Tom Holland shares first reaction to Spider-Man 4 after reading script with Zendaya

Tom Holland excited Spider-Man fans this week by confirming that he and Zendaya have read an early draft of the script for the highly anticipated fourth film.

The British star, 28 – who has played the web-slinging hero since 2017 – made the big reveal when he appeared on Thursday’s episode of The Rich Roll Podcast.

Although he and Zendaya think the script is “excellent,” Holland admitted that “it still needs work.”

“But the writers are doing a great job,” he teased.

The biggest challenge is fitting Spider-Man 4 into the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Marvel Studios releasing more than three films every year.

“One of the things is that your movie at Marvel is a small cog in a big machine,” Holland explained.

‘That machine has to keep running. You need to make sure you can fit into that timeline at the right time to benefit the bigger picture.

‘That is one of the challenges we face. The time in which we have to achieve this is quite a task, but it is certainly feasible with the people we are working on it with now.

“We have a creative and we have a pitch and a draft, which is excellent,” Holland told the host. “It needs work, but the writers are doing a great job.”

He then revealed that he and his co-star and girlfriend Zendaya had gotten their hands on an early draft of the script last month.

“I read it three weeks ago and it really lit a fire in me,” Holland said.

“Zendaya and I sat down and read it together and at times we bounced around the living room as if this were a real movie worthy of the fans’ respect.”

He did not reveal any information about the film’s plot during the podcast appearance.

Holland has portrayed Peter Parker/Spider-Man in three films: Homecoming (2017), Far From Home (2019) and No Way Home (2021).

He also played the role of the Marvel superhero in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

Before Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield portrayed the masked crusader on the big screen.

Meanwhile, Zendaya starred in all three films, with Holland as Peter Parker’s classmate and friend Michelle ‘MJ’ Jones-Watson.

In April 2024, Holland confirmed that he would return for a fourth Spider-Man film.

“The simple answer is I always want to make Spider-Man movies,” he told reporters at the Sands International Film Festival in St. Andrews, Scotland.

“I owe my life and career to Spider-Man. So the simple answer is yes. I will always want to do more.’

“We have the best in the business working on whatever the story is. But until we crack it, we have a legacy to protect. The third film was so special in so many ways that we have to make sure we do the right thing.

‘This is the first time in this process that I have been part of the creative sector so early. It’s just a process where I watch and learn. For me it’s just a really nice stage. Like I said, everyone wants this to happen.

“But we want to make sure we don’t overdo the same things,” he added.

2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ended on a dramatic cliffhanger when Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) cast a spell that erased the world’s memory of Peter Parker, including that of his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya).

A fourth Spider-Man film was first confirmed by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige in 2023.

He participated Entertainment weekly that a ‘story’ had been written.

“All I’m saying is we have the story. We have big ideas for that, and our writers are just now putting pen to paper,” he teased.

However, development came to a halt in May 2023 due to the Writers Guild Of America (WGA) strike, which lasted 148 days.

Months after the strike ended, Holland worried Spider-Man fans when he told it Critics Choice Association that he would only return for a fourth film if they could do the character ‘justice’.

“All I can say is that we have been actively having conversations about what it could potentially look like for a fourth portrayal of my character,” he revealed at the time.

“Whether we can find a way to do justice to the character is another matter.”

The Spider-Man trilogy starring Holland was directed by director Jon Watts.

But director Destin Daniel Cretton – known for Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) has been in ‘talks’ to take over the franchise, as confirmed by Variety in September.

Holland and Zendaya fell in love while creating the Spider-Man franchise.

Five years after they first met on set in 2016, they confirmed their romance in 2021 when they were caught kissing in public.

The beloved Hollywood couple has been living together ever since and has also faced engagement rumors in recent years.

Zendaya recently supported the Netherlands by attending several productions of his play Romeo & Juliet in London’s West End.