Doing the rounds to promote Spider-Man: No Way Home last year, Tom Holland frequently reiterated his apparent reluctance to continue playing Peter Parker. There's been speculation it was a public negotiating tactic on the actor's part in order to secure a huge new deal for the next Spider-Man trilogy, though there were some specific comments that jumped out at fans.
Holland, who is 25, said he believes that if he was still playing Spider-Man at 30, he'd have done something wrong in his career. Now, though, the Uncharted star has taken the opportunity to clarify that.
"What I was basically trying to say is that if I am 30 and still playing Spider-Man and I haven't passed on the baton to a Miles Morales or a Spider-Woman or something more diverse, then I will have done something wrong in the sense of duties that I have to the character," he explained. "Not that if I'm playing Spider-Man in my 30s I'm some washed-up has-been. That's not what I was saying at all."
It appears Holland is determined to pass on the mantle of Spider-Man, though it does still feel a little soon for that when his Peter has only just graduated high school. There's a chance the character will have been allowed to grow up a little by the next time we see him, of course, and Sony Pictures is already developing a Spider-Woman movie with Olivia Wilde set to direct.
The prospect of the next Spider-Man trilogy featuring Peter teaming up with Miles Morales certainly isn't a bad thing, though, and it's hard to imagine Holland is done with the role quite yet.
After all, Spider-Man: No Way Home was a huge hit, while the movie's final few moments made it clear there's still plenty of story left to tell. With any luck, an official announcement about Spider-Man 4 is coming soon, though Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige have already confirmed it's in the works.