While Holland is still a young man of 25, he’s been speaking to the press with the drained demeanor of a grizzled veteran who’s ready to walk off into the proverbial sunset. That’s likely due to the fact that the British actor has been a front-row passenger on the wild ride that is Marvel movie mania for six years now, having been plucked from relative obscurity in July 2015 to be announced as the new, Marvel Cinematic Universe-adherent Spider-Man. Now headed for a record sixth big screen Spidey appearance, Holland provides his strongest hint of a potential exit in an interview with GQ, in which he even teases a cut-off point.
“Maybe it is time for me to move on,” says Holland. “Maybe what’s best for Spider-Man is that they do a Miles Morales film. I have to take Peter Parker into account as well, because he is an important part of my life,” adding, “If I’m playing Spider-Man after I’m 30, I’ve done something wrong.”
Yet, from the standpoint of the fans, it seems surreal that Holland is even entertaining the notion of an exit from the Marvel money-printing movie machine, especially with the ever-increasing prominence his character is receiving in the MCU. With Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man having been martyred in unforgettably-emotional, universe-saving fashion in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, Holland’s Spider-Man is unquestionably the de facto face of the MCU—mind you, this is despite the fact that his eponymous solo movies are still technically productions of licensee Sony Pictures, per the initial historic deal that finally brought Marvel’s mascot into the prolific film continuity. Plus, with the increasing presence of Spidey-less, canonically-confusing cold-intro character spinoffs such as the Venom films and the upcoming Morbius, an exit would renege on expected onscreen collisions with Holland’s Spidey—especially after the Spidey-related multiverse implications revealed in Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s post-credits—and would be a blow to consumer confidence in the franchise.
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However, amid the inauspicious declaration of being done with Spidey by the age of 30, Holland also hints at a future scenario in which he continues on with the role. “I’d be very content with just being a stay-at-home dad, and producing a film here and there,” he continues. “That’s not to say that will happen right now. “I might start shooting The Crowded Room [a film project he co-scripted with brother Harry] and go, ‘You know what, this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.’ Or I might do Spider-Man 4, 5, and 6, finish when I’m 32, and never make another. I’m not sure what I want to do.”
