Even though we’re talking about a $200 million blockbuster trilogy that hails from the most successful franchise in the history of cinema, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man saga has always managed to retain a strong focus on the core trio of Peter Parker, Zendaya’s MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned.
That’s no easy feat when you consider names like Robert Downey Jr., Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Alfred Molina, Willem Dafoe, Jamie Foxx, Benedict Cumerbatch and many more have all played major roles across Homecoming, Far From Home and No Way Home.
We know that animated prequel series Freshman Year is in the works for Disney Plus, but in an interview with Nerdist, Holland admitted that he’d love to see a live-action short film that recast the central trio and followed them as they met for the very first time.
“We’d love to make a little short film or something with some younger actors to explore how [Peter, Ned, and MJ] got together for the first time. Maybe [Peter and Ned] were being bullied at school and MJ steps in and saves the day or something, and you’re like ‘Oh wow! That’s how they became friends!’ Because we really don’t know, it’s up to the audience’s interpretation I guess.”
If Marvel was still in the One-Shot business then that would definitely be an avenue worth exploring, but we can’t really complain when the live-action and animated adventures of Spider-Man are set to continue on the big screen and streaming for the foreseeable future. That being said, we can cross our fingers in the hopes it might set off a lightbulb in the mind of a creative team member somewhere.
