Spider-Man: Far From Home lays the groundwork for the future of Marvel and Tom Holland
There’s a moment in Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home where Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) tries to convince Peter Parker (Tom Holland) to abandon his school trip to come save the world.
Peter — fresh off of the highly emotional events of Avengers: Endgame and still reeling from the death of his mentor Tony Stark — is reluctant to shoulder responsibility again so soon, and struggles against his Spider-Man duties.
“In our iteration of Spider-Man, Peter Parker gets on with everyone,” Holland said. “Even with Flash, who’s his bully, there’s kind of a good rapport there. But with Nick Fury, (he) just keeps butting heads, which is quite fun for me to play. But it’s also tough arguing with Sam Jackson, it’s pretty scary. There’s a bit in the trailer where he says, ‘Bitch please, you’ve been to space.’ It’s kind of every actor’s dream to be called a bitch by Sam Jackson.”
Jumping-off point
For director Jon Watts, also returning from Homecoming, the intense emotional stakes of Endgame presented a unique challenge to explore in the Spidey sequel.
“I like to see it as an opportunity,” he said. “So many crazy things happen in that film and so many questions are left unresolved. It really helped focus this film and create a very strong emotional jumping-off point for our story and for Peter.”
For those keeping track, Far From Home marks the official end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s third phase and concludes the decade-spanning Infinity Saga.
Though plans for the next phase of Marvel titles remain tightly under wraps (at least until the studio’s reported appearance at San Diego Comic-Con next month), Marvel president Kevin Feige confirmed that fans will find a few hints of what’s to come in Far From Home.
“I think every film we make heads up where we go in the future,” he said. “There are things you can see of how it’ll tie directly into both future ‘Spider-Man’ films and future MCU films.”
One question unlikely to be answered anytime soon: Whether the next phase of MCU titles will build an epic overarching storyline, Ã la the formation of the Avengers and super-villain Thanos’ quest for the Infinity stones.
“Even the Infinity Saga was built one film at a time,” said Feige. “That’s the way we’ll be focussing on things going forward. The fun comes in how to link them together into a bigger picture but that usually doesn’t come into view for many years.”
New additions
While bringing Spider-Man into the MCU fold involved deal-making between the Disney-owned Marvel and Sony — the studio that retains rights to Spidey’s screen incarnations — Disney’s recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox has opened up new possibilities. Marvel Studios now has direct access to a wealth of Marvel comics characters who were tied up at Fox, including the X-Men, Deadpool and the Fantastic Four.
Adding them to the mix would cause a fan frenzy akin to when Spidey joined Captain America but Feige cautions it could be a while before those characters factor into the MCU.
“A lot of what we’ve been developing was initially developed before that acquisition happened but I will say it is wonderful to have access to the majority of our characters again,” said Feige. “Most companies that have created characters have control of all those characters and that has not been the case for Marvel Studios for many years. Now that so many of them from the Fox acquisition have come home, it’s an embarrassment of riches, an immense toy chest to play with.”
While all eyes will be on Far From Home for clues about Marvel’s future, the notoriously spoiler-prone Holland is still recovering from harbouring the knowledge of Iron Man’s death in Endgame long before the audience saw it.
“I nearly had to sew my mouth shut,” he said. “I think what people forget when it comes to these films is that I’m a fan. Before I was even considering becoming an actor, I was obsessed with these films. When I find out spoilers, I want to talk to people about it because I can’t quite believe it. I just get so excited, honestly, and I want to share the information because the term ‘break the Internet’ is a real thing. And if you know something that could break the Internet, it’s kind of a cool power to have,” he added.
Secret’s out
For the filming of Tony Stark’s death scene in Endgame, the filmmakers did not tell Holland why the cast was assembling.
“When I walked on set, it was Robert [Downey Jr], Gwyneth [Paltrow], Don [Cheadle], myself, [co-directors] the Russos and Kevin Feige, and they [told us the truth] and I, like all the fans, felt like someone had just pulled the rug from under my feet. There was no real script, just ‘This is what’s going to happen. We know you guys are so emotionally invested in these characters that whatever you do will be truthful.’
“For me, it was just my moment to say thank you to Robert for being my mentor for the past five years and hopefully for the future of my career,” Holland added. “I think there were even moments where I improvised and said, ‘Robert, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.’ And when you say stuff like that to someone you love — even now, thinking about it, I’m getting a little choked up — the emotions kind of come through.”
Loss is a major aspect of Peter Parker’s journey throughout the comics, which was another reason director Watts was excited to tackle the Endgame fallout in Far From Home.
“Losing Uncle Ben, losing Gwen Stacy, so much of what shapes him as a character is tied into the people that he cares about being lost,” Watts said. “So the fact that he’s losing Tony as well allowed us to explore some of those iconic Spider-Man themes.”
Role-ing on
As the world waits to discover what’s next for Marvel (also rumoured to include a third Spider-Man adventure, perhaps sooner than some may expect), Holland is simultaneously plotting his acting career outside of the franchise. He has a whopping six films slated for release over the next 12 months, including a voiceover role in Universal’s The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, starring Downey, and the lead in Netflix’s The Devil All the Time, produced by Holland’s Far From Home co-star Jake Gyllenhaal.
He’ll also reunite with Endgame filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo for the drama Cherry, about an Iraq war veteran grappling with PTSD and opioid addiction.
“He turns to drugs and becomes a bank robber,” Holland said of his character. “And for me, it’s a very exciting prospect because it’s a very different role to anything I’ve done before.”
Still, Holland admits the transition from Marvel’s massive productions to smaller-scale films has been challenging.
“You can get so spoiled when you make these big films,” said Holland. “I felt that a little bit this year. Devil All the Time is a really small little indie film with a wonderful director, Antonio Campos. And I was on set like, ‘Why is this taking so long? What’s going on here?’ You get spoiled when you have a crew of 500 people and 12 cameras and anything’s possible.”
As Holland pauses to consider what else might come next, he reveals one genre he’s especially keen to try. “Part of me would really love to do a funny film,” he said. “I think I’m a pretty funny person and I think it would be fun to do. I just love challenges, me. I don’t want to do the same thing twice.”