Zendaya’s favorite part of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man performance has little to do with his stunts, action scenes or delivery as Peter Parker.
While promoting Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the actress praised the way her husband and costar represents the superhero away from the cameras.
According to , Zendaya believes Holland understands that younger fans may experience meeting him as though they are meeting Spider-Man himself.
Zendaya has also watched Holland take greater ownership of Peter Parker and the films built around him.
Zendaya Praised His Relationship With Young Fans
Zendaya was asked to identify her favorite aspect of Holland’s portrayal during a with Holland, Jacob Batalon and Sadie Sink. “My favorite thing about Tom’s Spider-Man is how Tom handles Spider-Man outside of Spider-Man,” she said.
Zendaya explained that Peter Parker has an especially powerful connection with children and younger viewers. “So many people connect to this character, to Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, and especially young people, especially children,” she said. “I think that he’s just handled that weight with such grace.”
She praised Holland for caring deeply about what Spider-Man means to other people and recognizing that the responsibility follows him beyond the movie set. “When you are in front of these kids, you are Spider-Man,” Zendaya said. “You are this person to them.” Turning directly toward Holland, she added, “I just love seeing what and how you carry Spider-Man through your life in real life.”
Holland Became More Involved Before the Script Was Finished
The five-year break between Spider-Man: No Way Home and Brand New Day gave Holland time to study audience reactions and consider what fans wanted from another installment. “It’s always been really important to me to feel like a representative of the fans,” Holland said.
He explained that he grew up watching the early Marvel Cinematic Universe films and understood the investment audiences had in Peter Parker. During the break, Holland said he regularly searched online discussions to better understand what viewers hoped to see when his Spider-Man returned.
“All I would do is comb through the internet and try and get a really good sense of what it is the people wanted,” he said. For the first time, Holland became involved in the creative process before the screenplay had been completed. “Bringing the voice of the fans to the writer’s room really gave us a leg up in creating something that’s really fun and different,” he said.
Fans Wanted a More Personal Spider-Man Story
Holland concluded that viewers wanted a story that felt smaller and more emotionally grounded than the multiverse-spanning events of No Way Home. Holland said the new film focuses more closely on Peter attempting to save himself.
The finds Peter fighting crime full-time in a world that no longer remembers him. Watching his former friends continue their lives without him begins triggering a transformation that Peter may be unable to control. That change could also become his only defense against a powerful new threat that no one can see.
Zendaya said Holland’s increased involvement allowed her to watch him place more of himself into the character and the direction of the franchise. “It’s been nice to be able to see you kind of really take even more ownership of the films and the character,” she told him.
They Joined the Marvel Universe at 19
Holland and Zendaya were both 19 when they joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Their first film together, Spider-Man: Homecoming, opened in 2017, followed by Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019 and Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021.
Zendaya said the years since their casting have brought greater wisdom and allowed both actors to understand the characters from a more mature perspective. Holland admitted that when he first received the role, he was primarily overwhelmed by the excitement of becoming Spider-Man.
He now understands more clearly what he called the “stakes and the scope and scale” of carrying the franchise. “After the third movie came out, making this film was the most nervous I’d been stepping onto set as Spider-Man,” Holland said in a separate interview. “But it’s been quadruply fulfilling because of those nerves.”
“These movies are something that we absolutely loved making, and the opportunity and responsibility is something that we’ve never taken for granted,” he said. He hopes audiences eventually remember the years surrounding his version of Peter Parker as an enjoyable period in the franchise’s history.