Less than a year ago, Nerdist visited the set of the hotly anticipated reboot Spider-Man: Homecoming, and sat down with the MCU’s newest action hero Tom Holland. Now with rave reviews pouring in, and the movie poised to dominate at the box office, we reconnected with Holland to discuss his take on Marvel’s most iconic superhero, what it was like working with Michael Keaton, and his hopes are future onscreen foes.
With Spider-Man having hit theaters in two past film series (the Tobey Maguire-fronted Spider-Man 1, 2, & 3 and Andrew Garfield‘s The Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2), Holland had some pretty big shoes to fill. But director Jon Watts pitched Marvel on a younger Peter Parker than past movies offered. For Holland that proved a key difference to his take on the high-swinging, sass-throwing hero. “You really get to see what would happen if a 15-year-old got super powers,” he explained, cheering Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s emphasis on Parker’s day-to-day in a Queens high school.
Then of course, there’s the added star power that comes with Spidey joining the MCU. Holland shared how Iron Man‘s Robert Downey Jr. played mentor to him off-screen, just as Tony Stark does onscreen to Peter. But Holland also recalled being starstruck by another legend of the superhero genre, Michael Keaton. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Batman (and Batman Returns) headliner brings his sneering bravado to the villainous Vulture. Holland shared how Keaton’s teasing improvisation knocked the new Spidey for a loop.
Lastly, we talked sequels and the upcoming Venom movie. Though on our visit to the set, Holland admitted he’d love to battle the vicious Venom onscreen, the enthusiastic ingendude confirmed he would not appear in that upcoming Sony spinoff. However, Holland did share what other fiends from Spider-man’s Rogues Gallery he’d like to face-off against in the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel.
Spider-Man: Homecoming opens July 7th.
Which villain would you like to see Spider-Man take on next?
Image: Marvel Studios