It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that superhero scripts are hardly ever credited to just one writer. Many times, there is a committee of writers, as the scripts get passed around and updated by various people during development. And though the recent ‘Spider-Man’ franchise headlined by Tom Holland is generally beloved by fans and respected by critics, the first film, “Homecoming,” is credited to six different screenwriters. So, with that in mind, when Holland recently told Collider that he wasn’t able to sit down and read the entire ‘Spider-Man 3’ script in one sitting, due to its piecemeal construction, that shouldn’t immediately be the cause for concern.
We’ve already heard Holland talk hyperbolically about the forthcoming ‘Spider-Man’ sequel, which may or may not (but probably does) include appearances by previous Spider-Men Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. He’s called the film “the most ambitious standalone superhero film ever.” And speaking to Collider, he does the same. However, Holland does explain that he wasn’t able to sit and read the entire script in one sitting because this is superhero filmmaking, after all.
“Well, unfortunately, I had to read it in sections because there is an element of figuring it out as we go on this one, as there is with most of these big movies, but it is fantastic,” explained Holland. “It’s easily the most ambitious standalone superhero film I’ve ever been a part of. It’s incredibly exciting, it’s funny, it’s emotional, it’s everything that you’d want in a superhero film. I’m loving it. I mean I’ve loved all of them, but I’ve never had as much fun as I have on this one. Being with Jacob [Batalon] and Zendaya again, being with Jon Watts again, with Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige and all those guys, it’s just like a family. We’re having a great time and we’re really, really making something very special.”
Obviously, Holland has a reputation for being generally really excited about every Marvel appearance he has. The actor even has spoiled things in the past out of sheer enthusiasm. So, definitely take his hyperbole about the quality of the film with a grain of salt, as he’s never going to say something like, “This one is okay, I guess.” He’s always going to hype it up, as it’s his job.
But him shedding light on the fact that the ‘Spider-Man 3’ script was delivered in pieces over time also shows a bit more about how these films come together. Though fans see a finished product on the screen, which ideally would give the impression of complete synergy amongst everyone creating it, the truth is that filmmaking is messy and $200 million blockbusters have a lot of cooks in the kitchen.
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‘Spider-Man 3’ does have two credited writers (as of now) in IMDB, with the ‘Far From Home’ duo of Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers getting the title of screenwriters. But who knows what actually happened with the script? Drastic rewrites could have been made when it was revealed which characters from other franchises could be making an appearance (we know Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange is showing up). And maybe whole sections had to be changed when Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were added (again, not confirmed, but come on…)?
We’ll probably find out more as we approach the release date of ‘Spider-Man 3,’ which is still on the calendar for December 17.