For a long time,Robert Downey Jr.was the heart of the MCU, having introduced the MCU back in 2008 withIron Man, mentored Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and ultimately sacrificed himself to save the entire planet in final battle against Thanos. With Downey Jr. and Tony Stark now gone,Avengers: EndgamedirectorJoe Russohas said that he believes Holland is now the core actor of the MCU’s future, and considering the attentionSpider-Man: No Way Homeis getting, you would be hard pressed to disagree.
During the premiere ofHolland’sthird solo outing as Spider-Man, Russo explained how he always had a feeling that Holland would at some point take over the important role Downey Jr. played in the overall MCU picture. At the event he explained his thoughts toComicBook.com:
“The reason why he cast him was he was a really dynamic, charismatic actor. He captured the essence of Peter Parker for us, that youthful, funny, sarcastic, charming, vulnerable, version of Peter Parker that I knew growing up and reading the comics. So, I said this not too long ago, but I really feel like he’s taken over the mantle as sort of this soul of the Marvel universe, the emotional core of it. The audience has been through a lot with his character. I think they feel very emotionally connected to his character and here we are in a gigantic, climactic, movie for the Home series.”
Spider-Man has always been Marvel’s most visually iconic character, appearing on more merchandise than any other comic book hero the company has to offer, but when it comes to bringing the character to screens, his history has been a little bit checkered. From the low budget TV movies of the late 70s and early 80s, through to the well-received cinema outings of theSam Raimiera starring Tobey Maguire, and to Andrew Garfield’s stint inThe Amazing Spider-Manduology, there have been hits and misses across the board and it has been a struggle to give the web-slinger any kind of longevity with the same actor in the role.
Tom Holland’s introduction as Spider-Man came only two years afterAndrew Garfield’sThe Amazing Spider-Man 2failed to quite hit the mark and saw this the end of his run as Peter Parker, but being part of the ensemble cast ofCaptain America: Civil Warmeant that Holland’s new, much younger take on the character was given time to develop while not having all the attention focused on him along. By the timeSpider-Man Homecomingarrived a year later, fans already felt like they knew who the new Spider-Man was and the film had the added advantage of also featuring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, along with Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, making it once again seem like this version of Peter Parker was part of something bigger.
With Peter Parker forced to contemplate his future in the wake of Tony Stark’s death,Spider-Man: Far From Homesaw the character evolve into an Avenger quite capable of going solo, and that is what has led us to where we are now with Spider-Man on the verge of the biggest adventure of his life inSpider-Man: No Way Home,and despite early rumors ofthis being Peter Parker’s own Endgame, there is little doubt that we will be seeing him again in the MCU’s future.
