With Spider-Man: Brand New Day still pulling in millions of dollars daily, it doesn’t seem extremely likely that Tom Holland will pass the webslinging baton completely over to another actor for upcoming Marvel movies anytime soon, but that day will definitely come at some point. Which means there are of course already fans hypothesizing about Holland making the leap to the DCU, and someone actually got response from co-head honcho James Gunn about it.
Amazingly enough, Gunn didn’t deliver a flat-out denial in response. Granted, his reply also wasn’t any kind of confirmation that plans are in place to bring Holland into Superman’s orbit, but anyone looking out for the most optimistic approach has something to latch onto here. Check out this fan question posed to Gunn on Threads, followed by the filmmaker’s sarcasm-imbued response.
- Q: Will Tom Holland have a DCU Role in the Future ? I can see him as Either Beast Boy, Kid Flash, Speedy, Aqualad, one of the Robins, Kyle Rayner, Brainiac 5, or Mon-El
- JAMES GUNN: Not sure 30-year-old Tom wants to follow up Spider-Man with Aqualad.
To first speak to James Gunn's direct point...what a bizarre batch of characters to suggest for Tom Holland's DCU debut, considering most of the ones listed are teenagers or are in their early 20s. I get that it can be easy to forget Tom Holland's exact age, but just remember that he first put on the Spidey suit for Captain America: Civil War a full decade ago, so it probably wouldn't feel like a step up career-wise to jump from a "Man" character to anything more diminuative like Kid Flash or Beast Boy.
Could he pull off looking like a 20-year-old Aqualad or Mon-El? Absolutely, but he's at the point where any long-term franchise roles he takes on should probably skew older, so that he's not forever stuck playing characters so much younger than his own age.
To that end, Tom Holland might indeed be best utilized as a Dick Grayson already rocking his Nightwing persona. Considering we still don't know who the DCU's Batman is, it's not super-likely that he's already on his second or third Robin during the current DCU timeline. So even that most-likely scenario doesn't seem too likely. (Of course, the currently developing Brave and the Bold animated film is supposed to center on Bruce Wayne's relationship with son Damien, maybe the timeline isn't so predictable.
To circle back around how Gunn addressed the main question: all he did was somewhat jokingly comment on Holland probably not wanting to play a "lad" character. But did he actually provide a clear "No" to the general idea of Holland in the DCU? Not at all. Which is obviously not proof that the Spidey star will be popping up in Man of Tomorrow or anything so drastic. But it does seem to leave the door open for a possible team-up in a post-Spider-Man future.
Of course, Tom Holland made enough money to retire 100 times over with Brand New Day's massive success, so it also seems possible that he could just retire from any live-action projects that force him to break a sweat. And no judgment from me if that happens.
We're still waiting to get answers on big questions from Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and to learn what in the (off)world that post-credits scene meant. So there are definitely still stories that need to be told with Holland under the mask. But if there's a future where the actor gets courted to play Booster Gold or even the aforementioned Lantern Kyle Rayner, I won't necessarily shed any spider-shaped tears.
Which DC heroes or villains would you guys like to see Tom Holland play in the DCU's future?
