Why Tom Holland Isn’t Returning As Spider-Man In What If…?

Actor Tom Holland has been confirmed to not be reprising his role as Spider-Man in Marvel’s animated What If…? series, and here’s potentially why he’s not voicing Peter Parker. The new anthology series will be the MCU’s fourth Disney+ TV show produced by Marvel Studios, also becoming the studio’s first animated show on Disney+. What If…? will address how the Marvel Cinematic Universe would look if key moments from the movies had happened differently. The series will bring back the MCU’s favorite superheroes in an animated fashion, with Spider-Man expected to receive his own hypothetical episode.

Following the notable portrayals by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, young British actor Tom Holland took over the Peter Parker role once Spider-Man was finally introduced to the MCU. Since his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War, Tom Holland has reprised his role in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, two solo Spider-Man films, and the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home. As for the upcoming series, Marvel toys have confirmed Spider-Man’s role in What If…? will be a zombie hunter, which likely connects to the other teased zombie versions of Captain America and Iron Man.

Plenty of MCU actors are confirmed to be voicing their superheroes in What If…?, which makes it curious that Holland isn’t lending his voice. Tom Holland isn’t the only MCU actor who isn’t voicing their corresponding hero, though. Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), and Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) will also have their characters voiced by alternate actors. Holland’s inclusion in this list of actors whose characters have died and ended contracts or those who are actively working on upcoming MCU films suggests his absence is due to contract details with Sony or scheduling conflicts.

Marvel and Disney’s contracts with MCU actors have recently become hot topics once again with Scarlett Johansson suing Disney over losses from Black Widow‘s streaming releases, but Holland’s Spider-Man contract differs from every other MCU actor with Sony’s stake in the webslinger’s film rights. Holland’s latest Sony contract guaranteed he’d do one more solo Spider-Man movie under contract to complete the trilogy and at least one other upcoming Marvel movie. The actor has said he doesn’t intend to hang up the spider suit for good, meaning he could return to the MCU in supporting roles with a new contract, or, as Sony and Marvel have both hinted, he could show up in one of Sony’s Spider-verse films. At the moment, however, he isn’t guaranteed to star in a fourth solo Spider-Man film under Sony’s ownership.

With the terms of the new contract, it’s likely that Marvel didn’t feel it was worth shelling out money simply for Holland to do one day in a sound booth to read his lines for What If…? While it might be slightly odd to hear a different person voicing Spider-Man, there are plenty of talented voice actors who can closely mimic Holland’s voice. Negotiating a new mini contract or revising the terms of the currently existing one just isn’t worth it for so small a role.

It’s also likely that Holland simply didn’t have the time to record What If…? as the 25-year-old is one of the busiest actors in Hollywood. Since 2020 alone, Tom Holland has had roles in the movies Dolittle, Onward, The Devil All the Time, Cherry, and Chaos Walking, and filmed No Way Home and Uncharted, which are currently in post-production. Marvel’s What If…? began its voice recordings in August 2019, continuing into early 2020, with later voice production resuming in early 2021. Considering during this timeframe Holland was deep in production for most of his 2020 and 2021 released films, plus Uncharted, he likely wasn’t able to find the time. While Tom Holland’s voice will be missed in What If…?, audiences shouldn’t count out a future film reprisal after No Way Home.