Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Avengers: Infinity War."
Tom Holland didn’t know that he was going to die in Avengers: Infinity War until before his death scene was filmed.
Marvel Studios went to great lengths just to make sure that plot details of their biggest undertaking yet remained tightly under wraps until it was officially released around the globe. Aside from trailer misdirects and directors Joe and Anthony Russo personally asking fans not to spoil the movie, they also kept their actors in check by not giving them full scripts while others received fake ones. Given the situation that they had to work on, the cast of the film did a great job using their imagination to make sure that they’re acting accordingly with regard to the scene they’re working on.
While Infinity War‘s consecutive character deaths at the end have become the source of countless online jokes, Parker’s was arguably the most popular of them all, making his final lines: “I don’t feel good” and “I don’t want to go” lines the butt of so many memes. But despite Holland’s and Robert Downey Jr.’s (who plays Tony Stark/Iron Man) brilliant performances, the former reveals that he wasn’t actually fully briefed about what was really happening during the scene.
Appearing at an event organized by his family for their charity group, The Brothers’ Trust, where Webbed Media was present, Holland engaged in a fun Q&A session with the attendees. During the conversation, the actor shared that he only learned about Peter Parker’s fate the same day he shot the emotional scene opposite RDJ. Co-director Joe Russo has previously revealed that Holland improvised his death scene, earning the young actor praise from a lot of fans. And for him to pull off that kind of performance even without fully knowing what’s happening in it is a testament to his acting skills.
It makes sense that the Russos would deliberately hold back information to Holland given the young actor’s tendency to inadvertently reveal spoilers. In fact, all throughout the press junket, Benedict Cumberbatch shadowed him to make sure he didn’t give away anything more than what he was supposed to.
But it’s also possible that most of the actors whose characters were snuffed by the end of the film due to Thanos’ snap didn’t really know what was going on. Their deaths were random and unexpected, with most of them not having the need to set the scene up. Holland himself didn’t figure out what he was filming despite Parker’s demise being probably the most emotional and prolonged in the movie.
Fortunately, there’s a good chance that the MCU will see many more brilliant performances from Holland as the actor is expected to be back once the original Avengers (with the help and Ant-Man and Captain Marvel) find a way to rectify the situation in next year’s Avengers 4. After his incredibly dangerous stint fighting off intergalactic villain, Thanos, he’ll be back in high school for Spider-Man: Homecoming 2.