Tom Holland on how he helped keep Spider-Man at Marvel with tipsy Disney call: 'It wasn't like I was smashed'
Tom Holland may only play a superhero on the screen, but the 23-year-old actor proved he flexes some serious might in Hollywood when he helped negotiate a new deal between Sony and Disney last fall that returned Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This followed a month-long period of anxiety for fans (and Holland) as it looked liked Spidey's lucrative tangle with the Avengers, which kicked off with 2016's Captain America: Civil War, was over.
Speaking with Yahoo Entertainment while promoting Pixar's new adventure Onward, where he was joined by co-star (and fellow Avenger) Chris Pratt, Holland looked back on the ordeal and his role communicating with Sony film chairman Tom Rothman and Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger. He broke it down via three distinct phases.
First, gratitude and diplomacy. "It was a huge learning curve for me, and I was very, very grateful that the two studios allowed me to be a part of that process," Holland said (watch above). "Tom Rothman and Bob Iger were both equally as eager to make this deal happen, and I'm so glad that we were able to do it because I think Spider-Man is now where he belongs. He's home in the MCU and I'm so grateful that I get to keep playing him in that place. And I hope that [Chris Pratt and I] get to share the screen again one day."
Then a bit of self-reflection: "Yeah it was a stressful time but at the end of the day you get thrown things and it's how you deal with them, which is what makes you who you are."
And finally, in what we've come to expect and relish from Holland, pure, unadulterated candidness.
"I feel like I handled it pretty well. I mean, I had a few drunken nights out with my mates, like [blubbering] 'What's going to happen with Spider-Man?' But we figured it out."
Holland has mentioned the pint-swigging that preceded one especially fateful call with Iger before, but says the media embellished his round count.
"It's so funny how the press twists stories, though. Like I told the story that I had a few pints and Bob rang me. And then you read [the coverage] and it's like, 'Tom Holland was lying on the floor totally drunk when he spoke to Bob Iger.' I mean, I had a couple beers. It wasn't like I was smashed."
Added Pratt, always quick with the one-liner: "Let's clear the record. It was Bob Iger who was drunk. OK?"
Onward opens March 6; visit Fandango for ticket and showtime information.
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