Tom Holland Reveals How Robert Downey Jr. Shook Up His Spider-Man Audition
Tom Holland reminisces on his screen test with Robert Downey Jr. as he auditioned to be Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man. After Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment signed a deal to share the rights to the hero, the actor debuted Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War. From there, he's appeared four more times in the franchise in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Much of Spider-Man's arc in the MCU thus far is linked to his relationship with Iron Man. Even after the genius, billionaire died in Endgame after pulling a sacrificial play, his presence loomed over Far From Home as it dealt with Peter's grief over losing his mentor and grappling with the legacy he left behind. This all began with their initial introduction in Civil War when Tony recruited Peter for Team Iron Man as he battled with Team Captain America. Given this, it only made sense that while casting the role, Marvel Studios wanted to see how their future Spider-Man would play with Downey on the screen.
Fortunately for Holland, he was able to do well in his Spider-Man audition, even when Downey threw a curveball at him and started improvising. It didn't help that his agents told him to stick to the script as he told fellow MCU star, Daniel Kaluuya, on Variety's Actors on Actors.
"My agents told me that Marvel likes you to learn the words exactly — you can’t improvise. And then, on the first take, Downey just completely changed the scene. We started riffing with each other, and I mean, to sound like a bit of a dick, I rang my mum afterward and was like, ‘I think I’ve got it.’”
Peter and Tony's dynamic is one of the most integral — not to mention the most fun to watch in the MCU. Both arguably benefited from it: Peter, getting the guidance to become Spider-Man and be more comfortable being part of the bigger superhero universe, and Tony learning about fatherhood that eventually prepared him to be a father himself. It also helped him come to terms with his dad, Howard Stark's shortcomings with him. Admittedly, however, not everyone is a fan of how Marvel Studios utilized their relationship, arguing that Spider-Man should be a hero of his own. Granted, there's an argument to be made about how the franchise may have overdone it, pairing up Downey and Holland only made sense, especially since they have incredible chemistry as proved by this story.
Following a brief conflict between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2019, Holland's Spider-Man was almost pulled out from the MCU. Luckily, they were able to come up with a new agreement that would keep the wall-crawler in the franchise for the foreseeable future. This gives Marvel the opportunity to finally establish Spider-Man as his own hero with Iron Man already gone. This is especially possible since Spider-Man 3 is set to be a cornerstone for the franchise's multiverse.
Source: Variety