Tom Holland Explains Why He Once Said Playing Spider-Man in His 30s Would Be 'Wrong'

“I now kind of stand on the plinth of like, I’ll do it for as long as they’ll have me," Holland said before 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' hits theaters

NEED TO KNOW

• Tom Holland amended a past statement about still playing Spider-Man in his 30s
• The English actor has played the dual role of Peter Parker and the superhero since he was 18
• His partner Zendaya costars with him in the Marvel franchise as MJ

Tom Holland has a different outlook on Spider-Man after previously saying he didn’t intend to still be playing the Marvel character in his 30s.

In a new cover story with GQ, published on Tuesday, June 2 to highlight his role in the upcoming Christopher Nolan-directed film The Odyssey, the English actor, 30, looked back on his career and a time when he had other plans for his future.

“If I’m playing Spider-Man after I’m 30, I’ve done something wrong,” he told the same publication in 2021.

When asked about his comments in 2026, Holland, who celebrated his 30th birthday on June 1, had a change of heart. 

“It’s funny, I saw that quote pop up somewhere recently and I kind of reeled, because I was trying to remember what I meant,” he said. 

“I think the point of it is that I would love to pass the baton on, and I haven’t achieved that yet,” the actor, who has played the dual role of Peter Parker and the friendly neighborhood superhero since he was 18 years old, said. 

“It’s definitely something that we talk about a lot at the studio," Holland continued. "So maybe I need to change the quote to 37.” 

He playfully added that the years-old statement could have been something he said at the time to try and “leverage Sony and scare them into thinking I wasn’t going to do Spider-Man 4 now that I had a new deal on the horizon.” 

“So I don’t know what it could have been,” he continued. “It could’ve been part of a strategy to create fear.”

The actor added that he’d be more than proud to continue his run with the hit franchise.

“I think the truth is that playing Spider-Man has been the joy of my life,” he said. “I now kind of stand on the plinth of like, I’ll do it for as long as they’ll have me.”

Holland, who began a relationship with his Spider-Man costar Zendaya in 2021, has a lot to consider as his career moves forward. 

“I have so much amazing stuff happening in my personal life to take me through to the rest of my life, and I feel like I have a new perspective on where I want to exist in Hollywood,” he said, adding that as the year winds down, he doesn’t want to have “this insatiable desire to just work, work, work, work, work.”

Zendaya, 29, has shared similar plans after having four movies released in under a year (The Drama, The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Dune: Part Three), plus completing the Euphoria series after three seasons. 

"I guess, you know, I just hope people don't get sick of me," she said with a laugh in a joint interview with her The Drama costar, Robert Pattinson, for Fandango in March.

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"I really appreciate everyone who supports any of the movies or who supports my career in any kind of way," Zendaya said. "I'm deeply appreciative, and like I said, I just hope you guys don't get sick of me this year because I'll tell you what: after this, I'm disappearing for a little bit. I'm going to have to go into hiding for just a little bit."

Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives in theaters July 31.

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