Gah, what happened to Peter Parker? Oops, wrong borough, same Marisa Tomei. She and Pete Davidson look like the Staten Island versions of Aunt May and Peter Parker in the new trailer for The King of Staten Island. Based on Pete Davidson’s life, it follows him as “Scott,†a gentle screwup and aspiring tattoo artist who’s unable to move forward, past the loss of his father, a firefighter. Davidson lost his own firefighter father, Scott, in the attacks on 9/11. But while the real Davidson found comedy to process his grief, the king of Staten Island is lost. He alienates his mom (Tomei), love interests, and some of his friends, but that’s only because his tattoos look like butt. Literally — he turned a belly button into a cat anus. When his mom falls for another firefighter after 17 years, Scott finally has to contend with his grief or drown in it. Again, literally. “I’m gonna tell my mom you tried to drown me!†he yells at his potential new stepdad, played by Bill Burr. “It’s an above-ground pool,†he starts walking away. “You’re like fucking eight-feet tall.â€
Davidson wrote the script alongside director Judd Apatow and former Saturday Night Live writer Dave Sirus, which explains why it feels a little like an SNL parody trailer. The King of Staten Island was originally scheduled for a wide release this June, but was pushed to digital due to theater closures amid the coronavirus pandemic. Note that there doesn’t seem to be a plotline where he gets engaged to an international pop superstar and stream The King of Staten Island on June 12.