Although Spider-Man: Homecoming hasn't even debuted in theaters yet, many fans have already hailed Tom Holland as the best silver screen incarnation of the web head. His performance in Captain America: Civil War (and everything that we have seen from Homecoming) is simply that good. However, does that mean we will see him in Sony's newly announced Spider-Man spin-off movies? According to Holland: it depends on whether or not that material is good enough. The actor explained:
I have no idea. I haven't read a script. I haven't seen any sort of concept art, so that would be something I would decide on when I see material.
Although it would initially seem like a no-brainer to include Peter Parker in the upcoming Venom and Black Cat/Silver Sable spin-off movies, Tom Holland didn't seem quite so sure in his recent interview with Variety at CinemaCon. He didn't explicitly deny that he would get involved with these projects, but he also provided no indication that these characters will interact with Spider-Man at any point. It makes a certain degree of sense that he's probably not going to be in a Venom movie, as that film already has a 2018 release date, but the fact that he's also not confirmed to appear in the Black Cat and Silver Sable film seems particularly odd. For a Spider-Man universe, Sony is really steering away from Spider-Man.
Of course, Tom Holland's unwillingness to specifically commit to the Spider-Man spin-offs might not sit well with fans of the Spider-Man corner of the Marvel universe. Characters like Venom and Black Cat are compelling individuals, but can they survive their own solo movies without the presence of Marvel's most iconic hero? Any character can work well with the right direction, but that doesn't change the fact that these movies will likely be hard sells without him. Bear in mind, Spider-Man is still Sony's baby (they're merely leasing him to Marvel) and as such Sony has the option to use the character wherever they want.
There's a real concern here that the Spider-Man franchise is beginning to fall into the trap of trying to keep up with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It feels somewhat reminiscent of recent creative decisions made by DC -- who has announced a ton of bizarre movies that sharply deviate from the main DC Extended Universe. After all, we're now seeing solo movies for Black Adam and Venom announced before movies for Shazam and Spider-Man have even hit theaters. We're sure their heroic counterparts will be successful, but it might be wiser for these studios to take things a bit slower and put one foot in front of the other before announcing an avalanche of more obscure properties.
Whether or not Tom Holland will sign on for the Spider-Man spin-offs remains to be seen. For now, you can catch him when Spider-Man: Homecoming swings its way into theaters on July 7, 2017. Check out our movie premiere guide for more in-depth information regarding the rest of 2017's most highly anticipated theatrical debuts!
