Spider-Man’s Tom Holland Breaks Silence on Tobey Maguire Return

For the first time since 2007, Tobey Maguire suited up as Spider-Man in last week’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, becoming part of a very elite fraternity of actors who have had the chance to return to their superhero roles years or decades later. That the movie expanded that fraternity pretty significantly, and that so many fans were convinced it would, is part of the appeal that led it to one of the biggest opening-weekend box offices of all time, and that’s something franchise star Tom Holland gets to enjoy going forward, while it seems likely Maguire will leave the suit behind once and for all.

To get a curtain call as Spider-Man at age 46 has to feel surreal for Maguire, especially since the character is traditionally depicted as a high school or college student in most adaptations outside of the comics. Still, Holland told Marvel’s official website that he could tell Maguire was enjoying the return trip to the Marvel universe.

Admitting he was a little nervous at first, Holland said of Maguire, “Man, he was so funny. He was really excited to be back. You could tell it really meant a lot to him. Him putting the suit on again. Us getting back together. It was awesome.”

He said that despite his early nerves, the pair developed a number of inside jokes, and seem to have gotten along well. 

Marvel tried to keep Maguire’s appearance a secret, but it was widely believed by fans that the multiversal nature of the movie meant that Maguire and The Amazing Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield would both pop up in the film. Maguire’s costume was seemingly spotted on some promotional material a few weeks back, touching off another round of speculation.

Maguire’s costume is visibly different from Holland’s, in a couple of ways that lend weight to the idea that the image was the first real proof of multiple Spider-Men in the film. The webbing on his costume is significantly more raised than on Holland’s (or Garfield’s), and the black outline around the costume’s white eyes is narrower. The suit made a background appearance in the trailer for Sony’s Morbius, confusing just about everybody.

Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Jamie Foxx, Alfred Molina, and Benedict Cumberbatch, Sony and Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home is in theaters now.