that they don't get the point of Parker's character.

Parker has never been one about trying to find himself. He has always known who he was meant to be.

The Point of Parker was trying to find a way to make it work. His character was all about crushing responsibility.

Not only that, he was usually an underdog. Throwing together gear and technology with what he could find. He never had all these gadgets that he used, all he really had was a suit he tailored himself.

Think of this, Instead of Peter Parker, we had a Guy named Markus Willaby. He made a cheapo tech suit that let him do things. Place him in the All the scenes with Stark, and you wouldn't even really notice a difference. Instead of Parker, Stark give all his tech stuff to this guy.

Spider-man is almost an afterthought in his movies. Almost nothing his characters does as spider-man even really matters. It's just.. HOW FAST CAN WE GET HIM INTO STARK TECH!

And on his Non-origin origin story. This is still the Uncle Ben death, but like all the other Parker characters, they just changed the name and look of him to Tony Stark. The way he talks and obsessives about Stark, is the way he SHOULD be obsessing about his Uncle Ben, even in the first movie.

I think this post sums up the fundamental divide a lot of fans are going to have with the character. It's a litany of ways that MCU Peter Parker differs from Comics Peter Parker, with an overriding theme of "they changed it, therefore it sucks".

And I totally understand that. I can do the same ranting at the Lord of the Rings movies. Expecting one interpretation of a character and seeing another sucks.

In this case however, I'm coming at it from the other camp. I've never read the comics and my only familiarity with Spider-man is from the Sam Raimi movies and the occasional videogame.

From that perspective, none of the above complaint applies. There's this idea that Uncle Ben died and it was Peter's fault, because that's what happened in the comics. None of that is in the movies. Instead, we're getting an origin story spread out over several films that is wholly original to the MCU. Peter chose (for whatever reason) to become Spiderman. He gets noticed by Stark, and gets dragged into a larger world of superheroes that he simply not ready for. He's trying to learn how to balance his personal life with the great responsibility, he's getting offered all this super tech when he's used to dumpster diving, and he makes a lot of mistakes as a result. Stark comes in as a surrogate father figure to help give him direction. And then Stark dies, and Peter feels that it was because he wasn't good enough. Yeah, Stark is Uncle Ben in the MCU. I think that will only become more apparent with time, and I don't expect them to go back and introduce Uncle Ben in a flashback at this stage.

The Spiderman MCU movies thus far have been all about Peter learning about power and responsibility - the hard way. Sure, it's different from the comics. But as a character in the MCU I think he's been totally consistent and well written. And I like that they're playing around with the character while keeping the core there - the superhero who looks out for the little guy, because he's been in their shoes.

[Kitten Champion]

Okay, this is not specifically directed at you but since a lot of people keep saying this... What's up with you? This is information from Mysterio which is obviously wrong / made up, since there is not even an established multiverse for the MCU (OK, kind of, thank you, Steven). Why are you calling out a movie for being wrong about something that cannot be true?
(Also, how would you even get started on numbering multiverses? I mean, is there a process?)

The numbering of universes is fairly recent evidently. Apparently it was something Alan Moore just started doing in the 90's with his Captain Britain run, as he's a hero tied to the whole inter-dimensional concept that does make sense. The eXiles series - which was basically Sliders but with Superheroes that ran through most of the 00's - had numbers to denote the realities they went to each time, which was justified in-universe by coming from the race of beings who observed and catalogued the multiverse and who were controlling the heroes' journey through alternate realities. i don't think there's any specific process to the numbering, just slapping random numbers while using the established format -- though the longer-numbers are probably to differentiate it from DC's "Earth-#" system.

The numbering is convenient for wikis and the modern fandom in general as a frame of reference, so I see why it stuck around.

[Rater202]

Also, they messed up Universe numbering, they called it 616, but it isn't.

The person who called the MCU Earth 616 was the guy who was lying about being from another universe.

It's forshadowing.

Okay, this is not specifically directed at you but since a lot of people keep saying this... What's up with you? This is information from Mysterio which is obviously wrong / made up, since there is not even an established multiverse for the MCU (OK, kind of, thank you, Steven). Why are you calling out a movie for being wrong about something that cannot be true?
(Also, how would you even get started on numbering multiverses? I mean, is there a process?)

Marvel's stance is that everything is canon but not everything happened in the same universe.

Most universes have a number label.

For example, the main comics--the ones that started in the 40s with Timely Comics and became MArvel in the 60s going on till now--are Earth 616.

The ultmate Universe(--Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four, The Ultimates) is Earth 1060.

Spider-Gwen is Earth 65.

The 1960s Spider-Man Cartoon is Earth-6799, while memetic 60's Spider-Man(The X is going on but I'm just sitting here Y) guy is Earth 3015.

The MCU is Earth 199999.

[Friv]

Plus, like you said...Spidey hasn't been a geeky high schooler for 70 years now. Even when he originally came out they had him move past the nerdy high schooler thing almost immediately. Barring the Uncle Ben stuff, he wasn't a geeky high schooler for any of his iconic scenes or moments so I don't see why they keep trying to force that. Especially when they've gone out of their way to distance themselves from his origin story. In the comics his best friend is a jock and he dates super models. He might vaguely resemble Peter Parker as he appeared in his first 10 or 20 issues, but he's absolutely nothing like Peter Parker has been for the last 70 years.

On the other hand, Comics Peter really isn't the only Peter, or even the Peter who most people know. The Ultimate Universe set him back to high school and he never graduated through its line, the TV shows have been starting him in high school for the last twenty years. Peter Parker The Eternal 30-Year-Old is definitely one version of him, but Peter Parker The Dorky High School Kid has a strong tradition at this point.

[Anteros]

I think this post sums up the fundamental divide a lot of fans are going to have with the character. It's a litany of ways that MCU Peter Parker differs from Comics Peter Parker, with an overriding theme of "they changed it, therefore it sucks".

And I totally understand that. I can do the same ranting at the Lord of the Rings movies. Expecting one interpretation of a character and seeing another sucks.

In this case however, I'm coming at it from the other camp. I've never read the comics and my only familiarity with Spider-man is from the Sam Raimi movies and the occasional videogame.

From that perspective, none of the above complaint applies. There's this idea that Uncle Ben died and it was Peter's fault, because that's what happened in the comics. None of that is in the movies. Instead, we're getting an origin story spread out over several films that is wholly original to the MCU. Peter chose (for whatever reason) to become Spiderman. He gets noticed by Stark, and gets dragged into a larger world of superheroes that he simply not ready for. He's trying to learn how to balance his personal life with the great responsibility, he's getting offered all this super tech when he's used to dumpster diving, and he makes a lot of mistakes as a result. Stark comes in as a surrogate father figure to help give him direction. And then Stark dies, and Peter feels that it was because he wasn't good enough. Yeah, Stark is Uncle Ben in the MCU. I think that will only become more apparent with time, and I don't expect them to go back and introduce Uncle Ben in a flashback at this stage.

The Spiderman MCU movies thus far have been all about Peter learning about power and responsibility - the hard way. Sure, it's different from the comics. But as a character in the MCU I think he's been totally consistent and well written. And I like that they're playing around with the character while keeping the core there - the superhero who looks out for the little guy, because he's been in their shoes.

It's not "they changed it so it sucks" so much as "this isn't even the same character, so why are we pretending it is?" He doesn't have the same backstory, he doesn't have the same supporting characters, he doesn't act the same, he doesn't share a single thing with the character he's supposed to represent except a name and an aesthetic. It would be like if you had Alfred throw on the bat suit instead of Bruce and call himself Batman. Sure, you could make a good story out of it, but it wouldn't be Batman.

It's not even that they're bad movies. They're fine. They just aren't Spider-man.

[Rater202]

So, apparently the plan was to have Nick Fury be the one mentoring Peter but they were forced to change it to Tony.

If they had gone with that, it would have been very similar to Ultimate Spider-Man--where Nick Fury was monitoring and mentoring Peter partially becuase he knew Peter's parents and partly becuase as the result of an illegal genetic experiment, Peter's body was technically government property and Nick wanted to make sure that resulted in "Cushy Job with SHIELD" rather than "Kept in captivity for medical research."

Though, in general, I think the MCU has made some weird choices. Too much is tied to the Infinity Stones, for one. In the comics, the Defenders were Doctor Strange, The Incredible Hulk, The Silver Surfer, and Namor the Submariner. You know, One of the most powerful men on Earth and three of the most powerful people in the Universe. Not a bunch of street-level c-listers.

Peter being Tony's apprentice when in the comics Spider-Man was around first and PEter is smarter than Tony by a wide margin is just another case of weird decisions.

[Kato]

Marvel's stance is that everything is canon but not everything happened in the same universe.

Most universes have a number label.

[...]

The numbering is convenient for wikis and the modern fandom in general as a frame of reference, so I see why it stuck around.

Again, I should have been more specific. I meant, how does a goven universe know what number it is. I mean, how do people in comic put a number on their universe? I know it's rare but aren't those numbers also used once in a while on paper? (and not only by 4th wall breakers) How do THEY know / decide what number their universe has.

[Rater202]

Again, I should have been more specific. I meant, how does a goven universe know what number it is. I mean, how do people in comic put a number on their universe? I know it's rare but aren't those numbers also used once in a while on paper? (and not only by 4th wall breakers) How do THEY know / decide what number their universe has.

I mean, between the Captain Britain Corps, the Transdimensional Council of Spider-Women*, the Watchers, and the Fantastic Four** regularly going to alternate realities for picnics that some standardized terminology for universes cam up and got distributed to people who need to know.

*Consisting entirely of Gwen Stacy's who got Spider-Powers instead of dying. Founded by Gwen/Spider-Woman of Earth 617, whose universe was identical yo 616 until the Gwen of Earth 65 ended up there as part of a stable time loop. Gwen 617 is the host of her world's Venom symbiote and is apparently her world's greatest detective.
**Franklin Richards literally creates universes for fun.

[Bartmanhomer]

I'm going to see it at IMAX tomorrow morning and I'll give you my review.

[Man_Over_Game]

Spoiler: Some spoilers about the movie, and the reveal, minor complaints about the series

Show

Was kinda disappointed in Mysterio's reveal, honestly. None of Spiderman's villains have been something you really take all that seriously. His actions in the Avengers movies were okay, but he didn't really do a whole lot and mostly provided support for Tony. His first movie involved a weapon-dealer that was against selling weapons to thugs and likely wasn't going to expand to anything city-threatening. And then Mysterio, who is a made-up supervillain with cameras and borrowed turrets he managed to swindle.

I really like Spiderman's personality, it's just hard to take his superheroics seriously when most of his villains and his contributions are small-time or punch-lines. Maybe I'm just used to the older Spiderman movies, or maybe I'm just expecting Avengers-level stuff, but I have a hard time acknowledging Spiderman as "super", when there's no guessing it when I consider someone like Dr. Strange or Hawkeye.

[Friv]

Again, I should have been more specific. I meant, how does a goven universe know what number it is. I mean, how do people in comic put a number on their universe? I know it's rare but aren't those numbers also used once in a while on paper? (and not only by 4th wall breakers) How do THEY know / decide what number their universe has.

My vague memory is that the original Marvel Multiverse was numbered by either Merlyn or the Captain Britain Corps. I'm not clear on if they were numbered based on the order in which the Corps recruited members, or proximity to some "centre" of the multiverse that Merlyn could see, or what.

[Gallowglass]

Though, in general, I think the MCU has made some weird choices. Too much is tied to the Infinity Stones, for one. In the comics, the Defenders were Doctor Strange, The Incredible Hulk, The Silver Surfer, and Namor the Submariner. You know, One of the most powerful men on Earth and three of the most powerful people in the Universe. Not a bunch of street-level c-listers.

Peter being Tony's apprentice when in the comics Spider-Man was around first and PEter is smarter than Tony by a wide margin is just another case of weird decisions.

Do you know how I know you haven't actually read a marvel comic in over 10 years?

In the Comics, Brian Michael Bendis established the "defenders" becoming a group of c list street-level heroes like Powerman/IronFish/JessicaJones/Daredevil years ago and years before the Defender tv series.

Peter being Tony's "apprentice" and being younger than Tony was established during the terrible Civil War crossover in 2006.

As far as who is smarter.... well that depends entirely on who is writing it and changes from issue to issue... my own perspective is that Tony is a gifted engineer but not of the "super science" theorycraft level of most of the big-brains of the marvel universe. But in the last couple decades, mostly because of the movies, they have upped Tony's smarts. Peter's smarts, on the other hand, are as ill-defined and mercurial as its possible to be.

I mean no disrespect. I stopped reading comics at the weekly pamphlet level halfway through the "rebirth of captain america/rebirth of batman" miniseries when I had the epiphany that "I don't really like these stories much anymore and I'm going to stop supporting a bunch of editors and writers who ahve ruined almost everything I used to love about comics"

But the movies aren't guilty of ignoring or subverting the comics. Only of picking more recent story-lines to represent rather than the classics from our youth.