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Tom Holland Recalls Seeing ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Cut He “Hated”: “It Totally Didn’t Work”
Tom Holland has revealed that a version of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" was reworked based on test-screening feedback, only for him and the cast to dislike the result once they saw it. The comments, made ahead of the film's cinema release, offer a rare glimpse into how a major Marvel blockbuster evolves through numerous edits before reaching its final form, and highlight tension between audience feedback and the creative team's vision.
Speaking to Quotable, Holland said the studio incorporated notes "from all of the random people that saw the film" into one cut, but that "it totally didn't work" when the cast watched it, even though it reflected what test audiences had asked for. He added that lessons were learned from the experience, noting a film "can change in a thousand different ways in the edit room." The sequel, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, sees Holland reprise Peter Parker four years after Doctor Strange's spell erased him from the world's memory, and opens in cinemas this weekend with a predicted $465 million worldwide opening.
In short
- Holland says a test-audience-driven cut of the new Spider-Man film "didn't work"
- Studio revised the film based on screening feedback before scrapping that version
- "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" opens this weekend, tipped for a huge box office debut
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Test screenings can reveal confusion, pacing problems or unmet expectations that filmmakers may miss after working closely on a film. Taking audience feedback seriously can make a blockbuster more accessible and satisfying to the people it is intended to reach.
The case against
A cut assembled by following test-screening requests may satisfy individual preferences while weakening the story’s coherence or the filmmakers’ broader vision. The cast and creative team have a fuller view of the film’s aims, so their judgement matters when deciding which notes to adopt.
Explained simply
Tom Holland is a British actor best known for playing Spider-Man across several major films. These blockbuster films are amongst the biggest in the world, so his comments about filmmaking carry significant weight in the industry and amongst audiences.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the next film in the Spider-Man series. It continues the story from the previous film, in which a magical spell cast by Doctor Strange made everyone forget that Peter Parker exists. This is the fourth Spider-Man film to star Holland, and it is expected to be one of the year's biggest releases.
Film studios show unfinished versions of films to test audiences before release to gather feedback on what works well and what does not. Filmmakers then decide whether to reshoot scenes, change the order of scenes, or make other changes based on this feedback. Sometimes these changes improve a film, but sometimes they can undermine the original creative vision.
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