Spider-Man: Homecoming star Tom Holland discusses inspirations for his Peter Parker and having Iron Man as a mentor. It's been a little more than a year since Holland officially made his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the webslinging teenaged hero Spider-Man, joining the fray on the side of Tony Stark aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) in Captain America: Civil War. The Holland's debut was made possible by the deal struck by Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios back in 2015 that welcomed Spider-Man into the MCU, allowing the hero to exist in the same cinematic world as the Avengers for the first time.
Now, Holland is headlining his own MCU feature with the debut of Jon Watts' Spider-Man: Homecoming, which follows Peter after the events of Civil War as he continues on his superhero journey - with a little help from Tony and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). Of course, Peter also has to attend high school while not out being a superhero, and must contend with all the trials that come along with it.
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During the press junket for Spider-Man: Homecoming this past weekend, Screen Rant sat down with Holland to talk about his first starring turn in the MCU, Peter Parker's mentor/mentee relationship with Iron Man, and what the actor thinks about Sony's separate Spider-Man universe.
So this is the third Spider-Man movie we’ve seen in a couple years.
Holland: Yes, there’s been a lot of us.
Have you drawn any inspiration from the other movies, or the comics?
Holland: Definitely from the movies, I’ve seen the movies countless times and I could probably recite them off by heart, but also definitely the comics. For me Ultimate Spider-Man was the comic that I took most influence from and I’ve been very lucky that I had all these movies to learn from. I feel like I had the cheat sheet in front of me the whole time. So I’ve been very lucky.
Sony is developing those movies with characters from the Spider-Man canon, are you hoping to appear in any of those films?
Holland: That’s something that’s not up to me, I am the MCU’s Spider-Man, I exist in a world with the Avengers. If Venom exists in that world, I don’t really know the answer to that question. I don’t think he does. But yeah, any opportunity to work with Tom Hardy, I’d jump to it.
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You told us on the set of Homecoming that you most wanted to face off against Venom, can that happen with these movie universes?
Holland: Again, a question that’s way above my pay grade. I don’t know the answer to that question.
In Homecoming we see Peter get mentored by Tony Stark, can you see Peter mentoring another Spider-Man, like Miles Morales, somewhere down the line?
Holland: That would be something that I would be very up for doing, it’s something that I would really really hope to happen. I think Miles Morales is a great character, I think it would be fantastic to have an actor of color playing a superhero on screen and I just think it’s going to be something very cool and something very exciting for this universe.
We heard that Iron Man isn’t going to be in the sequel to Homecoming, are there any Avengers or Marvel heroes you want to see Peter team up with? Or someone who could be a really good mentor to him?
Holland: I don’t know that Iron Man’s not going to be in the sequel. Who told you that, I didn’t hear that.
That was the report.
Holland: Yeah, y’know, press is press. But yeah, Ant-Man would be my favorite. I want to have like a bug bros session. I think it’d be really cool.
So what else do you think Peter can learn from Iron Man?
Holland: So much, and so little, as well. Peter is kind of the perfect superhero in a sense that he has a really good conscience and stuff, but yeah I think he’s got more to learn from his tin friend.
And what do you hope to see Spider-Man do in the sequel?
Holland: I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that question. That’s not for me to say.
There’s nothing you want to see him do?
Holland: There’s loads of things, but I’ll save it for when you see that. I’m going to save those for the movie.
How does Vulture compare to other Marvel villains?
Holland: He’s the grounded villain. If a regular kid can become a superhero, then a regular man should be able to become a super villain. He is kind of an anti-hero in a sense that you really get to… You understand why he’s doing what he’s doing. He’s not just doing it for the sake of being evil, he has a real reason. And that’s not something that we’ve seen particularly in superhero movies.
Next: Previous Spider-Man Movies Challenged Homecoming Director Jon Watts
A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine - distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man - but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.
Directed by Jon Watts. Produced by Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal. Screenplay by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley and Jon Watts & Christopher Ford and Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers, Screen Story by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley, Based on the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
