This week’s cover story for The Hollywood Reporter features Holland in the spotlight and the charming talent reveals some interesting information about his contract with Marvel and the direction Spidey is headed within the MCU.
It’s a big morning for Spider-Man: Homecoming. The web-slinger made his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe this past summer in Captain America: Civil War. While I can still remember the incredible experience I had seeing Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man in theaters like it was yesterday, the moment I saw Tom Holland appear on-screen in the Civil War, it hit me like a truck: for the first time ever I was seeing the real Peter Parker.
Hollands performance was universally praised by critics and fans alike. It was a much-needed win for Marvel (and Sony) after not one, but two Spider-Man franchises fell apart across town in Culver City, California. Sony wasn’t ready to relinquish the rights back over to Marvel Studios but the two were able to find a common ground. Marvel would produce the film and Sony would distribute while maintaining final approval on the creative direction of the project.
This week’s cover story for The Hollywood Reporter features Holland in the spotlight and the charming talent reveals some interesting information about his contract with Marvel and the direction Spidey is headed within the MCU.
They give you options and those could be exercised whenever. Like a cameo in Avengers. I’m unclear as to which movies, though. I do know I have three Spider-Man [appearances in other] movies and three solo movies contracted. But if you have another movie, Marvel is so good at working around it. They’re very respectful of your life, really. They understand that you have to work on other movies, and they try and fix it up so you can work around each other.
So far, Holland has one appearance and one solo feature under his belt. Marvel currently has the next two Avengers films in development, the first of which, Avengers Infinity War begins shooting this spring. With two more appearances currently written into Hollands contract at this point, it would seem likely he will appear in at least one of the next two Avengers films.
Actress, singer, and dancer Zendaya is set to make her American silver-screen debut in Spider-Man: Homecoming. There has been a lot of speculation on the internet as to who she would be playing after her character was revealed to be named Michelle, which many thought to be a misdirect to conceal her role as Mary Jane Watson. After a photo posted to Instagram revealed the actress with red hair, the internet exploded with click-bait headlines suggesting Zendaya was, in fact, playing the jackpot herself. But other than a photo of her with red hair, there was no concrete evidence suggesting she was playing MJ. As it stands, she is still officially Michelle and the more we learn about the upcoming film, the less likely it seems she’ll be Mary Jane.
Zendaya also spoke with THR and confirmed that she is indeed NOT the love interest in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
My character is not romantic. My character is like very dry, awkward, intellectual and because she’s so smart, she just feels like she doesn’t need to talk to people, like ‘My brain is so far ahead of you that you’re just not really on my level.’ So she comes off very weird. But to me, she is very cool because she’s deep. She’s always thinking about something, always reading.
Zendaya also offered a very candid reaction to the rumors on the net about her playing the role of MJ.
People are going to react over anything. But nothing [about who she is playing] is fact. It’s like, you guys are just making shit up at this point and then reacting to it. Whenever we were on set, one of us gets some random character name [on the call sheet]. [Bloggers were] like, ‘Oh they must be so and so.’ And we just crack up about it, because it’s like, ‘Whatever you want to think. You’ll find out.’ It’s funny to watch the guessing game.”
Zendaya is absolutely right. Some bloggers tend to sell rumors as fast or totally misconstrue comments made by an actor or someone involved in a production for the sake of clicks. I’m glad to see the actress is offering some clarification and putting the kibosh on the rumors surrounding her character.
Lastly, the villain known as the Vulture, a former electronics engineer who creates a special harness of his own design allowing him to fly and providing him with enhanced strength has been rumored to be featured in the last several Spider-Man films including the Sam Raimi’s cancelled Spider-Man 4 as well as Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro.
Naturally, when it was announced Michael Keaton was on board to play the film’s villain, the rumors once again began to spread that the villain was going to be The Vulture. In this case, it has actually turned out to be true. President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige casually confirmed Keaton would indeed be playing the character to the Toronto Sun (h/t IGN) last Wednesday.
We’ve had a wish list and most of them in the near-term are coming together. Cate Blanchett is playing Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. Michael Keaton’s Vulture in Spider-Man is something. And of course, finally, we’re showcasing Josh Brolin’s Thanos (in Avengers: Infinity War). We’re looking forward to that very much.
An official synopsis for the film so it’s difficult to speculate as to which comic storyline the film will take influence from. The only thing we know for sure is that tonally, the film will take influence from the teen comedies by John Hughes in the 80’s.
The film stars Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Donald Glover, Zendaya, Martin Starr, Marisa Tomei, and Robert Downey Jr. with a script penned by Jonathan Goldstein and John Frances Daley, directed by Jon Watts.
Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters July 7, 2017.
SOURCE: THR, TORONTO SUN
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