Tom Holland Read ‘Spider-Man 4’ Script With Zendaya and Says It’s ‘Excellent’ but ‘Needs Work’; Fitting Sequel Into MCU Timeline Is a ‘Challenge We’re Facing’
Tom Holland revealed during an interview on the “Rich Roll Podcast” that he recently read a draft of the script for his fourth “Spider-Man” movie and “it needs work, but the writers are doing a great job.” Variety confirmed in September that “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton is in early talks to direct the sequel, taking over Holland’s franchise from his trilogy director Jon Watts.
“One of the things is that, with Marvel, your film is a small cog in a large machine,” Holland said about “Spider-Man 4” development. “That machine has got to keep running. You have to make sure you can fit into that timeline at the right time to benefit the bigger picture. That’s one of the challenges we’re facing. The time in which we need to get that done is a tall order but definitely achievable with the people we have working on it now.”
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“We have a creative and we have a pitch and a draft, which is excellent,” Holland added. “It needs work, but the writers are doing a great job. I read it three weeks ago and it really lit a fire in me. Zendaya and I sat down and read it together and we at times were bouncing around the living room like this is a real movie worthy of the fans’ respect.”
Holland has played Peter Parker/Spider-Man in three standalone films that were directed by Watts: “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017), “Spider-Man: Far From Home” (2019) and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021). He’s also appeared in Marvel blockbusters like “Avengers: Endgame.” Zendaya stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as MJ.
The ending to 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” saw Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange cast a spell that caused the entire world to forget who Peter Parker is, which also included his two closest friends MJ and Ned (Jacob Batalon). The upcoming “Spider-Man 4” would presumably begin with this dilemma.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed to Entertainment Weekly in February 2023 that Holland’s fourth “Spider-Man” movie was being written at the time. “All I will say is that we have the story,” he said then. “We have big ideas for that, and our writers are just putting pen to paper now.” Development on the script was paused amid the WGA strike later that year.
Last November, Holland told the Critics Choice Association that he’d only return as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in a fourth movie if the team involved could do the character justice.
“All I can say is that we have been actively engaging in conversations about what it could potentially look like for a fourth rendition of my character,” Holland told press at the time. “Whether or not we can find a way to do justice to the character is another thing.”
“I feel very protective over Spider-Man,” he added. “I feel very, very lucky that we were able to work on a franchise that got better with each movie, that got more successful with each movie, which I think is really rare, and I want to protect his legacy. So, I won’t make another one for the sake of making another one. It will have to be worth the while of the character.”
Watch Holland’s full interview on the “Rich Roll Podcast” in the video below.
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