Tom Holland did his homework while developing Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
The Spider-Man actor told Esquire that he made an effort to become more involved in the film’s pre- and post-production periods, so he could help shape the film with fans in mind. He claims to have spent hours watching YouTube and listening to podcasts to find out what fans were “yearning for,” and then acted upon their desires. One such example is that he looked at what fans liked about Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s suits and applied some of those learnings to the new suit.
Holland has been pretty open about his desire to make Spider-Man: Brand New Day the best Spidey film he has done to date. Although all three of his films have had massive success, they have also been criticized by die-hard fans for various reasons. Some felt he was always relying on the help of others like Iron Man, he’s overreliant on tech, he doesn’t swing around enough, and his villains are often motivated by other characters – like Mysterio having a grudge against Tony Stark.
Holland also had leverage with this film. His contract for Spider-Man was up after No Way Home, which meant he was able to have some control over how fast they made the next movie. Not only did he seemingly want a break from playing Peter Parker, but he has also talked openly about wanting to make the movie worthwhile rather than doing it just because people expect another Spider-Man movie. The actor recently told GQ that his experience on The Odyssey influenced his approach to his return to Spider-Man.
“I was really able to lay down the law and say, ‘We are not going to come to set and figure it out,’” Holland said. “‘We need to know why we are making this movie beyond the fact that it’s Spider-Man 4 and they make loads of money and we’re going to just have a big summer. Why are we making this movie?’ And Destin was super instrumental in that, but it was just really great to constantly be calling up the studio and [producers] Amy [Pascal] and Rachel [O’Connor], who I love, and be like, ‘Well, Chris is doing it this way. This is how I think we should be doing it.’”
Ultimately, we’ll have to wait and see if Spider-Man: Brand New Day sticks the landing, but it certainly feels like a different movie from the last three. A new trailer is expected to drop tomorrow alongside ticket sales, so fans should get an even better idea of what’s to come.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will hit cinemas on July 30th, but Amazon Prime users will be able to buy tickets to an early showing on July 28th.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
