Before Tom Holland slipped on the Spider-Man suit to swing through Captain America: Civil War, the iconic costume was worn on screen by two other actors in high-profile superhero roles. Andrew Garfield battled through two Amazing Spider-Man adventures as a trendy (some say "emo") interpretation of Peter Parker. And Tobey Maguire started things off by playing Peter in three Spider-Man movies for Sam Raimi. It was the impact of Tobey's portrayal of Spider-Man that influenced Tom Holland the most, as he says he counts himself as one of the fans who grew up on Maguire's Spidey, and so he understood the lasting power of that legacy. Holland explains:
I think the thing I had to remind myself of most, before I took on this character, was Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man had such a huge impact on me as a kid. He was my role model growing up. He was my favorite character. So I had to keep reminding myself that I was going to have that same impact on kids, and a generation. So I really wanted to do them proud, and to be a solid role model for them, and also make a young, fresh version of a character that we know and love so well.
Tom Holland isn't exaggerating. The role of Spider-Man comes with enormous global exposure, as well as enormous pressure to live up to expectations. On top of that, Spider-Man: Homecoming serves as Spidey's first full foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after spending so much time as solely a Sony property. So when the actor spoke to CinemaBlend at a press conference in New York City about the weight that he feels stepping into a role once occupied by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, we can understand the presence of his nerves... and his anticipations.
Thankfully, Tom Holland, Jon Watts and the teams at both Marvel and Sony can rest a little easier, as Spider-Man: Homecoming was met with overwhelmingly positives reactions when it screened for press over the weekend. Yes, many acknowledged that this is a restart after the two endeavors of both Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire. But having Marvel at the helm from a creative perspective has resulted in a grounded, small-scale Spider-Man movie that establishes an outstanding world to explore while setting up numerous Spider-Man movies for years to come.
And Tom Holland doesn't dance once in the whole movie.
Spider-Man: Homecoming opens in theaters on July 7. Head over here for more information on Homecoming, and the rest of the films in Marvel's Phase Three.
