Tom Holland is the next actor to play the web slinging Spider-Man in the latest reboot of this superhero franchise, Spider-Man: Homecoming. In it, Holland plays a young teen, Peter Parker, who has to navigate high school and his personal life while discovering his newfound abilities as Spider-Man.
Other stars cast in Spider-Man: Homecoming include Donald Glover, Martin Starr, Michael Barbieri, and Laura Harrier. Holland has hinted in interviews recently that he could “pop up” in the third installment of The Avengers , but says it is all up in the air, and he isn’t sure what the deal is yet.
The actor admitted that the Spider-Man suits were not comfortable to wear, but that he did get to perform many of the stunts himself, which meant he had to be in fantastic shape. He’d have to be in stellar shape to look good in the extremely tight suit that the superhero wears.
Though he did many stunts, he says that there were some he wasn’t allowed to do for legal reasons, or in cases where he didn’t feel comfortable doing some, so stunt doubles had to step in, and either coach him through the process, or do it for him on camera. Tom Holland first played Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War.
Tom Holland’s Tricks to Getting In Shape to Play Spider-Man
It’s exhausting getting physically ready to play a superhero, because the workouts are far more intense and specialized as opposed to training to look good in a day-to-day capacity. A superhero’s body is incredibly fit and muscular, so the challenge for those mere mortals who opt to take on those roles, is to dedicate many months of hard work into shaping their bodies to look the part.
Holland, 19, took on that challenge and has focused his efforts on boxing, circuit training, and a lot of upper body work to shape his body, and his efforts have not gone unnoticed! His aim was to be athletic and agile, because there’s a lot of leaping, jumping, and running when playing Spider-Man, as anyone who has seen any of the previous Spider-Man movies can attest to.
The actor has posted many pictures and videos on Instagram of his workouts over the past few months, including one where he’s boxing, showing his dedication, and focus to being in the best shape he can possibly be in.
One of the more peculiar aspects to Holland’s rigorous workouts is shock therapy, where he essentially gets electrocuted, very mildly, on his chest, using belts that are strapped to him. The idea is to exercise like you normally would, while having small amounts of electricity pump through your body. There’s a dull tingling sensation felt.
Shock therapy is probably this actor’s more bizarre way of getting prepared for the role, and the theory behind why is not very clear, but it seems to be an angle Holland likes to use to ramp up his workouts somehow, so he must know what he’s doing!.
Sources:
Guerrasio, J., “Here’s how the new Spider-Man star got ripped for the role,” Business Insider web site, May 5, 2016; http://www.businessinsider.com/new-spider-man-actor-tom-holland-workout-2016-5/#he-was-already-looking-more-ripped-several-months-ago-3, last accessed October 18, 2016.
