'Spider-Man: Homecoming' star Tom Holland says Singapore feels like 'a better planet'

Marvel’s new Spider-Man is in Singapore, and he has high praise for the island.

“I feel like we’ve flown into a better planet, you know. It’s so modern and beautiful, and the architecture is so cool,” Tom Holland said at a press conference on Wednesday (7 June).

The 21-year-old, who plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the upcoming “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, is in town with co-star Jacob Batalon, who plays Parker’s best friend, Ned Leeds, in the film.

This is the duo’s first visit to Singapore, and they’re also literally feeling the heat here.

“I played golf in black skinny jeans [yesterday],” said Holland, “And it was such a mistake.”

He also quipped that he would “probably have fried to death” if he had played golf in his Spider-Man suit.

However, it wasn’t his first time experiencing such temperatures.

“Well, when we shot the movie in Atlanta, it’s quite a similar heat to be there in that suit all day. It was tough,” said Holland, who took over the mantle of the web-slinger from Andrew Garfield and made his first film appearance in last year’s “Captain America: Civil War“.

He also gave his take on which building he would web-sling from in Singapore.

“Probably the hotel. I would probably jump out of the pool, swing under the hotel, and then back into the pool again.”

Holland posted on an Instagram Story on Tuesday of himself, Batalon, and his assistant Harrison Osterfield in the Infinity Pool at Marina Bay Sands hotel. The two stars also had a private meet-and-greet session with selected lucky fans.

Thoughts on school in Singapore

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” features a teenage Spider-Man and his not so amazing classmates in high school. So how would the two actors fare in Singapore’s school system?

“Probably not so good,” said the English actor, who paused for a very long time before replying when asked about his favourite subject in school.

“I really liked history. I was always a big fan of history, not that I was very good at remembering anything. In my history exam, it said ‘write about this dictator in this time’ and I wrote about (Adolf) Hitler, and I left thinking I’d crushed the exam.”

A classmate later asked him how much he wrote about (Joseph) Stalin.

“So I failed the exam,” laughed Holland.

His co-star Batalon also agreed that he’d be “right below average” in Singapore’s school system.

“My favourite class was my free period,” said the American actor, who is also 21 this year. “I’m being completely serious.”

Getting the roles

Batalon explained that he was in film school when he auditioned for the part. Before that, he had starred in the short film “North Woods”.

For Holland, he had to do “five self-tapes, one audition, and then two screen tests” before getting the role. He learned that he got the role through Instagram before getting a call from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.

He also revealed that before that he “was searching the Internet every five minutes trying to find any piece of news”.

Holland and Batalon clearly have good chemistry, and it shows in real life as well as in reel life. This is thanks to the screen tests, Holland explained.

“That’s what screen tests are for. These things where I would be at an audition and they would bring in like… 10 analysts. And you basically spend an hour with each person and kind of workshop the scene, and you can tell very quickly, especially with actors, the chemistry, whether it’s going to work. Jacob and I immediately hit it off.”

Possible clues to the plot of “Spider-Man: Homecoming”?

(Warning: Possible spoilers for those who haven’t seen the trailers)

With a little less than a month to go before the movie hits our shores, there has been a lot of speculation over the plot of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and the role of a certain more-established Avengers character.

Feige, who himself made an appearance through a video call, gave some hints, saying, “Spider-Man is still Spider-Man even if he’s not wearing his outfit. And that’s very much the same thing that he’s faced with over with course of the movie.”

A scene from released trailers has shown Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark (otherwise known as Iron Man) confiscating Parker’s suit after an incident with a large ship.

“Sometimes, all the gadgets that Tony Stark puts into that suit are a hindrance to Peter. He doesn’t use all of those gadgets. He doesn’t need all that stuff and he doesn’t quite know how to use it all. So often times, it causes as many problems as it does solutions for him. But the movie is very much about Peter realising he is a hero with or without all of the gadgets Tony Stark can give him,” Feige revealed.

Feige also said that other Asian artistes were being considered for future characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“The answer is yes. I can’t tell you who we have in mind, but I think looking at some of the future films in Phase 4, or whatever comes after Phase 3, the answer to that is yes,” he said.

Marvel has recently taken some flak over the casting of Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in last year’s “Doctor Strange”. There were also calls for Netflix to have cast an actor of Asian descent in the titular role for “Iron Fist”, which instead went to British actor Finn Jones.

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” opens on 6 July in Singapore

Marcus Goh is a Singapore television scriptwriter, having written for Police & Thief, Incredible Tales, Crimewatch, and Point of Entry. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find him on social media as Optimarcus and on his site. The views expressed are his own.

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