It’s been 10 years since Tom Holland first entered the MCU as Spider-Man, thwipping his way into Captain America: Civil War. Across a decade which brought an entire Spider-Man trilogy and several super-sized Avengers team-ups, Holland really got to know what makes his Spidey tick. And so, after taking a break from the character after the world-conquering Spider-Man: No Way Home, when the time came to return for the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Holland became instrumental in creatively contributing to the next era of Peter Parker.
Who better to help steer Spidey’s new adventures than the guy in the suit? “This is the first time in my tenure as Spider-Man that I was kind of welcomed into the writers’ room,” Holland reveals to Empire, adding that he and the producers would “meet once every two weeks to pitch ideas and discuss our ambitions and what we wanted to try and do.” He was even instrumental in kick-starting one of Brand New Day’s most significant plot points: that Parker’s powers are evolving in unusual and unexpected ways. “My pitch when I came to the table with it was called ‘Spider-Puberty’,” he says. “What happens if Peter Parker is losing control and things are changing?” That core proved instrumental in what Brand New Day became. “‘Spider-Puberty’ was my tagline pitch to the studio — which was immediately shot down,” Holland says. “But they liked the kernel of the idea and it grew into what we have in the movie now.”
Returning to the character nearly five years after we last saw him, Holland is ready to steer Spider-Man into the future – and ensure that, eventually, there’s life beyond Peter Parker too. “For whoever’s next, whether that is a Miles Morales or a Spider-Gwen or a Spider-Woman or something like that, I would love to be a part of setting up the next chapter,” he says. “Whatever that looks like, I don’t know. But if I could do what Downey did for me, then I would be so content swinging off into the sunset.” Spoken exactly like a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.
Read Empire’s full Spider-Man: Brand New Day cover story – speaking to Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, Kevin Feige, Destin Daniel Cretton, Amy Pascal and more – in the July 2026 issue, on sale Thursday June 4. Pre-order a copy online here. Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes to cinemas from July 29.
