2017's SPIDER-MAN Is Not THE DARK KNIGHT, Will Be The "Biggest Independent Film Ever"
Confirming director Jon Watts' comments about the upcoming Spider-Man reboot having a John Hughes vibe, star Tom Holland expanded on the topic just a bit. Plus, see what he had to say about his mic drop moment during his screen test with Chris Evans & a lot, lot more! Check it out!
On June 23, after a worldwide casting search, Sony Pictures & Marvel Studios finally announced Tom Holland (In The Heart Of The Sea) would be playing their new Peter Parker, better known as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Where was Holland at the time of the announcement? Well, he was in the midst of having a pretty "terrible day" and was on his way home, casually scrolling through Instagram when he saw Marvel's account had posted a photo of the iconic wall-crawler: "I saw Marvel had posted a photo of Spider-Man with the message, ‘We have cast the new Spider-Man! Go to our website to see who it is.’” Being a finalist for the part made the 19-year-old actor all the more nervous as he gingerly made his way over to Marvel's official website, clicked the link, learned about the life-altering news, and subsequently lost his mind: "I learned about it online with everybody else, and I just went bananas.”
Before he got ahead of himself though, his brother Harry quickly reminded him to get in touch with his agents first just to make sure the news wasn't some sort of elaborate hoax. His agents quickly confirmed the news with the studio and the celebration was on, but before he could get to that, Holland received a welcome to the team call from Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige, who congratulated him for landing the part: "Then I got a phone call from [Marvel honcho] Kevin Feige who said, ‘I just want you to know that we’ve cast you as Spider-Man,’ and I thought, ‘I know! I already saw it online.’ But he was very nice and welcoming."
Looking back at his extensive auditioning process, Holland reflected on trying to find a way to send Marvel a self-tape, but then being caught off-guard when his agent told him that Marvel had actually requested a self-tape from him: "I know they’re trying to make Miles Morales, but let me try and send a self-tape.” The agent replied, “Actually, they’ve requested you to send a self-tape.” This surely came as a shock to Holland as he was incorrectly under the impression that Marvel was adapting Miles Morales, but what really thrilled him was that Marvel actually knew who he was: “That alone was crazy, I couldn’t quite believe that Marvel knew who I was.”
He quickly got to work making self-tapes with the help of several of his co-stars, including future comic-book heroes Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad) and Jon Bernthal (Daredevil). By the end of the process, Holland had sent in five tapes total and had finally reached the in-person audition stage. He first met for a reading with Marvel's casting director Sarah Finn and was then asked to do a screen test with Marvel's two biggest stars - Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans. His first screen test was with Downey Jr. and you can read about it in detail HERE.
His second screen test with Evans may have been the more fruitful one as he decided to showcase a few of his skills near the end and more or less had a mic drop moment when all was said and done: "We had to do a movement test and then I said, ‘Can I just demonstrate some of the things that I can do?’ and they all were a little unsure of what I was talking about, and then I did a series of backflips and landed on the X, and was like, ‘Thank you!’ and then just left.” Considering he ultimatley got the role, it sure sounds like his big leap of faith paid off.
Speaking on whether or not there was some sort of initiation ceremony that took place once he landed the role, Holland joyfully exclaimed that “It’s a secret!” before further elaborating: "No, there was one process that I went through—which I can’t tell you about right now, because it would give some stuff away—but the thing about shooting Civil War is it made me so, so excited to start shooting Spider-Man. And I’ve got to wait so long until we start shooting... But it’s soon. It’s close. And I’m ready.” Now, that's certainly exciting.
As for his own solo Spider-Man feature film, which hits theaters July 28, 2017, Holland corroborated what director Jon Watts has previously said about the upcoming film being a sort of John Hughes-inspired version of Spider-Man, adding that it wouldn't possess the dark and brooding tone of Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed near-masterpiece The Dark Knight. He also reiterated how the film will be more like a big-budget indie over anything else and sort of confirms rumors of a scaled-back story: “It’s not The Dark Knight. One of the special things about what we’re going to try and create is that you’re going to see the biggest independent film ever. It’s not going to be an epic thing; it’s going to be a film surrounded by these incredible things, but that follows this boy and his life. Peter Parker is a favorite of many because everyone can relate to him, and we’re going to try to make everyone relate to our Peter Parker. And John Hughes is a perfect example of what we’re going to try and do.”
The late Hughes directed several '80s classics such as The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, & Ferris Bueller's Day Off, so if Watts & Holland are seeking a more uplifting tone for Spidey, which quite frankly suits the wall-crawler much better than anything dark, it should be an exciting prospect for fans.
So, what do you guys think? Sound off with your thoughts below!
“Captain America: Civil War” picks up where “Avengers: Age of Ultron” left off, as Steve Rogers leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain.
Captain America: Civil War will feature:
Directors: Anthony & Joe Russo
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon
Paul Bettany as The Vision
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Don Cheadle as Jim Rhodes/War Machine
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man
Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther
Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter/Agent 13
Daniel Brühl as Baron Helmut Zemo
Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones
William Hurt as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross
Martin Freeman in an undisclosed role
Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter
Marisa Tomei as May Parker
Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
Captain America: Civil War hits theaters May 6, 2016