Tom Holland is splitting his time between two of the biggest projects of his career — Christopher Nolan’s upcoming The Odyssey and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day. While the actor has nothing but fondness for his long-standing superhero role, he insists Nolan’s take on Homer’s epic gave him the best script he’s ever read.
“Chris [Nolan] is a real collaborator,” Holland told Agence France-Presse. “He knows what he wants… but it is not an environment where you can’t pitch ideas or build characters in certain ways."
In The Odyssey, Nolan’s first film since his Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, Holland takes on the role of Telemachus, the son of Odysseus. The movie boasts a heavyweight cast led by Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal. Reflecting on the experience, Holland earlier said to GQ Sports, “Working with Chris, getting to know him and Emma [Thomas] was absolutely fantastic. I’ve never seen someone that can work the way that they do, and there is a reason why they’re the best in the business for sure. To get a front-row seat to that and to be a part of the process and to collaborate with a true master of his craft and learn from him was the best experience I’ve ever had.”
Calling the role “the job of a lifetime,” Holland previously admitted to GQ Sports that being cast in The Odyssey was “reminiscent of getting the call about Spider-Man 10 years ago. It’s an amazing thing for me. I’m super proud, and I’m really, really excited.” He described filming Nolan’s epic as “exciting”, “different”, and “unlike anything we’ve ever seen”.
But even after nearly a decade as Peter Parker, the Marvel franchise hasn’t lost its spark for him. Holland is currently filming Spider-Man: Brand New Day, his fourth solo outing as the web-slinger and seventh overall MCU appearance. “It still feels like the first time,” he shared. “Yesterday, I was on top of a tank driving down the high street in Glasgow, in front of thousands of fans, and it was awesome. It was so incredible; it was exciting and exhilarating, and it felt fresh.”
Universal Pictures is set to release The Odyssey on July 17, followed closely by Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day on July 31.
