Tom Holland has a well-earned reputation for leaking Marvel secrets — and it turns out even a private phone call with Robert Downey Jr. couldn’t stay under wraps for long.
In an interview with Cinemania during the Madrid press tour for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Holland confessed that Downey called him personally to share the news of his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — this time as the villain Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday — and that Holland immediately told his wife, Zendaya. “I think I hung up the phone and was like, ‘Downey’s coming back,'” Holland said with a laugh. Zendaya confirmed the account, saying they were “literally” in the same room when he got the call.
The admission is vintage Holland. The actor has become something of an in-joke within Marvel circles for his inability to keep spoilers contained — a trait he acknowledges with self-deprecating humor. He says the studios have responded accordingly, cutting off his access to sensitive plot details. “I don’t know a lot about those movies, I think by design,” he said. “I have a reputation for spoiling certain things, and I think the studios are keeping me from the juicy details.”
The dynamic carries extra weight given Downey’s history with Holland’s Peter Parker. As Tony Stark, Downey served as Spider-Man’s mentor across multiple MCU films, a relationship that ended with Stark’s death in Avengers: Endgame. His reappearance as the armored tyrant Doctor Doom — a wholly different character — raises obvious questions about what that shift means for Peter Parker’s story. Holland said he’s as curious as anyone. “When I do get to grace that set, I’m so curious — you know, what does that mean for Peter? And how does that work? I’m very excited about… whatever it is they’re doing,” he said.
Whether Spider-Man appears in Doomsday at all remains officially unconfirmed. Speculation that Holland’s Spider-Man might sit out the film was fueled by a March 2025 report stating he would not appear in it, though Downey’s Easter Instagram post featuring Doctor Doom artwork — which appeared to include a Spider-Man logo among the Easter eggs — stoked fresh speculation. Holland’s name remains conspicuously absent from any official cast announcement.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and co-written by Justin Kuritzkes alongside returning scribes Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, opens July 31. Avengers: Doomsday follows on December 18.
