Tom Holland Admits His Dad Pushed Him to Discuss Spider-Man’s Future While Drunk With Disney CEO Bob Iger, ‘You’ve Got This!’
Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon appeared to promote Spider-Man: No Way Home. Then, Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos brought up the hilarious story of a drunk Tom Holland calling Disney CEO Bob Iger after Sony nearly pulled Spider-Man out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Holland laughed and told the story again, revealing that his dad pushed him to take the phone call even though he knew Holland was drunk.
The ‘No Way Home’ actor said Sony and Marvel fighting over Spider-Man ‘felt like my parents splitting up’
After Spider-Man: Far From Home released with Peter Parker, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) battling Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). However, behind-the-scene, more trouble brewed between Sony and Marvel.
“It felt like my parents were splitting up, and I was the kid in the middle of it,” Holland told GMA. “And I had been told by Marvel that I was no longer going to be part of the MCU, so I went back to London. Obviously, I was heartbroken.”
Holland has stressed how much Marvel and Spider-Man changed his life several times in the past. He talked about how he emailed Disney CEO Bob Iger to thank him for everything.
“[Iger] said ‘I want to call you,’” Holland recalled. “So I was like, ‘Yeah, mate, honestly call whenever, I’m not going to set a time. Whenever is best for you.’”
However, giving Iger the flexibility to ‘call whenever’ led to a hilarious scenario when the Disney CEO called a drunk Tom Holland to discuss Spider-Man.
His dad told a drunk Tom Holland to answer Iger’s phone call about Spider-Man’s future
Tom Holland, his dad, and a few other family members went out to the pub for a few drinks in London.
“It just so happened that two or three days went by, and he didn’t call, so I was kind of like ‘I can do what I want now. I can go back to my life,’” Holland said. “So I went to the pub, and I was sad. I had a few drinks. And then I got a 310 number calling me, and I said ‘Oh no, it’s happening!’”
Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, who plays MJ and Ned Leeds in Spider-Man: No Way Home, both laughed as he relived his ‘drunk Tom Holland’ panic.
Holland did not answer right away. He hesitated on whether or not he should talk to a higher-up at Disney while tipsy. However, Holland’s dad actually pushed him to answer the call.
“And my dad was like, ‘You’ve got this!’” Holland recalled, “‘You’ve got to do it!’”
The extra bit of encouragement from his dad pushed Holland to step out of the pub. It led to an emotional phone call with Holland nearly crying about Sony pulling Spider-Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
A drunk Tom Holland saved Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
While the drunk Tom Holland’s dad hyped him up, he tried to play it cool.
“I couldn’t tell if he was drunk,” Iger admitted to Us Weekly in a 2019 interview. “[Holland] sounded a little giddy, but I didn’t really make that connection until I read recently that he said he was a little bit drunk.”
Holland managed to hold himself together enough to make a case for Spider-Man staying with Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, and the other Avengers. You can watch his first comments on the story on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2019 around the 9:40 mark.
“I spoke to him on the phone, and I basically just expressed my passion for the character,” Holland continued to GMA. “I expressed my beliefs in the value of my character in the MCU, and he listened and called up Tom Rothman.”
Everyone wanted Peter Parker to remain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Holland, Iger, and even Holland’s dad played a part in pushing the superhero to rejoin.
“They made a new deal, and,” Holland breathed a relieved sigh even years after. “And I’m back.”
And Spider-Man: No Way Home looks to mark the biggest Spidey movie ever made with rumors of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield joining in the fight.
