Tom Holland's Spider-Man: No Way Home brought plenty of status quo changes upon its release. The Multiverse is real, Matt Murdock is back in action, Marisa Tomei's Aunt May is dead, and somehow, more importantly, everyone in the universe has forgotten Peter Parker exists. Spider-Man is lonelier than lonely, which won't be easy going forward.
But what is next? The story attempts to leave the character in somewhat of a hopeful place despite his grim circumstances. He's started a new life, and that simplified existence, for better or worse, is going to allow Peter to focus completely on his duties as New York City's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Oddly enough, despite there clearly being more stories to tell about Holland's Peter Parker, nothing is set in stone yet—besides Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige himself confirming that a fourth entry in the franchise is in development. But apparently, according to Holland himself, his future in the MCU is still in question.
The actor has attempted to hint that No Way Home might actually be his final adventure as the wall-crawler. It's something he continues to reinforce in a new interview, which he conducted with Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire.
The End of Tom Holland's Spider-Man?
In an interview with Deadline, alongside Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, Spider-Man: No Way Home star Tom Holland was asked if this was truly the end of his time as the famous webhead.
Holland claimed that "the truthful answer... is... I don't know the answer," and that "part of [him feels] like it's the perfect time to jump off the building and swing off into the sunset:"
“The truthful answer, and I’ve done a whole press tour where all I do is lie. The truth is, and you’re not going to like the truth, I don’t know the answer to that question. This film for me was as special as an experience could ever be. Sharing the screen with these guys. Playing Spiderman could be quite an alienating experience because, you know, we’re the only three blokes who have done it. So, to share that with you two, it’s been such a wonderful experience, of which I have such amazing memories. I don’t know, there’s part of me that feels like it’s the perfect time to jump off the building and swing off into the sunset and let the next lucky young kid come in to don the suit, or I might, I don’t know, buy a new house and need a paycheck and I’ll be back."
Holland admitted that he knows "[he's] not ready to say goodbyes," but that if it's time to go, "then [he] will do so proudly:"
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I know I love this character, and I know that I am not ready to say goodbye. But if it’s time for me to say goodbye, then I will do so proudly, knowing that I’ve achieved everything I wanted to with this character, and sharing it with these boys will be forever one of the most special experiences of my career. So, if it’s time, it’s time. If it’s not, it’s not, but at the moment, I don’t know.”
No, It Probably Isn't The End
It's odd for Tom Holland to continue trying to paint the picture that his days as Spider-Man are done. Obviously, the actor can't confirm anything solid about future MCU plans ahead of time, but for him to tell the world he might be stepping out of Peter's shoes was quite the bold move.
The movie sets the stage for more Spider-Man stories—Holland's Spidey, not somebody else's. The ending of No Way Home could be a fun, ambiguous ending for the series if it weren't attached to the MCU, which thrives off continuity and expansion.
Holland just stepping away would not only feel strange for the overall story, but it would simply be disrespectful to the character and all of the work that went into the first three MCU films. So much work has gone into making this version of Spider-Man into one of the strongest adaptations of the hero yet.
One possible reason that Tom Holland may be talking like this is leverage in his contract negotiations. Speaking in this way publically shows to Sony and Marvel Studios that he might be willing to actually walk away from the role. The actor almost shows his hand whilst joking about "buy[ing] a new house and need[ing] a paycheck."
Either way, it would be a shame to just flush it all down the drain. Hopefully, Holland sees that as well.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is playing in theaters worldwide.
