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Marvel's Tom Holland set the (gymnastics) bar pretty high for future Spider-Man auditions

Jon Watts and Joe Russo were wowed by an actual acrobatics display from Holland's Spider-Man audition, though no one's saying if he brought his own web shooters

Tom Holland Spider-Man backflip
Image credit: Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Does whatever a spider can, indeed.

Tom Holland's in the news right now (but really, when isn't he?) promoting his brand of non-alcoholic beer, Bero. But since you're not going to sit down with a Spider-Man without talking about Spider-Man, the actor's recent Men's Health profile turned from slinging drinks to slinging webs, and happened to uncover a very Peter Parker-esque fact about the 28-year-old actor. Apparently, Holland came into his audition for the Marvel role with an actual acrobatics display.

"He entered the scene at one of the auditions by doing a flip!" said director Joe Russo, who of course directed Holland as Marvel's wall-crawler in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers, Endgame. But it was the director of the actual MCU Spider-Man films who had the most to say on the subject.

"He just was so young and sweet," said Watts, "and just charming, and then in the audition, he did a full backflip, like a standing backflip, in addition to being really great on tape [...] It was like watching a video of the real Peter Parker." Watts went on to point to the much-memed video of Holland dancing to Rihanna's Umbrella as a further example of Holland's physicality in performing.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd be pretty nervous to follow after that if I was an up-and-coming actor auditioning for Spider-Man one day. I'm just saying, if part of what got Holland cast was his ability to perform Spider-Man-like moves, logic dictates they're going to be looking for an even more Parkerian actor for the next go-round.

So get working on that light precognition, young hopefuls.

Tom Holland will return as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the MCU's Spider-Man 4, which is slated for July 24, 2026.

(PS - If you're wondering about the image above; that's not Tom's audition. That's him in full Spider-attire at the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, no doubt making his heroic persona proud.)


Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

 

Grant DeArmitt

Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. As Popverse's Staff Writer, he criss-crosses the pop culture landscape bringing you the news and opinions about the big things (and the next big things). In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.

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