Tom Holland Straight-Up Called The Disney CEO To Save Spider-Man And It Actually Worked

    Speaking to Jimmy Kimmel, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that he said to Sony: "We gotta figure out a way to get this done, for Tom and for the fans."

    Ben Henry
    by Ben Henry

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed that Tom Holland was instrumental in saving Spider-Man from exiting the MCU after the superhero was recently caught in the middle of a spat between studio juggernauts Marvel and Sony.

    Chung Sung-jun / Getty Images

    Back in August, the internet was greeted with the shock news that Holland's Spider-Man character would be leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe after a dispute between the two studios.

    Sony / Marvel

    In 2015, Sony Pictures entered into a deal with Marvel which basically gave the Disney-owned studio the rights to use Holland in their Avengers movies. In return, Marvel's president Kevin Feige produced Sony's Spider-Man movies, integrating them with the MCU to great success.

    According to reports, Disney wanted a fifty-fifty split of Sony's Spider-Man earnings at the box office in exchange for cofinancing the movies, something that Sony wouldn't agree to.

    Sony / Marvel

    As a result, Feige was removed as producer of the Spider-Man movies and everybody's favourite neighbourhood Spider-Man was booted from the MCU.

    Holland appeared emotional about the news at Disney's D23 Expo days later, saying on stage: "Listen, it's been a crazy week, but I want you to know that I'm grateful from the bottom of my heart, and I love you 3,000."

    Chung Sung-jun / Getty Images

    But something seemed to shake the table and suddenly, a month later, it was announced that Spider-Man wouldn't be leaving the MCU after all.

    Sony / Marvel

    Both studios announced the news in a press release, revealing that they would jointly produce a third film in the Spider-Man: Homecoming series.

    A source with knowledge of the situation also confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the studios had settled on a deal — for the first time, Disney would cofinance the movie and would therefore receive around 25% of the profits in return.

    Rumours have since floated around the internet, claiming that Holland had something to do with the studios' change of heart. And, in a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, the Disney CEO confirmed that this was the case.

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    Iger said that it was clear from the fan reaction at D23 that fans "wanted Tom back as Spider-Man" and that, after the event, Holland reached out to Disney for the big boss's contact details.

    Jesse Grant / Getty Images

    Iger said: "Tom reached out to folks that work for me [and] said, 'Can I please have Bob's email address or phone number.' Of course, I'm very protected, so they were very careful, and I said, 'Sure, have him contact me.'"

    After joking that Holland cried on the phone, Iger said that it was "clear that he cared so much" about the situation and wanted to get it resolved.

    ABC

    Commending Holland on being a "great" Spider-Man, Iger continued: "I actually felt for him and it was clear that the fans wanted all this to happen."

    Following the phone call with Holland, Iger first reached out to people at Disney Studios before apparently contacting the head of Sony Pictures to rehash a deal.

    ABC

    "I said, 'We gotta figure out a way to get this done, for Tom and for the fans,'" Iger revealed. "And we did."

    He added: "Sometimes, you know, companies when they're negotiating or people when they're negotiating with one another, they kinda forget that there are other folks out there that actually matter."

    Iger concluded: "There's a whole Parker family out there." And that there is! The third Spider-Man installment will be released in 2021.

    Stefanie Keenan / Getty Images

    You can watch the full interview here.