Marvel Reportedly Won’t Let Tom Holland Be James Bond

His name is Parker… Peter Parker. And nothing else.

At least, that’s the rumor being reported in The Sun. According to an unnamed source, the paper claims that Tom Holland has been ruled out of consideration as the next James Bond because of his contract with Marvel and Sony to play Spider-Man. It’s not so much that the studios are worried that the actor would be spending too much time ordering shaken martinis and playing baccarat. Rather, they worry that Bond would distract from Spider-Man.

“Tom can’t play two superheroes, it just won’t happen,” said the insider quoted by The Sun.

That’s a compelling statement, but not one that’s too surprising, given the complicated nature of the current state of Spider-rights. Famously, Marvel Comics sold the adaptation rights for many of its signature characters during a period of financial difficulties in the 1990s, well before the establishment of Marvel Studios and the company’s purchase by Disney. While Marvel and Disney have been able to get back many of those rights–sometimes by buying the rival studio outright, as in the case of 20th Century Fox and the rights to X-Men and the Fantastic Four—Sony remains committed to holding onto Spidey. Thus, Marvel had to negotiate with Sony to get Spider-Man into the MCU, which he finally did with 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.

The insider doesn’t reveal which of the two studios have the contract requirement, but whoever it is may not have reason to worry. After all, Spider-Man is not just the most famous superhero in the world, but he’s also one of the most famous characters in the world. Bond may predate Spidey by about a decade, but it’s been a long time since the super-spy has matched the level of popularity enjoyed by the superhero.

Then again, times are clearly changing for James Bond. It may be four years since Daniel Craig ended his run with 2021’s No Time to Die, but he still left the series better than he found it. Moreover, Amazon seems ready to throw its substantial weight behind the property since they purchased adaptation rights from Eon Productions, who had been shepherding the Ian Fleming character since Sean Connery first took on the part for 1962’s Dr. No.

Amazon has hired a big name director in Denis Villeneuve to make the next entry, which he plans to do after finishing Dune 3. Moreover, the casting of a new Bond always garners a lot of attention, which will help the new film debut to lots of buzz. More buzz than a Spider-Man movie? Probably not. But clearly, someone at Marvel or Sony isn’t willing to take that chance.