Previous Spider-Man movies have spent only a small amount of time in high school, with both first instalments of the previous franchises quickly giving way to the hero moving on to college either in the initial film or the sequel. That can be blamed on the ages of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, but with Tom Holland playing Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have the opportunity to keep the hero in the high school setting for quite a bit longer.
The Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel is set to be released two years from now, so Holland won’t drastically age, and while it’s unclear whether follow-ups to that will be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the actor confirmed in a recent interview that the studios intend to take inspiration from the Harry Potter series.
“I think the Harry Potter movies are a perfect example, they worked so well. I’m such a huge fan, as are billions of people, so why not follow that perfect formula? And I think we can do something really exciting with that.”
This makes sense on a number of levels, but with the MCU taking place in real-time, will the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel end up being set at a sooner point in time than other Marvel movies coming in 2019? As with comic books, it’s best not to think too much about that type of thing, as it just complicates matters tenfold.
It’s also interesting to wonder just how far ahead things have been planned. Will we eventually follow Holland’s Peter into college and adulthood? Could we see him in the role as long as Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine? Time will tell, but his run kicks off with Spider-Man: Homecoming this July and we can’t wait to see what the studio has planned for us.