Tom Holland’s iteration of Spider-Man is clearly popular — with Spider-Man: No Way Home breaking countless box office records. However, in a candid Zoom interview with Deadline — where he was joined by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield — he admitted that he wasn’t entirely sure about the future of his character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In an interview discussing the impact of the action movie, Holland said that the possibility of never playing the much-loved hero again helped him tap into his emotions for some of the film’s more dramatic scenes. “There definitely was a sense for me, as an actor, that this was the last time that I could potentially don the suit, so a lot of that emotion came from the act of saying goodbye, which is one of the biggest themes throughout this film,” he said.
In Spider-Man: No Way Home, a rogue spell that Peter asked Doctor Strange to cast led to all of Spider-Man’s biggest villains from other universes (and coincidentally, over film franchises), congregating in New York and threatening to split the multiverse apart. As well as losing his Aunt May, who was killed by a now-revived Green Goblin, Parker also had to say goodbye to best friend Ned and his girlfriend MJ because, in order to stop the universe from fragmenting, they had to forget who he was (for real this time).
With the whole world not knowing who he is, Peter was left pretty much all alone in the world. With the possibilities of where his character can go next seemingly endless, Deadline asked Holland what his thoughts were — but for once, the actor didn’t drop any major spoilers.
“The truthful answer — and I’ve done a whole press tour where all I do is lie — the truth is, and you’re not going to like the truth, I don’t know the answer to that question,” he said. “I don’t know. I know I love this character, and I know that I am not ready to say goodbye. But if it’s time for me to say goodbye, then I will do so proudly, knowing that I’ve achieved everything I wanted to with this character, and sharing it with these boys [Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield] will be forever one of the most special experiences of my career. So, if it’s time, it’s time. If it’s not, it’s not. But at the moment, I don’t know.”
The next chapter in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Doctor Strange 2, which will be released in theatres on 6 May, 2022. Meanwhile, if you’re experiencing Spidey withdrawal, you don’t have to wait long to see the Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man back on the big screen. Across the Spider-Verse (Part 1), the sequel to animated hit Into the Spider-Verse, is swinging into theatres on 7 October, 2022.