Does Disney+’s New SPIDER-MAN Series Have Anything to Do with Tom Holland?
By Movieguide® Contributor
Jeff Trammell had a lot to live up to when he was asked to create the Disney+ animated series YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN.
Despite the hype, he wasn’t worried — he was just excited “to dig into this world because I love the character so much,” he told Variety in a Zoom call.
“YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN follows Peter Parker on his way to becoming a hero, with a journey unlike we’ve ever seen and a style that celebrates the character’s early comic book roots,” a synopsis of the series reads.
However, the animated series doesn’t follow SPIDER-MAN star Tom Holland’s Peter Parker.
“I really wanted to focus on Peter Parker,” Trammell explained. “I love Spider-Man — but you don’t have the hero without the life experiences that Peter goes through [and] how those affect his moral compass and not seeing things in black and white. Because a villain might only be a villain of circumstance; a person might be stealing to help their family. [Understanding] those things make Peter unique as a hero.”
Trammell cast Hudson Thames (MAD MEN) as Peter. The actor wanted to pay homage to Holland for his excellent work as the superhero, but Trammel had something else in mind.
READ MORE: TOM HOLLAND TALKS SPIDER-MAN 4: ‘I’LL ALWAYS WANT TO DO MORE’
“This was Hudson playing Spider-Man now,” he explained. “We didn’t want it to be like, ‘Oh, he’s trying to be Tom for a story that is like Tom, but not.’ He’s added so much to the character that it’s changed how we write Peter in a lot of ways.”
Thames was initially hesitant to work with Disney, admitting that “my biggest fear [about the show] was that it was gonna be annoying and woke.”
“…it wasn’t, and I was like, ‘Yes, this is great, it’s so well written,’ like it feels real. I’m the oldest of five boys, so I feel like I kind of know what’s happening in their lives and in high school, and it felt like it was doing that justice,” he explained.
Thames added that Peter Parker’s “quintessential” optimism has rubbed off on him.
“He’s so hopeful. Spending this amount of time being in that head space, just as a guy in the world, is really refreshing. I feel like it’s made me a better person,” the actor said.
READ MORE: SPIDER-MAN STAR BREAKS UP FIGHT IN REAL LIFE
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