Every Time Tom Holland Played Spider-Man, Ranked
In 2015, a year after the disappointment of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" starring Andrew Garfield, Marvel and Sony announced that they'd be wiping the slate clean for a new film series. In addition to bringing Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and rebooting his story, they also let Garfield walk and decided to recast the role. Focusing more on Peter Parker's high school days as an awkward teen, trying to balance life as a superhero with friends and school, they wanted someone younger. Enter British actor Tom Holland.
The actor's first blockbuster franchise role, the version of Peter Parker played by Holland was snappier, more energetic, and more earnest than his two previous counterparts. Following his first on-screen appearance in a supporting role in "Captain America: Civil War," Holland quickly became a fan favorite, while Spider-Man went on to become a central part of the MCU. He's shown up in numerous places throughout the franchise and stands to play an equally big role in the Multiverse Saga.
With a fourth "Spider-Man" film in the works, we thought it was time to swing by and rank each of Tom Holland's appearances, from "good" to "best." But does your favorite Holland performance top our own list? Read on to find out.
11. Disney's Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure ride
Filmed exclusively for Disney theme parks, "Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure" is an exclusive story that's part of a ride at Avengers Campus attractions. Unlike every other appearance, this is one performance from Holland that can't be viewed anywhere else: not on DVD, in theaters, or even on YouTube — not officially, at least.
The video intro puts Holland into the role of science ambassador, as Peter Parker is brought in to introduce a new student engineering program funded by Tony Stark. This includes a small red and blue robotic creature that is said to be an incredible new scientific tool but unfortunately gets stuck in self-replication mode. As a result, hundreds of copies of the robot come to life with no end in sight, and Peter has to leave and return as Spider-Man to stop them.
Thanks to a series of screens along the course of the attraction, riders in moving cars get in on the fun and blast away at the little robots themselves, aiding Spidey as he tries to prevent them from overrunning the facility. While the ride isn't anything groundbreaking, its highlight is definitely Tom Holland as Peter Parker (and the voice of a CGI-created Spider-Man) who pops up throughout the ride to lend encouragement to kids and adults.
10. Driving Test
When it came time for "Spider-Man: Homecoming" to hit theaters and usher in a new iteration of the character on screen, Marvel pulled out all the stops. But they went further than most movie merchandising campaigns, enlisting Tom Holland to show up as Peter Parker in an extended story-based spot that was the first of several Marvel has produced during the course of Holland's tenure in the role. It sees Holland and Marvel working with Audi to promote the release of both "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and Audi's fanciest new models.
This time, Peter finds himself taking his driving test with a grumpy school teacher played by comedian J.B. Smoove. No matter what Peter does, though, the teacher takes points off his score for every tiny infraction. To top it all off, he's annoyed by Peter's use of the car's automatic parallel parking feature. But just as his test score is being tallied up, Peter spots a pair of burglars exiting a building and swings into action while his teacher isn't looking. He webs them up and leaves them for the cops.
Though it's just a hair over two-and-a-half minutes long, it's enough to convince any remaining skeptical audience members that Holland has what it takes to play Spider-Man. A charming little ad, it was good enough to convince director Jon Watts to give Smoove a role in the sequel, "Spider-Man: Far From Home," and was even included on the home release for "Homecoming."
9. Science Fair
To help promote the release of "Spider-Man: Far From Home" in 2019, Marvel joined forces once more with car company Audi for a commercial spot. No ordinary ad, the commercial saw the film's stars, Tom Holland and Jacob Batalon, playing Peter Parker and Ned Leeds as they enter a school science fair hoping to take home the top prize. Realizing they've vastly underestimated the competition, Parker makes a call to Stark Industries and bribes a technician to allow him access to a different kind of motor: the electric engine in the Audi G-Tron.
Sure, this is easy to write off as a cash grab — being a commercial and all — but the version that was distributed online is more like a short film, clocking it at over three minutes. While they could have easily phoned it in, both Holland and Batalon give it their all and turn a cheesy product tie-in into a legitimate webisode that almost feels like it could have been an outtake from the movie itself. There's a fun moment where Peter suits up as Spider-Man, and even an ending gag that ties the entire thing together as another student wins 1st place for a potato-powered arc reactor.
8. NBA Finals Promo
Marvel's full-on marketing blitz around the release of "Spider-Man: Homecoming" was the biggest ever for the franchise at that point, topping $140 million in spending. This included partnerships with Pizza Hut, Dell computers, General Mills cereals, and more. In addition to Audi, the NBA also brought in Tom Holland to star in a TV spot for the NBA Finals on ESPN. This time, though, they also brought in Holland's co-stars, Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau, to play Tony Stark and Happy Hogan.
In the nearly three-minute spot, Peter gets invited to a star-studded party hosted by Stark to watch the Finals, only to be tasked with buying snacks by Hogan. Suiting up as Spider-Man, he sets out to get it done but is slowed down at every turn. He gets sidetracked when he stops to thwart a burglary, bumps into DJ Khaled at a convenience store, and gets mobbed by some adoring fans. When he arrives, he's annoyed to see Stark isn't there and is attending the game in person.
A commercial that also sees cameos from Khaled, Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson, and even Stan Lee, it's a truly delightful little short story that's a lot of fun all on its own, corporate tie-in or not.
7. Peter's To-Do List
"Peter's To-Do List" is a short film that was included on the "Spider-Man: Far From Home" Blu-ray. Footage from the short was actually used in trailers for the film, including the story's biggest action sequence. Set before the events of the sequel, the mini-episode begins with Peter Parker preparing for his trip to Europe. First up is his visit to Del Mar's grocery to pick up a few items for his trip, including regional adapters and a dual headphone converter. Next, he visits a pawn shop and sells off his old toy collection to get money for a gift for MJ — ultimately deciding to keep his beloved Lobot — before a visit to the passport office.
The big task, though, is taking down the Manfredi mob (probably not the Manfredi crime family from "Tulsa King"). Suiting up in his Iron Spider costume, Peter heads down to a mafia-run restaurant and proceeds to battle some goons, easily holding his own and webbing them up for the police. When the cops do arrive, he has to awkwardly explain how he just did their jobs, before announcing he's off for vacation.
Likely just a collection of deleted scenes from the film, "Peter's To-Do List" may have been cut for time, but it works just as well as its own short story.
6. Captain America: Civil War
The only actor to be cast in the role of Peter Parker when he was actually a teenager himself, Tom Holland joined the MCU in 2015, making his first official appearance in the role in "Captain America: Civil War." It was the result of a long and complicated process behind the scenes that saw Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures agree to share the character in a deal that proved to fans that nothing was impossible. In the film, an ideological split among the Avengers sees Captain America (Chris Evans) lead an ensemble of heroes against Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), who agrees to fold the main team into the chain of command of the United Nations.
With Cap getting Hawkeye, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Bucky Barnes, and Ant-Man on his side, Iron Man must rely on new recruits. That leads him to Queens, where he enlists the help of teenager Peter Parker and his super spider-powers. Though Holland only gets a handful of scenes, it's a key supporting role. The then lesser-known actor shows that not only can he carry the mantle of Spider-Man, but he also might be the most comic-accurate version of the character yet.
Clever, fun-loving, and quick with a zippy one-liner, Holland's version of Peter Parker and Spider-Man is smart and not quite savvy yet, but also intrepid and bold. In just his first appearance, Holland acquits himself like a veteran of the MCU, holding his own opposite heavyweights like Downey and Evans.
5. Avengers: Endgame
We might have put "Avengers: Endgame" higher on this list were it not for the fact that Tom Holland's Peter Parker only appears for a handful of brief scenes. That it beats out "Civil War" is a credit to the actor, who is able to deliver some of his best work ever as the character in what small moments he does have on screen. The film picks up five years after Peter was erased from existence at the end of "Avengers: Infinity War." While he isn't seen for most of the film, his absence casts a pall over the proceedings as Tony Stark struggles to live with the fact that he failed to save his young friend.
After a time-twisting Avengers adventure though, Peter Parker returns at the film's climax, swinging through one of Doctor Strange's portals after the Infinity Stones are used to resurrect everyone who had turned to dust. It's all part of a lengthy, cheer-worthy sequence that sees all of the Avengers arrive just in time to battle Thanos one more time. And it's Peter's arrival that might have gotten the biggest applause from audiences, proof positive of how beloved Holland had become in the role.
During the battle, Holland gets several moments to shine, finally using his new suit's "instant kill" mode and getting a heartwarming reunion hug from Downey's Tony Stark. He is also the one most visibly distraught when Stark sacrifices his life to stop Thanos, in a crushing scene that brought more than one moviegoer to tears themselves.
4. Avengers: Infinity War
In "Captain America: Civil War," Spider-Man was introduced to the MCU, and in "Spider-Man: Homecoming," Tom Holland took on solo adventures of his own. But in "Avengers: Infinity War," Marvel fulfilled its long-term promise of having Peter Parker become an Avenger, fighting alongside not just his mentor Iron Man, but Doctor Strange as well. He even gets to tangle — and then team up with — the Guardians of the Galaxy as they set out to stop the Mad Titan Thanos from assembling the six Infinity Stones which he plans to use to wipe out half the life in the universe.
But that's not all: Holland's webslinger also gets a fancy upgrade to his super suit in the form of a nanotech outfit engineered just for him by Tony Stark, which gives him a bold new look for his intergalactic adventures. Reinvigorated, Spider-Man is a force to be reckoned with, going from friendly neighborhood crime fighter to cosmic superhero. And it's only believable thanks to the wonderful performance of Tom Holland, who imbues Peter Parker with an awestruck excitement at being welcomed into the team, while also feeling like he belongs on a squad of Earth's mightiest heroes.
Never overwhelmed, Parker feels right at home slugging it out against immortal tyrants and alien space lords. Holland also provides one of the movie's most powerful moments, when at the end Peter begs for his life as he crumbles out of existence, in a scene that broke audience's hearts into pieces.
3. Spider-Man: Far From Home
After the success of "Spider-Man: Homecoming," which re-established the hero on the big screen in his own solo movie, the sequel, "Far From Home," upped the ante. The first "Spider-Man" movie to ever top the $1 billion mark, it was also the first adventure for the ol' webhead since Tony Stark was killed in "Avengers: Endgame." Now dealing with the emotional and physical fallout, Spider-Man must pick up the slack when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) needs a hand dealing with an apparent threat in Europe. The adventure also sees him teaming up with a strange new hero named Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal).
Holland plays Spidey as both a more mature Peter Parker and a hero who is more comfortable in his own skin. But he also plays Peter as a teen who doesn't want to have to be Spider-Man all the time, mostly because he finds himself pursuing a romance with his classmate and friend, MJ (Zendaya). When Mysterio is discovered to be behind the villains menacing Europe, however, Peter puts it all aside to stop him from stealing a dangerous device invented by Tony Stark that could make him more powerful than ever.
On-screen, Holland's chemistry with friend-turned-rival Gyllenhaal — who once vied for the Spider-Man role himself — elevates an otherwise ordinary superhero adventure. Now firmly entrenched in the role as this generation's quintessential Spider-Man after multiple blockbuster adventures, Holland takes his place as the star of the MCU following Robert Downey Jr.'s retirement from the role of Tony Stark.
2. Spider-Man: Homecoming
Following his debut in "Captain America: Civil War," Tom Holland returned to the big screen next in his first solo film as the webbed wallcrawler in "Spider-Man: Homecoming." Ignoring his origin story, the film picks up with Peter Parker readjusting to life in school after being recruited as an Avengers trainee by Tony Stark. Frustrated that he's not given any bigger missions, Peter takes it upon himself to take down a local weapons dealer (Michael Keaton) who is using stolen alien technology to supply arms to petty criminals in New York City.
In "Spider-Man: Homecoming," Holland plays the role of an awkward high school student with a believable sincerity, while also portraying a Spider-Man who is still in well over his head battling supervillains. A blend of '80s teen comedies and modern superhero movies, "Homecoming" shows us a Spider-Man who is still coming into his own. And it's almost entirely thanks to Holland's pitch-perfect performance that we see him grow during the film, from a teen who takes on too much and is out of his depth, to an established hero who can bring down the baddies.
"Homecoming" also sees Holland himself grow more comfortable with the role. Now leading his own film, which relegates superstar Robert Downey Jr. to a supporting role, Holland proves himself a true leading man, making him a Hollywood A-lister and sought-after star as a result.
1. Spider-Man: No Way Home
The culmination of two decades' worth of Spider-Man stories on the big screen, 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home" was an unprecedented coming-together of three separate film sagas. Joining Tom Holland as the MCU's Spider-Man was Tobey Maguire — who'd starred in Sam Raimi's original trilogy — and Andrew Garfield, whose own two movies have a strong cult following despite lackluster reviews. Both returning Peter Parkers give standout performances, particularly Garfield, who gets not just multiple moments to shine, but resolution for his character that he never got in his own films.
But Holland is never overshadowed and delivers arguably his best performance of the series even alongside those celebrated returning icons. From struggling with increased public scrutiny and serious legal troubles when his identity becomes public, to the arrival of villains from alternate realities which forces him to confront his own superhero legacy, Holland is at the top of his game. And when he has to face down the Green Goblin, Holland once again shows just how good he is by going toe-to-toe with Hollywood legend and four-time Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe.
In the end, when he has to watch his Aunt May die in his arms, Holland portrays a mix of grief-stricken despair and vengeful rage in a way that his predecessors never could. Though nobody will ever forget Maguire and Garfield, "No Way Home" settled the debate on who was the best Peter Parker ever on screen.