Is Tom Holland in Spider-Verse 2?
Sony PicturesTom Holland is the current Spider-Man of the MCU, but does he appear in the newest Spider-movie, Across the Spider-Verse?
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is considered by many to be the best Spider-Man movie of all time, and we’d find it hard to disagree. The film pulled in an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, and the “What’s up Danger” sequence has been burned into all of our minds ever since.
So to say that people are excited for the film’s sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, would be an understatement. And now, it’s finally here.
However, with every new Spider-Person we see (and trust us, this sequel movie has a lot of Spider-People) many fans have begun wondering: Is Tom Holland, AKA the MCU‘s Spider-Man, involved in the movie?
Does Tom Holland appear in Across the Spider-Verse?
Sadly Holland does not appear, however there are some Easter Eggs that allude to him, and some of his movie villains do appear.
The plot of Across the Spider-Verse is as such: “After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. However, when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders. He must soon redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.”
Because of Miles being thrown into the Spider-Verse, obviously there are a lot of niche references to different Spider-People. There may even be Easter Eggs for Holland’s Spider-Man that we’ve missed, but some references are for certain.
See, when Miles gets to the hub of the Spider-Verse, he is guided through a hallway that features a ton of villains that have found themselves in incorrect dimensions. One of which includes a live-action Prowler, played by Donald Glover. Yes, we’re talking about the guy that was in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Then, in another scene, when Miles is attempting to escape the hub of the Spider-Verse, he dodges a few Spider-People and villains through that same hallway, and we hear a familiar voice state some infamous words: “Hello Peter.”
For those who know the MCU by heart, they’ll recognise this as Alfred Molina’s quote as Doc Ock, one of the (returning) villains of Spider-Man: No Way Home. So while we don’t actually see Holland in the film, we do meet/hear two of his villains.
Why doesn’t Tom Holland Appear in Across the Spider-Verse?
It seems that Doctor Strange’s spell worked, as everyone in the multi-verse has forgotten about MCU Spider-Man.
Fans had been wondering if the young actor would appear, after he led another Spider-Man multi-verse picture, Spider-Man: No Way Home, last year. Doctor Strange is even mentioned in the movie, along with the multi-verse fiasco that he helped create in No Way Home.
And this fiasco is precisely why Holland isn’t in the film. If you remember how No Way Home ends, Peter has Doctor Strange create a spell in which everyone – and we mean everyone – forgets that he exists, and that he’s Spider-Man. Because of this, no one in the Spider-Verse knows that he’s one of them, and thus he is never brought up in conversation, and he never appears amongst all the other Spider-Folk in this film.
Miguel O’Hara, AKA Spider-Man 2099, even proves this, as when talking about previous multi-verse events in one scene, he mentions Doctor Strange and “that little nerd.” Notice how he doesn’t say Spider-Man? Because he doesn’t know Holland is another web-slinger.
Now, some fans had wondered if Holland was going to voice a character, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. However, while we may not have seen him, he – and his villains – still seem to exist in the Spider-Verse, even if he’s been forgotten about.
We have also written about whether or not Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield appear in the movie, if you’re curious about that. Sony has also since released an official poster featuring all four Spider-Man film stars:
While die-hard fans of the MCU Spider-Man films may be disappointed with how little of Holland we get, there’s still plenty of reasons to be excited for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. For example, Gwen and Peter B. Parker will return, plus there will be over 200 other Spider-People to meet, the likes of which include Scarlett Spider, Spider-Woman, and even a Spider-Cat.
There’s also been a ton of great reviews for the movie. So check out the trailer below, and get hyped:
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now in cinemas. You can find out more about the movie here, a breakdown of its cast here, and its soundtrack here.
