Joey Magidson
Tom Holland has had a hell of a last few weeks. Between The Odyssey becoming an absolute sensation and now Spider-Man: Brand New Day getting some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s best notices in years, Holland is front and center for two massive success stories. So, it felt like a perfect time to look at his career and see what the best of it is, so far. Especially considering how this feels like the start of a new chapter for Holland, it jut made sense.
In my review of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (here), I said the following about Holland’s latest turn as Spidey:
Tom Holland gives one of his best performances to date, and his best performance in this role, without question. He gets to really evolve both Peter and Spider-Man in ways that will be familiar to comic book fans but represent something new for his time in the MCU. Holland has always been a perfect fit for this role, and he’s only gotten better as time goes on, but this is a legitimately excellent turn, Marvel or not. He gives the pain and reward of being Spider-Man, all while never losing sight of what makes Peter Parker such a longstanding character worth caring about.
A few weeks ago, my review of The Odyssey (here) included the following bit about Holland amongst the ensemble:
Tom Holland mixes the youth of his prince with an already world weariness that makes his eventual arc incredibly satisfying. Holland isn’t given dramatic weight like this enough and really makes the most of it.
Below, you can see how Holland stacks up for me. It likely won’t surprise you in the least to find out that The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day are at the top of this list, with his latest turn as Peter Parker narrowly in the top slot. A lot of Holland’s work as Parker is on this list, too, though you’ll also find a performance like in Cherry that’s different from almost anything else he’s done to date. Plus, don’t sleep on his turn in The Impossible, which is a wonderful performance in one of his very first roles. What else shows up here? Well, you’re about to find out…
Here now is my ranking of the best Tom Holland performances so far. Behold:
Special Citation: Onward
Honorable Mention: Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. Captain America: Civil War
9. Avengers: Infinity War
6. The Lost City of Z
5. Cherry
4. Spider-Man: Homecoming
3. The Impossible
2. The Odyssey
What is your favorite performance from Tom Holland? Let us know!
Having just seen Spider-Man: Brand New Day, I think I agree with you on declaring this his best performance so far.
Granted, I don’t really like Tom Holland all that much; I don’t think he commands the screen all that well, I think his acting range is limited, and I find his whole “aw shucks golly gee willickers” celebrity persona very annoying. I also think he is, by a comfortable margin, the weakest of the major cast members of The Odyssey.
But, I will concede, he does mine some genuine emotional depth in his latest outing as Peter Parker. I’ll tip my hat to him there.
That’s fair, and I do think it’s hard not to find that his work in Brand New Day is probably the best he’s done so far in his career.