Tom Holland called the CEO of Disney and told him to save Spider-Man
Tom Holland isn’t just a superhero on screen. He’s also apparently a real-life superhero.
Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed Friday in an interview with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel that Holland, who plays Spider-Man in the Marvel movies, personally called and asked him to fix the Spider-Man deal with Sony — basically saving this iteration of the franchise.
It doesn’t get more super than that.
If you’re a fan, you already know the drama. If not, here’s a quick recap: Sony owns the movie rights to the character of Spider-Man. Disney, which owns Marvel, and Sony had an agreement that allowed the character to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But in August, that relationship broke down, effectively leaving Holland’s Spider-Man in limbo and possibly without a job. Fans were, needless to say, upset.
Then, in September, the two sides made up. Spider-Man was saved — though no one really knew how.
Well, now we do. And it’s in part thanks to Holland.
Here’s how it all went down, as Iger detailed to Kimmel.
“We had an event called D23, which is a big Disney fan event, and Tom was there because he’s a voice in a new Pixar movie called ‘Onward,’ with Chris Pratt. And he said something onstage. It was clear that the fans wanted Tom back as Spider-Man, made by Marvel and our Marvel production team,” he said.
So, Holland, like any Spider-Man would, decided to do something about it. He reached out to Iger’s people, asking for a phone number or email address. And Holland just … called him. The CEO of Disney.
“We spoke, and he basically made a — he cried on the phone,” Iger said, laughing before revealing the truth.
“It was clear that he cared so much, and actually, we care a lot about him,” Iger said. “So, after I got off the phone with him, I made a couple of phone calls to our team at Disney Studios, and then I decided to call the head of Sony. I said, ‘We got to figure out a way to get this done, for Tom and for the fans.’ And we did.”
Stay together for the kids, folks.
