Tom Holland's Spider-Man has more than cemented himself as a fan-favorite. The MCU's Peter Parker now has six blockbuster appearances under his belt, including mega-hits like Spider-Man Homecoming, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home. What's more is that Disney+ is developing an animated series, Spider-Man: Freshman Year which is set to take a look at Peter's early days as the Web-Slinger, before his live-action introduction in 2016's Captain America: Civil War.
This isn't the first time that Marvel Studios' Spider-Man has appeared in one of its animated projects. Peter, or a Variant of him, appeared in the fifth episode of What If...? as a survivor of a zombie outbreak. Freshman Year, however, will no doubt be sunnier in tone than that particular episode.
In What If...?, however, Parker was not voiced by Tom Holland; instead actor and singer Hudson Thames took over the role in the animated sphere. And now, it would seem that the new Spidey animated series will have another somewhat glaring omission.
Tom Holland Reportedly Not In Freshman Year
According to a report from The Illuminerdi, Tom Holland will not be providing any voice acting for the upcoming Spider-Man: Freshman Year Disney+ series. It's unknown at this time who will be taking on the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man for the show.
Why Isn't Holland Returning?
There could be several reasons as to why Tom Holland isn't reprising his Spider-Man role for Freshman Year.
Firstly, the actor may have just not wanted to commit to voicing the character for the series. It could be a matter of him not having time in his schedule, or maybe there was no room in the budget to cast such a high profile star. It could also be possible that Marvel Studios did not offer Holland enough money to do the show, although that seems less likely with Holland's enthusiasm for the character.
Maybe it could also be a rights issue with Sony Pictures? The studio, of course, owns the film rights to the Spider-Man character. And while Marvel themselves possess the ability to produce animated series featuring the wall-crawler, Freshman Year could be something of a gray area since it's specifically meant to be the MCU version of the character.
It could also be that Marvel just wants a more experienced voice actor in the role. Acting on screen and stage is one thing, but experts always note how voice acting is often a different beast entirely. What works for an actor in live-action might not necessarily translate to voicing the character in an animated production.
Of course, with Tom Holland reportedly not returning, what does this mean for his franchise co-stars? Will Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon and Zendaya come back to play May, Ned and MJ, respectively? This remains to be seen, but Marvel Studios does have an animation-focused panel coming up at SDCC on Friday, July 22. Perhaps additional information for the series will be revealed there?
It's presently unknown when Marvel Studios' Spider-Man Freshman Year will hit Disney+, but the best guess is that it will prep for a 2023 release.
