Tom Holland Pushed Marvel to Follow Christopher Nolan’s Lead While Developing SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY
When you're working with two of the biggest franchises in Hollywood at the same time, it's only natural that ideas from one project might spill over into the other.
That's exactly what happened with Tom Holland, who recently opened up about how working on The Odyssey with Christopher Nolan had a major impact on the way he approached Marvel's upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Holland has spent years swinging through the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Peter Parker, but it sounds like his experience collaborating with Nolan gave him a fresh perspective on filmmaking.
In a recent interview with GQ, the actor explained that he was amazed by the legendary filmmaker's level of preparation and organization while making The Odyssey.
"I think coming from the Marvel space, and I think this will upset Marvel a little bit – his level of preparation is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There's not a single question you can ask him that he can't answer immediately.
“ He's also quite simple in the way that he works. There are times when they use fancy camera tricks and things like that, but he really does come to set and he finds the shot."
According to Holland, Nolan's efficiency was equally impressive. The actor recalled one particular setup that had been scheduled to take two full days to shoot, but Nolan managed to complete it in a single day before the sun went down.
That experience clearly left an impression on Holland, who admitted that he frequently reached out to his Spider-Man team while filming The Odyssey to share what he was learning on Nolan's set.
"I was really able to lay down the law and say, 'We are not going to come to set and figure it out. We need to know why we are making this movie beyond the fact that it’s Spider-Man 4 and they make loads of money and we're going to just have a big summer. Why are we making this movie?'"
Good for Holland! As we all know, Marvel Studios has a problem with how they shoot their films with no full script and figuring things out on the fly. That needs to change, but I guess it all depends on the talent involved.
It's an interesting glimpse into Holland's growing influence on the franchise. After nearly a decade of playing Spider-Man, the actor clearly wants the next chapter to be driven by more than spectacle and box office expectations. He wants a strong creative foundation and a clear reason for telling the story.
Fortunately, it sounds like he found an ally in Destin Daniel Cretton, who is directing Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Holland praised the filmmaker for helping guide that process and making sure the project stayed focused on its creative goals.
He said that Cretton was "super instrumental" in helping this. Holland continued: "It was just really great to constantly be calling up the studio and [producers] Amy [Pascal] and Rachel [O'Connor], who I love, and be like, 'Well, Chris is doing it this way. This is how I think we should be doing it.'"
It's actually pretty refreshing to hear Holland pushing for a stronger creative vision. Marvel movies have often been praised for their massive scale and interconnected storytelling, but fans have also been vocal about wanting more filmmaker-driven projects.
If Nolan's influence helped shape the development process for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, that's probably something many Marvel fans will be happy to hear.
Holland is set for a huge month next July. He'll first appear as Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, in Nolan's highly anticipated The Odyssey, which arrives in theaters on July 17. Just two weeks later, he'll step back into the red-and-blue suit when Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters on July 31.
Whether Nolan's influence can be felt on screen remains to be seen, but it sounds like Holland was determined to bring some of that meticulous preparation and storytelling focus into Marvel's next Spider-Man adventure. Fans will get to judge the results for themselves next summer.