The MCU's Spider-Man cast has grown up a lot over the years. The casting process was long, with many auditioning for the main role starting in 2015, but Marvel finally found its Spider-Man in Tom Holland, who was 19 when he was selected. The core Spider-Man cast sat down together and watched their first audition tapes, and they could not stop laughing at their goofy first auditions. Holland and Jacob Batalon could not get over their ridiculous teenage selves, but they all couldn’t deny how great Zendaya’s first audition was.
Zendaya, Holland, and Batalon sat down with Sony to promote the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home’s release on digital, and reacted to some of their first Spider-Man auditions. The cast of course had a great sense of humor about the whole thing, and ended up in hysterics while checking out their teenage auditions. Holland's, of course, had some crazy flips, and also some awkward teenage inflections that ended up being great for the role. Batalon strangely left the view of the camera during his, which also made the group erupt in giggles. The laughing stopped when they got to Zendaya, who just gave a great audition.
These auditions are hilarious, but I also love how their camaraderie shines through here. They all start laughing before the audition tapes even start, which shows that they are probably used to having a lot of laughs together, especially considering they’ve known each other so long at this point. I also love the warm, mid-2010s camera quality of these tapes. It feels like such a time capsule of the technology available at the time.
I can’t get over how young everyone looks in these videos, but it does make sense when you think about it. If the MCU's Spider-Man castings got down to two actors in 2015, this means that nine years have passed since the auditions. The core cast is starting to get older, with the trio now being in their late 20s. While they may have pulled off high school students thus far, it may not work for the rumored Spider-Man 4. Little is known about the production for the next Spider-Man movie, but this video puts into perspective that maybe it's time for Peter Parker to grow up as Tom Holland has. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Despite how funny this group may have found these dorky first auditions, Disney and Sony must've seen something in the tapes because all of these actors ended up getting the parts. Their strange and laughable acting choices were character-appropriate and added a youthfulness for which the casting directors were looking. Zendaya’s audition being so serious is also perfect, as this personality trait comes out in her character and offers a great contrast to the upbeat Peter Parker. They have all evolved so much as actors, and I’m sure their audition tapes now are a lot less corny.
No matter what these auditions may reflect, Tom Holland, Jacob Batalon and, of course, Zendaya give great performances in the MCU Spider-Man trilogy, and Homecoming and Far From Home can be watched now with a Disney+ subscription. This trio is expected to eventually reprise their roles, so make sure to consult our upcoming Marvel movied guide for information on what this franchise is sending to the big screen in the coming years.
