Spider-Man unmasked!

SINGAPORE — Judging from the film clips shown to the regional journalists the night before the series of interviews at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, it was very clear to see the wisdom of choosing Tom Holland, 21, as the rightful heir to Spider-Man, the classic superhero played thrice by Tobey Maguire and twice by Andrew Garfield.

Asked how he felt the first time he saw himself in the iconic costume on the big screen, Tom exclaimed, eyes widening like the high-school Peter Parker that he plays in Super-Man: Homecoming, “I was in London with my family. We had a private screening of Civil War. The best part of it was that my little brother, who was then 10, sat right in front of the cinema by himself. He was so small that we couldn’t see him sitting down. As soon as I came up on screen, all we saw was his two little hands up in the air. To me, that was the highlight of that first screening.”

And how did he feel the first time he saw his first Spider-Man movie?

“Oh, I was a huge, huge fan of the Spider-Man movies. The first one that I saw was with Tobey Maguire who was brilliant. The second Tobey Maguire movie is my all-time favorite Spider-Man movie. I was completely blown away. It changed my life.”

Captain America: Civil War marked Tom’s debut as Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Homecoming is his formal entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter Parker returns home where he lives with his Aunt Mary (played by Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).

Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine, distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened. His moment has arrived as he is challenged to become the hero he is meant to be. Cast as Spider-Man’s best friend Ned Leeds is Hawaii-born/raised Filipino actor Jacob Batalon (featured in this corner Sunday last week).

We were at a suite at the MBS Hotel for the round-table interview. After the eight journalists introduced themselves, Tom playfully replied, “And I am Tom Holland, from England.” That playfulness set the tone for the free-wheeling interview, with Tom as natural as the 15-year-old high-school student Peter Parker in the movie. He was so transparent that it was easy to, well, “unmask” him.

Did he ever imagine that he would be playing Spider-Man in a movie? (Tom’s pre-Spider-Man movies include In The Heart of the Sea, Edge of Winter and How I Live; and, in 2008, he made his stage debut as the titular role in Billy Elliot the Musical.)

“No. Maybe in a fancy-dress party but not on the big screen,” adding, “putting on the Spider-Man suit is one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me in my entire life. I still to this day can’t really believe that it’s happening. There’s always a real special moment when I put the suit on, especially in front of little kids and they see the suit and their eyes light up, and it reminds me of what a real privilege it is to bring that sort of happiness to people.”

The producers claimed that they knew that Tom was “it” after they watched his taped audition.

“He has the youth the character needs in the story,” Kevin Feige, one of the producers, was quoted in the production notes. “That’s the character as he was in the comics originally. That was the miracle when we found Tom because we found someone who could clearly look and play 15 years old. We wanted to keep that as the contrast to some of our other superheroes who look good but are not 15.”

Jon Watts, one of the screenplay writers: “Tom has a wide-eyed innocence, he seems awkward and stumbling, but you feel like there’s a rightness and deep morality at the heart of it. To see this kid totally hold his own and bring the scene to life was impressive. It was just the three of them — Marisa, Robert and Tom — doing this scene and it felt so alive and exciting that it blew open the doors for the possibilities of where I could take the story of Spider-Man: Homecoming.”

Downey: “Tom is just the perfect man for the job. He’s enthusiastic, bright and gifted, a very physically talented guy by virtue of his dance and acrobatic background. He has just the right combination of elements required to bring a new take on the character.”

At the presscon after the screening, Tom said that he was confident that audiences would connect with a much younger version of Peter Parker.

“I often find that with superhero movies, especially the ones where the characters get into costume, you lose the character. So I tried to create a physicality that I could carry through Peter Parker and through Spider-Man, so that when I’m in the suit, you still feel like it is Peter Parker behind the mask.”

He brings a refreshing youthful exuberance to the character, far different from the images projected by Maguire and Garfield. So how did Tom make his Spider-Man different from those of Maguire and Garfield?

“We really tried to ground Spider-Man in reality and answer the question of what would happen if a 15 year old is given such power. My take on the character is different from those of Tobey and Andrew. It is daunting and there is a responsibility, but I don’t want the fans to have to buy tickets to a movie they have already seen,” said Tom who did his own stunts and confirmed that he was properly insured for that.

The interview was held on June 8, seven days after Tom’s 21st birthday (June 1).

Robert Downey Jr. on Tom (below, with fans in Spider-Man costume during the red-carpet event): He’s just the perfect man for the job. He’s enthusiastic, bright and gifted, a very physically talented guy...

So how did he celebrate his special day?

“If I had to be honest? I’m going to be honest? I went to bed very early; I was so tired from working too much.”

Didn’t he celebrate it with somebody special?

“No. I had my birthday in London. All my family came over. We had a lovely meal and we drank champagne. And then I flew back to L.A. and started working again.”

By the way, if he had Spider-Man’s power in real life, how would he use it?

“I would rob a bank,” Tom said in mock seriousness. And then he broke into a boyish wide smile, almost bordering on naughtiness,  “I would be swinging around, enjoying myself just like Peter Parker does.”

(Opening nationwide on Thursday, July 6, Spider-Man: Homecoming is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.)

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)