Crowded Room is the latest misguided attempt to wrest Tom Holland from Marvel’s clutches

career of tom holland It is in a very positive phase. Even today, he is the Spider-Man par excellence, he is credited with a video game adaptation that has hit the box office unresolved And, after nearly a decade of infamy, he’s landed just about any project he can think of. There is one thing, however, that he doesn’t have and craves: a prestigious success. His latest work, the gritty police drama Apple TV+ by title crowded roomThat’s what it was meant to be but, unfortunately, it didn’t turn out well.

In 2015, Holland was announced as the next Spider-Man before Andrew Garfield ended his turn, the rest is history. In 2023, after three independent films and a pinch of Avengers property, it’s fair to say what a perfect superhero Holland is. Self Tobey Maguire started the process and Andrew Garfield, while undeniably talented, had an unfortunate and highly avoidable fate, in contrast, Holland represents everything fans could wish for. She’s still young and clumsy enough to believably address the problems of adolescence with the kind of determination of immature superpowers. She’s cute, but with a beauty that exposes vulnerability: in a multiple choice she fights aliens without batting an eyelid, but grits her teeth in terror before the spicy approach. It is an essential base for a franchise that is rapidly pushing the boundaries.

to say it all tom holland He’s a really, really, good actor. So why can’t he work on other projects?

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To begin with, outside of Marvel productions, he took on very serious roles.
First, he was thrown into the middle of the film’s Pacific Southwest gothic blur evil streets (2020); Then He Turned Into a Veteran With PTSD Cherry – Innocence Lost of 2021; Finally, with his current interpretation, he takes the form of a tormented young man at the center of a shooting in the 70s crowded room, All these attempts to create an identity missing from red lycra have fallen on deaf ears, as a Peter Parker Anyone who falls to the ground without more superpowers.

Holland is no longer a 15-year-old actor Billy Elliot For one of the biggest roles in the world, he’s now 27, can handle his job and, of course, wants to do roles beyond the awkward teen. crowded room This is about as far away from the saturated world of action comics as it gets. It features him in a bleak and gloomy New York City, dealing with abusive parents, school bullies and a rejection so brutal it makes your eyes water. Without giving away too much of the series’ central twist, it’s clear from the first moment that there’s more to Danny than just being part of a group of bad guys.

While the series has all the makings of a 2023 hit (despite our common sense, we still can’t let go of true crime!). crowded room It is mostly one piece. It is based on misdirection and deception that appear obvious even without prior knowledge. Already after three episodes, you’re going to be tired of plot holes that have to be sewn up in the finale. At the center of this failure, however, is Holland, who takes the now-sugar-inflated outright rage he made at Marvel and turns it into something compelling and disturbing. Tom Holland is, as always, good. Unfortunately, once again, the plays he plays don’t allow him to shine.

Is it fair to say that despite his skill and grit, Holland has had little success with his post-Marvel projects? Or, conversely, is he an interpreter unwittingly charmed by the project around him? There aren’t some actors who mistake budget for charm. In the case of Holland, however, neither hypothesis is correct. His talent is unquestionably the equal of any of his contemporaries, and a sense of responsibility in crafting impactful stories, regardless of whether crowded roomHe is not a real hero.

It’s becoming harder and harder to ignore that Marvel may have a shadow problem. Hollande will be one of many who have been swallowed up by the agony of being at the center of it. from her co-star the avengers, Chris Evanswho got the role of captain american As an emerging youth, he has participated in many interesting and diverse projects such as Murder By Death – Knives Out And snow blowerbut always appears on the verge of being swallowed up by the undertones of its most famous character.

It was necessary that stars of the caliber Robert Downey Jr., Elizabeth Olsen And Dave Bautista Cut the cord with Marvel to be able to dedicate myself to something new. Still, a choice sebastian stan which he explained bucky barnes Another actor so beloved in the Captain America franchise that he was promptly thrown back into the machine has failed to make an impact outside of Marvel, despite landing roles in Academy Award-nominated films Tonya And survivor – the martian, Obviously, the elapsed time was not enough to break continuity.

Marvel contracts are like school lessons, only with more clauses and multibillion-dollar stakes. in your summer holidays roosters

It’s filling downtime with additional activities, or in this case, anything that gives fans a sense that they’re not just a Marvel product. The feeling, at least in Holland’s case, is that the purpose of swinging the pendulum so much in the opposite direction of Cinecomic is to differentiate the product and not seek quality. With the looming specter of other trilogies, cameos, and other conditions to be met, it’s hard to get momentum in a series outside the Marvel world.

tom hollandIn short, he runs the risk of actually being too old for Spider-Man to be able to fly, freeing himself from the ballast of the multiverse.

Article originally published at GQ UK