Almost a decade after Captain America: Civil War first brought Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to the MCU, I can’t believe that the hero’s debut could have been made drastically different if not for Robert Downey Jr. Spider-Man’s debut in Captain America: Civil War was one of the most exciting MCU superhero debuts in the franchise’s history, both because the film quickly showed off Spidey’s skills by having him join Team Iron Man against some fellow heroes, and because it promised that the major Marvel character would be a mainstay in the universe going forward.
Now that Spider-Man has his own movie trilogy worth multiple billion dollars in box office alone behind him, I think we can safely say this debut built a path to some great successes for the character and Marvel’s cinematic landscape. With this in mind, it’s even wilder to think that the plan for the MCU’s live-action Spider-Man and his debut came very close to being very different, and in a way that could have actively detrimentally impacted the overall trajectory of the web-swinging hero’s arc in the MCU timeline.
Spider-Man’s MCU Debut Was Almost Cut Down Considerably According To Tom Holland
Holland Has Explained His Role Almost Had To Be Cut Down In The MCU Movie
In an interview with Rich Roll, Tom Holland discussed much of his acting history, which naturally involved some delving into the actor’s role as Spider-Man in the MCU. After covering the audition process, Holland explained that, when he came to film Captain America: Civil War itself, the script he’d previously used in his audition “had been cut down significantly from what I’d done in the audition, to now a page and a half or maybe even two pages.”
Given Holland had previously described the audition script for Spider-Man as around eight pages, this would have marked a considerable reduction in his role. However, this was noted by more people than Holland alone, as he also went on to state that “Downey piped up and was like ‘where’s all the kids’ lines gone?’ And the Russos sort of said, well, look, this is already an 140-page script, we can’t spend too much time on this.“
While this theoretically makes sense in terms of Spider-Man being far from a main character in Civil War, it also seems like a move that could have proved mᴀssively detrimental for Holland’s role and the franchise itself. Cutting down the introduction of one of Marvel’s biggest ever heroes both in the comics and on-screen is a decision that carries some real potential to undermine his story, making the end decision for the scene feel like a wise one.
Robert Downey Jr’s Comments About Spider-Man’s MCU Debut Helped Avoid Cuts To The Character’s Movie Role
Robert Downey Jr Discussed Filming The Full Original Version Of The Scene Just In Case
Interestingly, while Holland mentions this shortened version of the MCU’s Spider-Man scene was intended to be in the final film, things turned out quite differently. Based on the actor’s comments, this was thanks to Robert Downey Jr’s perspective on the situation at the time, as Holland explained that “Downey was the one that was like ‘no, no, you’re gonna want to spend some time on this – let’s shoot the whole thing from the audition. You can always cut it, but you’d wanna have it.’“
This approach allowed for the whole original scene from the script to be filmed, without insisting that it necessarily be used if there simply wasn’t time. As it stands, this idea appears to have paid off in a major way, as Holland finishes this story by explaining that “they used all of it, so I owe that to him.” Ultimately, it seems without Robert Downey Jr’s comments about how to handle this segment of the movie, Captain America: Civil War‘s Spider-Man story could have ended up being far briefer.
I’m So Glad Robert Downey Jr Suggested He & Tom Holland Film Their Whole Original MCU Meeting Scene
Spider-Man & Iron Man’s Story Needed All The Time It Got On-Screen
While the MCU has a wide range of heroes whose stories and connections with other heroes help build an expansive and engaging world, the bond between Iron Man and Spider-Man is an especially important one in the franchise. First and foremost, the arc of Spider-Man being Iron Man’s protégée of sorts allowed for two of Marvel’s biggest heroes to appear alongside one another throughout the MCU’s releases, and provided an endearing dynamic that helped both characters amᴀss even more fans than before.
Outside of this, expanding on this connection resulted in some of the franchise’s most emotional scenes, with the most iconic and heartbreaking of these naturally being watching Spider-Man being snapped while a devastated Iron Man helplessly looks on in Avengers: Infinity War, and then Peter having to watch Tony pᴀss away after his sacrifice at the end of Avengers: Endgame. This kind of emotional connection is only possible because of the time invested into showing viewers the two characters growing alongside one another, making Spider-Man’s role in Captain America: Civil War all the more crucial.
Spider-Man
- Created By
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Stan Lee, Steve Ditko
- First Appearance
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Amazing Fantasy
- Alias
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Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Otto Octavius, Yu Komori, Kaine Parker, Pavitr Prabhakar, William Braddock, Miles Morales, Kurt Wagner
- Alliance
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Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Secret Defenders, Future Foundation, Heroes for Hire, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, Web-Warriors
- Race
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Human
- Franchise
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Marvel, Spider-Man
Upcoming MCU Movies
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Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
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May 2, 2025
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
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July 25, 2025
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Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
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MCU Spider-Man 4
- Release Date
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July 24, 2026
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Avengers: Secret Wars
- Release Date
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May 7, 2027
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