Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios
Tom Holland is now 30 years old and is still playing Spider-Man. According to his own words, that means he’s done something wrong.
During a recent interview alongside Matt Damon and Robert Pattinson to promote their upcoming film The Odyssey, Tom Holland — who has yet to truly forge a compelling acting career outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is likely hoping his performance in Christopher Nolan’s epic changes that — attempted to reframe his infamous comment about playing Spidey in the third decade of his life.
Tom Holland attempted to reframe his viral 2021 comments in which he said if he was still playing Spider-Man at 30, he’s “done something wrong”
Back in 2021, Holland told GQ that “If I’m playing Spider-Man after I’m 30, I’ve done something wrong.” Speaking to the same outlet five years later, Holland attempted to position those comments as a “negotiation tactic.”
“I could also have been trying to leverage Sony and scare them into thinking I wasn’t going to do Spider-Man 4 now that I had a new deal on the horizon,” Holland said.
“So I don’t know what it could have been. It could’ve been part of a strategy to create fear. I think the truth is that playing Spider-Man has been the joy of my life. I now kind of stand on the plinth of like, I’ll do it for as long as they’ll have me.”
Given his role as Spider-Man — one of the most popular fictional characters in existence — and his relationship with Zendaya, he’s maintained a certain level of movie stardom. His filmography since joining the MCU in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, however, is unfortunately a far cry from an actor being on top of his game.
Other than comic book movies, Holland has starred in the following films since 2016: Edge of Winter, The Lost City of Z (a legitimately good movie, which also featured Pattinson), Pilgrimage, The Current War, Spies in Disguise (animated), Dolittle (voice role), Onward (animated), The Devil All the Time (again alongside Pattinson), Cherry, Chaos Walking, and Uncharted.
Of those ten films, only one of them — at least as far as the live-action titles go — is well-regarded, and that’s James Gray’s The Lost City of Z, which was released the same year he made his debut as Peter Parker/Spider-Man (2016).
For comparison, his The Odyssey co-star Robert Pattinson — albeit 10 years older than Holland — has starred in films such as Good Time, High Life, The Lighthouse, The King, Tenet, The Batman, Mickey 17, Die My Love, The Drama, Primetime, and Dune: Part Three over the last decade.