During the press tour for Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland has talked an awful lot about moving on from the franchise. While it's understandable that the actor is keen to tackle some new roles after spending a solid six years playing the web-slinger, it feels like this could be a public negotiating tactic to ensure he secures a huge new deal with Sony to continue playing Peter Parker.
That's pure speculation, of course, and we know nothing is set in stone with Spider-Man's big screen future. Fans don't want Holland to go anywhere, but the actor has now told People that while he's grateful to Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures, "I feel like we might be ready to say goodbye to Spider-Man." He did, however, mention that he doesn't want to say goodbye.
Instead, Holland seems concerned that keeping the character to himself might not be what's best for Spidey. "I don't want to be responsible for holding back the next young person that comes in who deserves it just as much," he explained. "I would love to see a future of Spider-Man that's more diverse — maybe you have a Spider-Gwen or a Spider-Woman. We've had three Spider-Mans in a row; we've all been the same. It'd be nice to see something different."
The fact is, there's room for Spider-Man and those female characters. That's also the case for Miles Morales, but for whatever reason, Sony is focusing on villains like Morbius and Kraven the Hunter rather than expanding their own Marvel Universe with these alternate web-slingers.
A Silk TV series is in the works, though, while Olivia Wilde is developing a Spider-Woman movie. Hopefully, these projects will help Holland realise there's still room for his Spider-Man as there are plenty of stories that can be told with Peter (including him potentially serving as a mentor to Miles).
What do you hope the future holds in store for the wall-crawler?