Endgame Director Elaborates Why Tom Holland Is Marvel’s New RDJ

Avengers: Endgame director Joe Russo explains how Tom Holland has taken over Robert Downey Jr.’s spot as the MCU‘s soul. Holland is gearing up for the release of his third standalone film as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Before the movie even hits theaters, though, the young actor has supposedly already become the franchise’s core actor — a spot that was previously occupied by Marvel Studios’ inaugural star, Downey Jr.

Holland’s iteration of Spider-Man came on the heels of The Amazing Spider-Man 2′s failure to ignite a long-lasting franchise. Kevin Feige convinced Sony to drop their The Amazing Spider-Man 3 plans and reboot the character to be part of the MCU. After the companies were able to come up with an agreement, Joe Russo, alongside his brother and directing partner, Anthony, started the process of casting a brand new version of the wall-crawler for Captain America: Civil War. Holland aced the audition process, and after debuting in the 2016 ensemble film, he played the role four more times — two of which were in his solo adventures: Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home. The other two outings, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, saw him continuing to collaborate with the Russos.

As Holland stars in his third solo-Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Russo is convinced that the actor has already become the MCU’s soul, taking over the role from Downey Jr., whose Iron Man ended his arc in Avengers: Endgame. Speaking with ComicBook.com during the red carpet premiere of the new Jon Watts-directed film, he explains why he believes this. He knew Holland could take up that role, Russo says, from the moment they cast him. Read his full explanation below:

The reason why he cast him was he was a really dynamic, charismatic actor. He captured the essence of Peter Parker for us, that youthful, funny, sarcastic, charming, vulnerable, version of Peter Parker that I knew growing up and reading the comics. So, I said this not too long ago, but I really feel like he’s taken over the mantle as sort of this soul of the Marvel universe, the emotional core of it. The audience has been through a lot with his character. I think they feel very emotionally connected to his character and here we are in a gigantic, climactic, movie for the Home series.

Back in November 2021, Russo boldly predicted that Holland was in the position to take over Downey’s vacated spot in the MCU. Not even a month since then, he now says that he has already achieved that status. Perhaps it’s what goes down in Spider-Man: No Way Home that solidifies the young actor’s place in the franchise; after all, reviews for the film have been largely positive, with many citing this as Holland’s best outing as the wall-crawler. Regardless of the creative decisions in a film, one consistent thing was Downey Jr.’s performance, and Holland could be following that trend, especially with a brand new Spider-Man trilogy supposedly in the works.

Interestingly, one of the most prevalent criticisms of Holland’s Spider-Man in the MCU is that he’s more like an Iron Man successor than a hero on his own. This is rooted in Peter Parker’s close relationship with Tony Stark, with the pair having a father/son dynamic. In the real world, Downey Jr. has also personally mentored Holland, and as revealed by the young actor, even though Iron Man is no longer in the franchise after Avengers: Endgame, they maintain a close friendship.

Source: ComicBook.com

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