Tom Holland hated the Spider-Man cut that gave fans exactly what they wanted

In a revealing glimpse behind the Hollywood curtain, British actor Tom Holland has admitted that he 'hated' an early cut of the new Spider-Man film that had been painstakingly re-edited to satisfy every fan demand. The confession, made at the premiere of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, exposes a growing tension between the creative integrity of filmmaking and the clamour of the online mob.

A film shaped by popular demand

Holland, who has played Peter Parker since 2017, disclosed that Marvel and Sony produced multiple versions of the fourth instalment before settling on the final cut released on Friday. One particular version, he said, was assembled by taking 'all of the notes from all of the random people that saw the film' and changing the movie accordingly.

'It totally didn't work – and it's what the people were asking for,' Holland told Quotable. 'But it wasn't quite what we wanted as the creatives.'

When he, the producers and director Destin Daniel Cretton watched that cut, they 'hated it'. The lesson, Holland said, is that 'a movie can change in a thousand different ways in the edit room'.

Learning from Christopher Nolan's discipline

The revelation comes as Holland credits director Christopher Nolan with teaching him a vital lesson about filmmaking discipline. After witnessing Nolan's famously efficient methods on the set of The Odyssey, where Holland plays Telemachus, the actor insisted that the Spider-Man producers adopt a similar approach.

'We are not going to come to set and figure it out,' he told GQ. 'We need to know why we are making this movie beyond the fact that it's Spider-Man 4 and they make loads of money.'

Holland even called up the studio and producers to say: 'Well, Chris is doing it this way. This is how I think we should be doing it.'

Sony's deference to Nolan's reputation

The actor's insistence that Sony delay production of Brand New Day to free up his schedule for The Odyssey required 'a very uncomfortable conversation' with the studio. Yet they agreed, largely because of Nolan's reputation.

'I think one of the reasons why Sony were happy to move is because Chris has that reputation of, 'This movie isn't going to go five months over, and we aren't actually going to lose Tom for two years,' Holland said. 'Any other director, it might have been a slightly different conversation.'

For Holland, the delay allowed Cretton to develop the script into 'the best version of any Spider-Man movie going', which he said 'saved' it.

Critical acclaim despite creative turmoil

The Independent's film critic Clarisse Loughrey called the film 'the best Spider-Man movie in more than 20 years', writing that 'Tom Holland's web-slinger has never been more authentic to the source material'.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day, also starring Holland's wife Zendaya, Jacob Batalon and Sadie Sink, is in cinemas from Friday.