Tom Holland Told Zendaya About Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom Return in ‘Doomsday’ the Second He Hung Up the Phone

Tom Holland has never had the reputation of a vault when it comes to Marvel secrets, and a new interview has confirmed that even the most closely guarded news in the MCU was not entirely safe once it landed in his hands.

The actor has revealed that Robert Downey Jr. personally called him ahead of the now-legendary Doctor Doom announcement, and that Zendaya found out almost immediately after.

Speaking with Cinemania during the ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ press tour in Madrid, Holland recalled the moment Downey called to share the news, saying he hung up the phone and told Zendaya straight away that “Downey’s coming back.” Zendaya confirmed the story was accurate, noting they were in the same room when he got the call.

“Yeah, he just called me,” Holland recalled of hearing from Downey directly. “And I caught up with him a couple days ago on the phone. Yeah, we’ll just have casual catch ups every now and then. He checks in. And he just told me, and it’s really exciting.” The warmth in that description speaks to a genuine off-screen friendship, one that stretches back to Holland’s earliest days in the MCU when Downey’s Tony Stark served as his character’s mentor.

The reveal comes with a layer of irony that Marvel fans will appreciate. Holland had previously admitted on the Rich Roll podcast that knowing about the Doctor Doom announcement was “a tough secret to sit on” because of his well-documented reputation for accidentally spoiling Marvel content, and that he had strategically avoided doing press in the lead-up to the Comic-Con reveal. It turns out that discipline extended only so far, and Zendaya was apparently exempt from the embargo.

As for what Downey’s return as Doctor Doom means for Peter Parker specifically, Holland is playing things considerably closer to the chest this time. Holland stated plainly that he does not know much about ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ by design, saying “I have a reputation for spoiling certain things, and I think the studios are keeping me from the juicy details.” He did admit, however, that when he eventually gets on set, he is “so curious” about what the dynamic means for Peter and how it will all work.

The anticipation around a potential Peter Parker and Doctor Doom confrontation has been building in fan circles for months. Downey spent a decade as Tony Stark, effectively playing a father figure to Holland’s Spider-Man across three team-up films, which makes the prospect of Holland facing him as a villain one of the most emotionally loaded matchups the MCU has ever set up. The Russo Brothers previously told Entertainment Tonight that Downey has been deeply immersed in developing the character, writing backstory and contributing costume ideas, with Joe Russo saying he “just loves really rich three-dimensional characters” and “sees a real opportunity here.”

Holland will next be seen in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and scheduled for release on July 31. Whether or not he ends up facing his former mentor-turned-villain in ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ it is clear that the prospect already has the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man very excited about whatever Marvel has planned.

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