When Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters on July 7th, 2017, there will be a familiar face joining the young web-slinger. That will be the face of Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr. Oh wait, I mean Tony Stark. When the deal between Marvel and Sony was announced, it was made clear Spidey would be coming to the MCU. And with that, established characters would be able to join Peter Parker in his solo film.

The first name that was confirmed was that of Stark, as Downey Jr. agreed  to take part in the film. Given it was Stark who recruited Parker to be a part of his team in Captain America: Civil War, which was Tom Holland‘s debut as Spider-Man, this came as little surprise. It is clear the two share a relationship, and more on that shortly, but there is still a major question left to be answered: How big of a role will Iron Man play in the summer blockbuster?

Will he have a glorified cameo, by appearing in one scene to supply Spider-Man with some technical upgrades? This would be a way to remind fans this is indeed the MCU, but not have him outshine the title hero. Or will he have two or three scenes, and be involved a bit in the overall plot? Or maybe, he will be in a good majority of the film, making this a sort of team-up effort between the two?

Well first off, let’s take into account the relationship between the two. This is clearly a mentor-student relationship. Tony sees young Peter as a younger version of himself, as he likes to experiment and build things. This clearly gives Tony the motivation to help the young man, and he will certainly be doing that in this film.

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We already know Tony is supplying Spidey with some of his gadgets. So one scene where Stark explains what those gadgets do is fairly likely. Given his entertaining interactions with Aunt May in Civil War, I hope this takes place in Peter’s apartment. But if this is the only scene he appears in, then this is similar to the Falcon scene in Ant-Man. It would be a fun and entertaining scene, but pretty much an extended cameo.

Given Tony is playing the mentor role, he should be there whenever Peter is feeling down and in need of a pep talk. So multiple scenes is certainly likely. A full on tag-team effort is not expected though, as Marvel clearly wants to build up the new Spider-Man. Being the third incarnation of the character in less than 20 years, Spidey needs to fight his major battles on his own.

But if Tony is not going to be around during the climactic final battle, they are going to need a reason for it. My guess is during one of his scenes, Tony gets a call from Thunderbolt Ross or another authority figure telling him they need him. It will be something urgent that Tony needs to attend to, leaving his young protege to finish the job on his own.

But Stark is still going to make his presence known. Maybe a scene to train the young hero. He can bring him to the Avengers headquarters to help hone his skills. And help learn his new toys that Stark will be supplying him. I would also look for the two to interact at the end of the film, following Spidey’s victory over the Vulture (Michael Keaton). Something along the lines of having Tony reward Peter by naming him an official member of the Avengers is certainly in the cards. Here he can loop Peter and the audience in on why he had to leave (Thanos’ arrival on Earth anyone?).

So in total, I would expect about three to five scenes from Tony in Spider-Man: Homecoming. What do you think? How much Tony Stark will we get in the 2017 summer blockbuster?