‘If this flops, he’s becoming Zendaya’s stay-at-home dad’: Tom Holland’s rumored role could make or break non-‘Spider-Man’ success

Tom Holland helms one of Marvel’s most iconic franchises, Spider-Man. He wowed us (and fooled us with his American accent) by taking on the role of Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man, within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Holland should be on top of the world, but outside of Marvel, he’s struggling to make his mark.

Holland has been in the acting business for some time, having begun his career on the West End in the British musical Billy Elliot. He then landed a role in the 2012 disaster movie The Impossible, acting across from Hollywood veterans Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. Holland’s emotional performance in The Impossible was highly praised, setting him up as one to watch. A few years later, Marvel came knocking.

In 2016, Holland swung onto the scene (literally) as the MCU’s Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War. Just a year later, his first solo film premiered, and the latest Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, became Marvel’s highest-grossing solo film and the seventh-highest-grossing film of all time (at the time of writing). In and amongst all this, Holland started dating his Spider-Man co-star, Zendaya, and they quickly became the cutest couple in Hollywood. However, as Zendaya’s star rose in films such as Dune and Challengers, Holland has struggled to establish himself.

One star rises, another falls

One upcoming project, American Speed, will reportedly see Holland pairing up with heartthrob Austin Butler. The two will be playing drug-smuggling brothers. The announcement prompted one social media user to post “This is his last chance. If this flops, he’s becoming Zendaya’s stay-at-home dad.”

It isn’t that Holland is a bad actor—far from it!—but his recent string of projects outside of the MCU have not paid off for him. The actor has tried hard to prevent being typecast as a plucky teen (he is in his late 20s now, after all), appearing in numerous darker projects such as Cherry, The Devil All the Time, and The Crowded Room. None of these projects were truly well-received by critics. He even decided to take a break from acting for a year, citing the emotional effect his role in The Crowded Room had on him.

Though Holland will be back as Spider-Man in his fourth solo film, his career outside of Marvel really needs a win. Let’s hope he can find it in American Speed.