Playing one famous action hero is hard. Trying to play two at once is even tougher as Tom Holland can attest.
The British actor opened up about the struggle he had going from playing Nathan Drake in the Uncharted movie to reprising his role as Peter Parker in Spider-Man 3.
Uncharted territory
Based on the smash hit video game series, Uncharted has Holland playing Nathan Drake, a sarcastic, offbeat adventurer hunting a dangerous treasure.
The movie had filmed just one day in March 2020 before production was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It finally resumed in July to wrap up production in October. That meant Holland had only three days to get ready to step back into the role of Spider-Man.
As Holland relates, he began filming a Peter Parker scene only to be told by producer Amy Pascal and director Jon Watts that he was playing Peter like Nathan.
I was doing this scene [in Spider-Man 3] where I’m walking into this building and there is this cool cinematic shot pushing in behind me and Amy Pascal took me aside and said, ‘Why are you walking like that? You’re walking like a man; you need to walk like a boy.’ I went back and watched the monitor, and I could see I was walking with a swagger and confidence. Jon Watts was like, ‘It’s fine, it’s Nathan Drake. We’ll iron him out and get Peter Parker back.’
Differing heroes
The contrast of Nathan Drake and Peter Parker is striking. Peter is known to still be nervous and in over his head while having a good heart.
Nate, meanwhile, is a decent guy but also cocky and often thinking he’s more capable than he really is while obsessed with fortune and glory. As Holland realized, bringing Nate’s swagger to Peter wouldn’t fit the character.
This goes for the physical abilities as Spider-Man is a super-powered acrobat. Nate is simply a normal guy who prefers brawling over fancy martial arts moves and has no qualms using a gun rather than web-shooters.
There was controversy over Holland’s casting as Uncharted players would have preferred an older actor (such as long-time dream pick Nathan Fillion). The movie will be a prequel to the games showing Nathan getting used to the adventurer life.
The cast includes Mark Wahlberg as Nate’s mentor Sully, Sophia Taylor Ali as love interest Chloe and Antonio Banderas as the villain.
The film was to premiere in July but has now been pushed to 2022.
Holland’s possible Spider-Verse adventure
Trying to be Nate Drake-level confident wouldn’t fit Holland’s next go-around as Spider-Man.
Spider-Man 3 will pick up from the shocking end of Far From Home where Peter is not only blamed for Mysterio’s attacks but has his secret identity broadcast to the world. Peter now finds himself hated and hunted by the authorities and public.
While exact details are being kept secret, rumors abound of characters from the original 2000s Spider-Man trilogy appearing, such as Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin and Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus.
Also, Jamie Foxx seems to be reprising his role as Electro from the Andrew Garfield Spidey movies.
This fuels the theory that this film will be a live-action “Spider-verse” that might actually have Holland meeting Tobey Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Men.
However the films turn out, 2021 looks to enhance Holland’s standing as a new action hero out of the Spidey costume.
MCU Spider-Man 3 premieres on December 17. Uncharted hits theaters on February 11, 2022.