#gq magazine interview

Robert Downey Jr. on his relationship with Tom Holland

Much has been made of the relationship between Downey and Holland and, more specifically, Parker and Stark. The relationship, certainly in the films, purposely taps into a master-apprentice vibe between the pair. Downey is clear to nix a theory that he knows only too well is out in the real world, mushrooming on Marvel forums and fan sites: that Holland/Parker/Downey/Stark are forming a bond or legacy that goes beyond team members and colleagues with superpowers.

“I am protective of Tom, sure,” explains Downey. “But I protect his right to be his own man. We have a very, very difficult to explain affinity for each other. I won’t, for example, if asked, extemporise about how incredible he is in the movie. This is because my endorsement is automatic. Did I expect him to get good notices from his part in Cherry? Yes. Do I need to supercharge these notices? No, I do not. We are brothers. He comes to my house in Malibu when he rolls through town. I FaceTime him when he’s in the pub. I am not his weird, rich uncle. He is not my protégé. We’re just… folk.”

Robert Downey Jr. on his and Tom’s future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

How then could Cherry affect Holland’s own trajectory, I ask Downey. “Look, Tom won’t be playing Spider-Man when he’s 37. At least I hope not. And when you’re in the MCU, there’s a feeling of all life beginning with it and ending it. But there’s life outside too. I can confirm this. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. It’s funny, I bumped into Keanu [Reeves] the other day, somewhere in Malibu, I think, and he told me he’d just been filming The Matrix again; he’d stepped back into that world that he once occupied. I asked him what it felt like: ‘Like being in Australia.’

“What I am saying is there was a Spider-Man before Tom Holland and there will be a Spider-Man after Tom Holland. That’s facts, Tommo. Sorry.” What about Downey, I ask, unable to resist: now he’s out, could he ever find himself stepping back into the MCU again? As Iron Man? “Well…” he mummers. “I have alighted, for now. Real world to save. But never say never.”

Robert Downey Jr. on Tom Holland becoming Spider-Man.

Downey also remembers the casting session with Tom Holland. “He had a lot of hair,” Downey tells me, laughing. “I remember thinking, ‘What’s with the hair, dude?’” The scene Downey and Holland went over for the now fabled audition was Holland’s first scene in Civil War, where audiences get to meet the new Spider-Man: following Peter Parker’s school backpack into the small NYC apartment he shares with Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). 

“Yeah, I may have done that. I did that,” admits Downey. “And the kid handled it. He was seasoned, good presence. I could tell he had good kung fu; he could roll with the punches and keep it more than interesting. Remember, I’d been testing with a bunch of kids that day. They shall remain unnamed, but they all did well and any one of them would have brought something else to the part of Spider-Man. But why Holland? That’s your question, right? Gravitas. Gravitas and the confidence to be able to take on the mantle.”

“Look, becoming Spider-Man is a lot,” Downey underlines. “So why does Tom Holland get to be Spider-Man? That character is the gold standard in the MCU. Iron Man? Whatever. When I became Iron Man few had even heard of the character, ergo less pressure. But Spider-Man? Everyone knows Spider-Man. Andrew Garfield did a good job. Tobey Maguire did a good job. So I ask you again: why does Tom Holland get to be number three?”

Downey, of course, has an answer for this. In typical freewheeling Downey style he’s able to zoom out, get macro and stop sweating the small stuff. “What happened at the casting isn’t irrelevant but it isn’t everything. Like I said, it comes down to being able to carry the mantle.” Meaning?“To be able to weather the trial by fire that rains down on someone when taking on such a thing. Marvel fans are wonderfully yet terrifyingly committed. They absorb all of you. They expect to. Becoming Spider-Man is a bit like going down a K-hole: it’s easy to get lost in there. Add in the fact that you are worked relentlessly. It’s crazy. But Tom can handle it. I could tell. He’s a beekeeper.”