Tom Holland Admits It Was a Drunken Call That Saved His Spider-Man Role in the Marvel Universe
Sometimes it pays off to answer the phone after you’ve had a few drinks.
Tom Holland made an interesting admission about how the decision was made to keep Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe during a Wednesday interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Referencing a recent interview he had done with Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, Kimmel said that he had been told that Holland, 23, had somehow “smoothed” things out between Disney, which owns Marvel Studios, and Sony, which owns the rights to the superhero franchise.
“Sort of,” Holland replied, before explaining that everything began back at Disney’s D23 Expo, which took place shortly after news broke in August that Disney and Sony had failed to reach a deal on new films.
“I was obviously devastated. I was really upset. And all my Marvel friends were there and they were taking Marvel pictures and I was like, am I allowed to be in them? It was awful,” he said.
With his time in the Marvel Universe seemingly at an end, Holland explained that he reached out for Iger’s email address, “because I just wanted to say thank you.”
“I just wanted to say, this has been an amazing 5 years of my life, thank you for changing my life in the best way, and I hope that we can work together in the future,” he said, “And I got his email, I sent him the email and then he responded very quickly saying, ‘I’d love to jump on the phone with you at some point, when are you free?’ And you don’t give Bob Iger a schedule. You’re like, ‘Whenever, Bob.’ ”
And of course, since he didn’t give Iger a schedule, Holland was actually out at the pub with his family and “3 pints in” when the CEO called.
“I get a phone call from an unknown number and I have a feeling, I think this is Bob Iger. But I’m drunk. So anyway, my dad’s like, ‘Just take the call, you’ll be fine,’ ” the actor recalled.
“I basically just said thank you for the opportunity, and then he said, ‘There is a world where we can make this work,’ ” Holland continued, adding that there was some back-and-forth between the two studio heads before a final decision was reached.”
Pressing Holland for one more detail, Kimmel replied, “I think Bob said you cried on the phone, is that true?”
“No I didn’t weep,” Holland quipped, before quickly admitting, “I did yeah.”
“I was really emotional because I felt like it was all coming to an end,” he continued. “It would have been a shame to take him out of the MCU. That’s where he belongs and we’ve built such a strong character in that world and it would have been a shame to lose that.”
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In September, it was announced that the third Spider-Man film is set to hit theaters in 2021, with Marvel president Kevin Feige once again stepping in as producer.
“I am thrilled that Spidey’s journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it,” Feige said in a statement. “Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe. He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold.”
Shortly after Sony Pictures announced the news, Holland responded to the news by sharing a short clip of Leonardo DiCaprio from the film The Wolf of Wall Street, which left little doubt about how excited he was.
In the clip, DiCaprio’s character excitedly breaks the news that contrary to what people might have believed, he’s not going anywhere. “You know what? I’m not leaving. I’m not f— leaving!,” he shouts, as the group of men surrounding him celebrate wildly.
Letting the video speak for itself, Holland simply captioned it with a smirking emoji.
