How Tom Holland Inspired the Spider-Man: Homecoming Teaser Poster

Spider-Man: Homecoming star Tom Holland revealed an interesting fact behind the film’s teaser poster: he wasn’t posing, and he was actually asleep in the Spider-Man costume.

“Interesting story about that poster is that is actually me asleep. That’s not part of the movie, that’s me in-between takes asleep,” Holland said during an international promotional visit. “We were shooting this scene and I was just really tired that day, and I was just asleep on the floor, and the photographer took a picture. So when they made that the poster, I was like ‘What! What the hell, guys!’”

The poster, released in March, sees high school student-slash-smalltime superhero Spider-Man during downtime, listening to music and relaxing in his Midtown School of Science & Technology jacket. Unlike the theatrical poster — the one the internet had a fun time mocking and turning into memes — the teaser poster captures the film’s John Hughes-inspired spirit.

As far back as 2015, Marvel Studios president and producer Kevin Feige described Homecoming as “a John Hughes movie,” with director Jon Watts listing seminal teen movies Say Anything, Almost Famous, Can’t Buy Me Love, Breaking Away, and Dead Poet’s Society as influences. Hughes’ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and iconic coming-of-age teen movie The Breakfast Club also helped inspire the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s high school slant on the pubescent superhero.

It’s Peter Parker’s status as a close-to-the-ground high school student that sets him apart from his Marvel Cinematic Universe co-stars, Watts said in 2015. “He’s the ground-level superhero. It’s really exciting, because we’re doing it as a high school movie,” he added. “I think it being a coming-of-age movie, to see that growth, will also be really fun.”

The director also sang the praise of his young star, Tom Holland, who “can be a real high school student,” Watts shared in 2015. “That’s why people love Spider-Man. He’s the most grounded, relatable of superheroes. And Tom can really do that. He captures that. And he can do a standing back-flip. He’s perfect.”

Audiences agree: Spider-Man: Homecoming is the highest rated Spidey flick since 2004’s Spider-Man 2, and has brought in nearly $700 million worldwide. Holland will next reprise the role in Avengers: Infinity War, out May 2018, with Watts in talk to direct Holland and co. again in the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, swinging towards a July 5th, 2019 release date.