AVENGERS: ENDGAME Director Believes Tom Holland's Spider-Man Has Replaced Tony Stark As The MCU's "Soul"

In a recent GQ profile, 25-year-old Tom Holland seemingly made it clear that he has no intentions of playing Peter Parker beyond the age of 30. That leaves us with a finite amount of time to follow this Spider-Man's big screen journey, and there's currently nothing to say he'll stick around beyond Spider-Man: No Way Home.

For Joe Russo, however, Holland is irreplaceable as the character. "Tom is stepping into the role that Robert Downey once occupied for Marvel," the filmmaker tells the publication, "which is the favorite character, and in a lot of ways the soul of the Marvel universe."

There's no denying that Spider-Man is one of the most popular superheroes in the world today, and it's no wonder Disney fought to keep the character around after Sony's deal with them fell apart during production of Spider-Man: Far From Home. It's a shame Holland doesn't appear to be around for the long haul, though who knows how much could change once the negotiations begin.

As for what makes him such a perfect choice to play Spider-Man, Russo added: "He [has] a vulnerability and a wit, and an immense likability that felt to me like Peter Parker from the comics."

The Russo Brothers cast Holland as Peter in 2016's Captain America: Civil War and later worked with him on Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and their own AGBO movie Cherry. With rumours swirling that they plan to return to Marvel Studios for Secret Wars down the line, if anyone can convince Holland to suit up again, you have to believe it will be Joe and Anthony. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home arrives in U.S. on December 17 and in the UK on December 15.