While it certainly isn’t a superhero movie by any means, the upcoming indie drama Pilgrimage has an interesting footnote inMarvelCinematic Universe history. If it weren’t for this movie, we may not haveTom Hollandas the newSpider-Man, orJon BernthalasThe PunisherinSeason 2ofDaredevil. While doing press for the upcoming season,Jon Bernthalrevealed that, while they were filming Pilgrimage in Ireland, they were both helping each other make audition tapes from the set. Here’s whatJon Bernthalhad to say in an interview withNew York Daily News.
“We were making tapes from Ireland in the process of getting him cast inSpider-Manand then he and I made a tape for The Punisher. During this independent movie that we did in Ireland we were constantly making tapes forMarvel- just acting together. These tapes definitely do exist, you may call Marvel and ask for it, but that’s like breaking into Fort Knox.”
Hopefully, some day, we’ll get to see these audition tapes, perhaps as part of Blu-ray/DVD extras, but their teamwork was first teased this past summer. Back in July,Tom Hollandshared a photo with both actors on Instagram, which surfaced just weeks after both actors were cast in their respective roles. While some wondered if this could tease a possible Spidey/Punisher crossover, the actor did include the hashtag #Pilgrimage, revealing it was a photo from the set of that movie.
Tom Hollandalso revealed in December that he actually had help from two different actors in auditioning forSpider-Man. The young actor was shootingBackcountryfirst, where he enlisted the help of co-starJoel Kinnamanto make two audition tapes, before moving on to Pilgrimage, where he andJon Bernthalmade three more tapes. Obviously it all worked out, butTom Hollandalso reached out to another MCU star,Chris Hemsworth, who he-co-starred with in the 2015 adventureIn the Heart of the Sea.
Tom Hollandrevealed in November that he asked theThor: Ragnarokstar to “put in a good word” for him, and the actor certainly did oblige. Of course, we don’t know how much influenceChris Hemsworth’s recommendation had on the casting, but it certainly couldn’t have hurt. Here’s whatChris Hemsworthhad to say about recommendingTom Holland.
“I called the guys at Marvel when they were casting (Spider-Man) and I heard he was in the final handful of guys and said, ‘Look for what it’s worth you’re not going to meet a harder working more appreciative kind of guy. I was so blown away by his sort of attitude and work ethic and how good he was.’ But then I said to Tom, ‘I’ve told them that, so don’t prove me wrong.'”
Since bothTom HollandandJon Bernthalwere auditioning for characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s possible that they may have actually played Peter Parker and Frank Castle together in these tapes. Obviously, the actors hadn’t won the roles yet, and we assume they didn’t have access to the Spidey and Punisher costumes on the Ireland set, but if these tapes do feature the first performances ofTom HollandandJon Bernthalas Peter Parker and Frank Castle, they may certainly become hot commodities. What do you think about these new details?
