Ominous joy

Doom hangs heavy over this apparently happy scene. Martin Sheen's carefree pose can only mean one thing: this character (he plays Peter Parker's friendly Uncle Ben) is a dead man sitting. His casually rolled shirt sleeves are the equivalent of a bad cough in a Victorian melodrama or Chekhov's gun on the mantlepiece. Don't answer the door! Chances are it's the Grim Reaper come a-calling.

Glad tidings?

What is the white stick that has so transfixed Andrew Garfield? A lost pen? A sucked lollipop stick? Or could it be a pregnancy test? Might that explain Sally Field's stoic yet haggard pose, her crossed arms and her rictus fortitude?

Multiple teapots

At least four are in full view, another couple may lurk on an upper shelf. Here is a family who like a cuppa (as well as the harder stuff – clock the two corkscrews on the dining table). Either that or it's a none-too-subtle gesture by the props department to make native Brit Garfield feel at home.

Extreme mundanity

Following previous pictures of the new Spidey looking ripped and slinky in his skin-tight cossie, this still is presumably designed to appeal to those who like their action flicks spliced with domesticity. But the homeiness is overdone: those apples gleam with preternatural life, the warm glow from the kitchen lamp gives the feel of a Norman Rockwell illustration. It's a picture that gives us the web-slinger by way of The Waltons.