Avengers: Endgame: Tom Holland Wasn't Allowed To Have A Script
Tom Holland has two sets of parents: his biological ones, and the ones at Marvel Studios who decide what he can and can't have access to.
The most recent privilege Holland's Marvel mom and dad took away from him? Getting a script for Avengers: Endgame.
Director Joe Russo, who helmed both Endgame and its predecessor Avengers: Infinity War with his brother and filmmaking partner Anthony Russo, has confirmed that the secret-spilling Spider-Man actor wasn't allowed to have scripts for either of the two Avengers films, which were shot back-to-back.
Why, exactly? Well, as Russo put it, Holland has trouble staying quiet about plot specifics.
"Tom Holland does not get the script. Tom Holland gets his lines and that's it," Russo said (via ComicBook.com). "He doesn't even know who he's acting opposite of. We'll just — we use like very vague terms to describe to him what is happening in the scene, because he has a very difficult time keeping his mouth shut."
Anyone who knows anything about Holland knows about his infamously loose lips and how they've very nearly sunk a few Marvel ships in the past. The 22-year-old actor previously spoiled the end of Avengers: Infinity War for an entire theater of Marvelites when he stepped out and said, "I'm alive!" This was, of course, a reference to Spider-Man's apparent, heartbreaking death in the final moments of Infinity War — but the fans in attendance at the April 2018 screening didn't know that yet, as they hadn't seen the film. Holland was under the impression that they had and that he was surprising them post-showing, and that's how the accidental spoiling happened.
"We went to this screening and someone had told me before they had already seen the film, they've already seen the film," Holland admitted during Comicpalooza (via ComicBook.com). "So they give me a microphone and I walk on stage and I'm like, 'Don't worry, I'm still alive!' The whole audience look at me like, 'What the hell does that mean? What do you mean you're still alive?' And then I look inside, [Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige], Joe and Anthony are like, 'Shut up, shut up, stop talking!' So opening night, I ruined the movie for about 300 people, so I'm so sorry for that."
Hilariously, that isn't the only time Holland has let slip information that he probably didn't have authority to discuss. In June of 2018, the actor spoiled the title of the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, Spider-Man: Far From Home. Before that, Holland "accidentally" showed off the first poster for Avengers: Infinity War while unwrapping it in an Instagram video.
The Russo brothers have time and again poked fun at Holland's proclivity for dropping spoilers, but have made it clear that Holland isn't the only Marvel actor they have trouble trusting — he's just the least reliable of the bunch. Because of that, the Russos keep all actors in the dark and were given fake scripts with made-up twists in efforts to keep spoilers at bay.
"We can't trust anybody — least of all Tom Holland! — with the truth. It's a burden to bear for them," Joe once told GamesRadar. "It's probably easier to have read a fake script and a fake ending because they don't have the pressure of knowing what happens in the movie and then they have to hide it."
Holland had the wool pulled over his eyes while filming both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and because he didn't have scripts to read ahead of time, the actor had a ton of questions on set. While shooting Infinity War, Holland stated that he actually didn't know what scenes he was filming or who he was fighting — that's how vague things were.
"I remember for Avengers [Infinity War], the Russo brothers are like, 'So, you're just standing here, and you're fighting this guy and just do whatever,' and I'm like, 'Okay, who am I fighting?'" said Holland during January 2018's ACE Comic Con in Phoenix. "And they were like, 'Well, we can't tell you because it's a secret.' I'm like, 'Okay, so what does he look like?' And they're like, 'Well, we can't tell you because that would give it away,' so I'm like, 'How big is he?' 'Well, we can't tell you because that would give it away.' So, I'm just standing there punching the air for 15 minutes and when I took the job I didn't think that's what I'd be doing. I've gotten used to it now."
Holland also didn't know that Spidey would die at the end of Infinity War until the day he filmed the devastating scene.
So, why the need for so many safeguards against spoilers? What's the reason for such drastic measures?
Joe Russo explained that he and Anthony simply wanted to protect the stories of Infinity War and Endgame and do everything in their power to ensure that fans have "the best experience they can have when they go in to see the movie." He told Kinowetter, "We can divulge nothing at this point. We worked really hard to protect the secrets of the movie because this is the end of 10 years of storytelling and I think a lot of people [have] emotionally invested quite a bit into the Marvel Universe."
Added Anthony in a separate interview (via Geeks on Coffee), "It's very hard not to talk about this stuff, because you live with it for so long and you live with it so deeply. We have developed a process where you take pressure off of people by letting them know less. It's less responsibility they have to edit themselves, so we've developed an elaborate process by which we try to only let people know what they absolutely need to know. And it makes a little bit easier for them to edit themselves."
More recently, Joe Russo shared that Endgame has even more spoilers than Infinity War, and that he and Anthony will likely issue a letter asking fans to not talk openly about Endgame and accidentally ruin the film for people who haven't seen it. Expect a firm warning about spoilers as Avengers: Endgame nears its April 26 release.