Tom Holland: The Greatest Spiderman of All Time | Teen Ink

Tom Holland: The Greatest Spiderman of All Time

January 6, 2022
By Anonymous

Dear Marvel,

Spiderman is a story about a friendly neighborhood superhero who uses his powers; given to him by a radioactive spider, to help others. He's a superhero while also dealing with the classic issues of being a teenager. This character has been played by many actors, but the greatest one is Tom Holland. He has the perfect personality, brought Disney and Sony back together, and  is a superhero outside of acting.

Peter Parker is a 15-16 year old nerdy high school student. He struggles socially in school and isn't very cool. Holland is much younger and much closer to the actual age of Spiderman than the other actors. Which gives him an edge on looking more like Spiderman. “Holland's Spider-Man, embodies the immaturity of Peter Parker better by virtue of being/looking younger - and his character is 15 rather than 17/18” (Freeman 1).  During the filming of Tom's first appearance as Spiderman he was 19. This is the youngest age an actor has been to play Spiderman. Stan Lee, The author of Marvel comics believes that Tom is the best Spiderman because,  “ He felt that Holland was the perfect embodiment of the original Spider-Man cartoon; he was a nerdy teenager who stumbled upon a life-changing position. That is exactly who Holland is, a young man who just so happened to get the role of a lifetime” (Breitfeller 1).Tom has a similar personality to Peter Parker because he's also a teenage boy who was thrown into a superhero position. 

Tom Holland is a superhero outside of his acting career. “While signing autographs in New York City, NY during the cast's latest stop on the Spider-Man: Far From Home press tour, Holland stepped in to prevent autograph seekers from crushing a young fan ” (Freeman 1). Tom went out of his way to help this young fan. He stopped everything in order to help someone he didn't even know. To her he is a hero because she could have gotten very hurt if he hadn't stepped in to help her. “Taking a break from crime-solving, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Tom Holland, proved he knows another way he can use his powers for good. The actor visited Children’s Hospital Los Angeles last week to give patients and their families a special screening of their new movie. Holland donned his Spidey suit and performed flips and tricks for the kids” (Friedlander 1). Tom Holland doesn’t just play a hero in the Spider-Man movies. Turns out he actually is a hero in real life as well. He proved this by taking time out of his busy life to visit kids struggling in hospitals. Just because he knows that what could make them happy is a visit from their hero. And by stepping in to help a fan even when he was busy signing autographs. 

Without Tom Holland we wouldn't have Spiderman today. Tom was able to get Disney and Sony to work out a deal to keep Spiderman in the MCU. “After news broke that Spider-Man would be leaving the MCU due to Disney and Sony’s inability to reach an agreement, fans were devastated. Enter Holland, who took his superhero powers offscreen, making multiple appeals to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Sony chairman Tom Rothman to reach a resolution. His efforts paid off, bringing the two studios back to the negotiating table and in turn, working out a deal to keep Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe” (Shoemaker 1). Tom knew that the fans loved having Spiderman in the MCU and loved watching his character fight alongside The Avengers to eventually become one. He couldn’t let a small disagreement take his character completely out of the story. Not only was he able to find a solution but he was able to save the day.

Disney and Sony have fought over the rights of Spiderman for many years. When Sony won and they were going to have to take Spidermans out of Disney’s Marvel Universe. Tom did everything he could to save Spiderman. “ ‘Basically he made a… he cried on the phone.’ To which Jimmy Kimmel replies in shock, ‘Really?!’ And Iger quickly responds with a laugh, ‘No, not really. But it was clear that he cared so much and actually we care a lot about him. He’s a great Spider-Man. I actually felt for him, and it was clear that the fans wanted this to happen. So after I got off the phone with him I made a couple of phone calls to our team at Disney Studios and then I decided to call the head of Sony and I said, ‘We gotta figure out a way to get this done.’ For Tom and for the fans. And we did. That’s how it happened. He called me and I called them’ ” (Bucksbaum 1). Tom cared so much about the character and the fans that he was nearly in tears when he called the CEO of Disney to get him to change his mind. Because Tom stepped in to save this character we still have Spiderman in the Marvel Universe. 

Many people argue that Tom Holland isn’t the best Spiderman actor because they believe Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield are better. Tobey Maguire really shows the nerdy, shy, relatable side of Peter Parker. Andrew Garfield got the humor right, plus his on screen chemistry with Emma Stone helped him excel. But Tom Holland was the one actor who was able to perfectly portray both of the characters at the same time. He captured the nerdiness of Peter Parker while also showing the daring, courageous Spiderman. While Maguire captured the essence of Peter Parker and Garfield saved the day as Spiderman, Tom was the only one who was able to perfect both roles.

Tom Holland is the greatest Spiderman actor. Just like how Spiderman had to prove he was a hero, Tom is constantly doing things that prove he's the greatest Spiderman.

Sincerely, Me


The author's comments:

Breitfeller, R. (2020, April 4). Why Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man the marvel universe has seen - hollywood insider. Hollywood Insider - News Entertainment & Culture. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://www.hollywoodinsider.com/tom-holland-spiderman/. Freeman, M. (2019, June 30). Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man (yes, better than Tobey Maguire & Andrew Garfield). ScreenRant. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://screenrant.com/tom-holland-best-spiderman-movie-actor-maguire-garfield/. Jennings, C. (2021, March 6). Why Tom Holland is the perfect Spider-Man, according to Robert Downey Jr.. CBR. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://www.cbr.com/tom-holland-perfect-spider-man-robert-downey-jr/. Shoemaker, W. (2019, November 8). 10 reasons why Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man Ever. Alternative Press. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://www.altpress.com/features/best-spider-man-tom-holland/. Friedlander, W. (2019, July 1). 'Spider-Man' stars are do-gooders in real life, too. CNN. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/01/entertainment/spider-man-cast-visit-hospital-patients/index.html. Nivea Serrao. (2020, June 5). 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' star Tom Holland visits Children's Hospital in costume. EW.com. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://ew.com/movies/2017/06/05/spider-man-homecoming-tom-holland-childrens-hospital-los-angeles/. Marvel. (n.d.). Spider-man (Peter Parker): Characters: Marvel. Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://www.marvel.com/characters/spider-man-peter-parker. Bucksbaum, Sydney. “Tom Holland Turns out to Be the Hero of Disney/Sony Spider-Man Deal.” EW.com, 4 Oct. 2019, https://ew.com/movies/2019/10/04/tom-holland-saved-disney-sony-spider-man-deal-bob-iger/.


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