Two years from now, it will have been a decade since Tom Holland grabbed hold of the live-action Spider-Man torch, and five years since he held that torch with the very predecessors that passed it to him. If not for one Robert Downey Jr., however, that debut wouldn’t have stuck in our memories nearly as effectively (never mind the fact of a new live-action Spider-Man being memorable just on its own).
In a recent interview with the Rich Roll Podcast (per Variety), Holland revealed that his very first scene as Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — which took place in Captain America: Civil War and involved him acting alongside Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark — had initially been cut down to just two pages from the eight that Holland prepared for the screen test.
When I did my [screen test], it was eight pages of dialogue. It was a long scene. It went great. I was told by my agent to learn the lines exactly… When I got to set after I got the gig, my scene had been cut down significantly from what I did in the audition. It was now maybe two pages.
That was when the candidly outspoken Downey Jr. urged Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo to shoot all eight pages of the scene in full, because “You can always cut it, but you’re going to want to have it.” Fast forward to Civil War‘s premiere, and the Russos ultimately saw the value in heeding Downey Jr.’s wisdom, leaving the original scene as written in the final cut.
The benefits of working alongside Downey Jr. apparently aren’t limited to him standing up for you, either. Holland also remarked in the interview that Downey Jr. freed up a lot of space for Holland himself to really play as Spider-Man.
When I did my first take with Downey, he just started improvising everything and changing it all. That gave me license to follow him. You can’t beat Downey, but you can ride his coattails. And those are good coattails to ride. I just followed his lead and we improvised. I thought after that I audition that I got it. It went so well.
Holland later suggested that if it ends up falling to him to usher in the MCU’s Miles Morales, he hopes he can champion their debut the way that Downey Jr. championed his.
Along with Spider-Man, Civil War also marked the MCU debut of the late Chadwick Boseman‘s Black Panther, who would go on to star in 2018’s Black Panther, the first-ever superhero film to get nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and also the first to win an Oscar (it won three at the 91st Academy Awards: Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score).
As for when the MCU will be roping one Miles Morales into the fray, no one outside the Marvel machine can say for sure. But, given that Spider-Man 4 is reportedly eyeing a 2025 production start and Marvel seems gung-ho about introducing young hero after young hero these days, Holland might just have his protege before very long at all.
