It’s not as unusual as you might think for screenwriters to be inspired by fan communities. Huge franchises, like Lord of the Rings and (famously) Doctor Who, have changed plot lines and even given characters bigger roles thanks to viewers’ theories and opinions.
So when Tom Holland told Waitrose’s The Dish podcast he’d done the same for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, he joined the ranks of some of the greats.
Speaking about his Peter Parker role, he told the hosts Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw: “it is not something that I think I will ever get tired of. You know, I, I think there’s something so special about Peter Parker as a character. That I think people just love him because he feels like just a regular human being. He’s so relatable.”
He added that he’s enjoyed “more responsibility” in the newest instalment of the franchise.
“I was welcomed into the writers’ room and worked with the director – and collaborated on like what the film should be,” Tom said.
“And I think what I’ve really enjoyed is spending, you know, months and months and months just looking at what the fans wanted online. So, I felt like when I was in the room with the writers, I was like the representative of the fans.”
His Spider-Man and The Odyssey co-star, wife Zendaya, also told Associated Pressshe felt the love (and pressure) from the Marvel character’s huge fandom.
She pointed out that Spider-Man fandom can be generational, and each member of the fandom has a “special connection [to the characters] in their own way.
“You want to do justice to that. You want to make sure that you’re doing the best work so that people feel seen and heard and understood, and you want to do justice to the characters,” she said.
Online forums and comments weren’t Tom’s only inspo, however.
On Dish, he said: “There’s a huge part of the movie that is all my brother’s idea – and you know, sitting down with him and getting to watch that and see how, like, we’ve all kind of we all kind of exist in that world – is really awesome.”
