Tom Holland is Ready for a 'More Diverse' Spider-Man to Take the Helm

Tom Holland thinks the world may be ready to say goodbye to his version of Spider-Man, and if so, he hopes that will make room for something new.

The Marvel star chatted with People about the latest installment in Spider-Man’s corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, saying that he’s “loved every minute” of playing Peter Parker.

But all good things must come to an end, and although it’s unclear whether Holland will stick around for a few more movies or whether it’s nearly time for someone else to pick up the web-slinger’s mantle, he’s already expressing his thoughts on what should come next in the Spiderverse.

“I would love to see a future of Spider-Man that’s more diverse — maybe have a Spider-Gwen or a Spider-Woman,” he said. “We’ve had three Spider-Mans in a row; we’ve all been the same. It’d be nice to see something different.”

As much as fans adore Holland, Spider-Man is one of the heroes we’ve seen the most of from Marvel and Sony in the last two decades — between Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire, we’ve gotten a straight, white Peter Parker version of Spider-Man in 11 different movies.

But that's par for the course. Marvel has been slow to introduce heroes outside of straight, white males in its cinematic universe, only bringing in a queer hero for the first time with The Eternals. They've also faced backlash for taking so long to include more female heroes, underutilizing the one they had, and maintaining a cast of predominantly white leads.

What's more, Peter Parker in particular has seemed plagued by outdated expectations of what an American hero should be. Garfield previously expressed that he would have loved to play a bisexual Spider-Man, then was allegedly forced to retract those comments to appease homophobic fans. And in 2015, when Sony emails were leaked to the public, a contract between Sony and Marvel included a list of demands from the latter as to how Parker could be portrayed — including ensuring he is “not a homosexual.”

Still, Holland is on the right track. He’s well loved by the fandom and his cast mates, and nobody’s particularly eager to see him go, but when the time comes, perhaps he can pass his spidey-sense on to someone who breaks the mold and contributes to making the MCU a more diverse, inclusive place for all types of heroes.