While fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) have always expected the explosive chemistry between Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Zendaya’s Michelle ‘MJ’ Jones-Watson, viewers also crave more of their scenes together. Well, it turns out that a Sony-Marvel agreement was the driving force behind this artistic choice. According to the strict agreement, Marvel has been prohibited by Sony from delving into Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s s*xuality or producing explicit scenes.
Although older actors have always played Peter Parker on the big screen, the character is typically shown as a young man attending college or high school. The MCU’s Spider-Man: Homecoming made Holland the youngest actor to play the lead role. The film was then followed by two sequels: Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
Zendaya and Tom Holland in a still from Spider-Man: Far From Home
Why Are There No Intimate Scenes Between Tom Holland and Zendaya in the MCU?
Given that teens and their intimate lives go hand in hand, some may be wondering if a scene like this could appear in a Spider-Man film. However, according to MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, Marvel had to introduce a Spider-Man that the world had never seen before. The book confirmed that Marvel Studios’ creative freedom with Peter Parker / Spider-Man was limited by a 71-page contract between the two companies:
“Sony and Marvel had a seventy one page license agreement detailing which aspects of Spider-Man comics Sony could use and listing Spider-Man’s powers from ‘Super human ability’ to ‘Super human adherence’.”
Zendaya and Tom Holland in a still from Spider-Man: Far From Home
Consequently, that’s why Tom Holland‘s portrayal of Peter Parker does not delve as deeply into romantic relationships as other MCU characters. Not only that, Spider-Man had to be heteros*xual; he was not allowed to torture, smoke tobacco, or engage in s*xual activity before the age of sixteen. Per the terms of the license agreement:
“Spider man could not torture, smoke tobacco, or have s*x before the age of sixteen; Peter Parker had to be hetros*xual, Caucasian, and raised in Queens.”
Tom Holland And Zendaya’s Thoughts On No Intimate Scenes?
According to Tom Holland, s*x scenes are unnecessary in a franchise like Spider-Man because the characters are mostly young. The actor, 27, who portrayed the title web-slinging superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), came back with the release of the $1.922 billion Spider-Man: No Way Home, the third standalone Spider-Man film. He informed Yahoo:
“I don’t think it is appropriate for the Spider-Man franchise.”
Tom Holland and Zendaya in Spider-Man: Far from HomeHolland, whose career began at the age of nine, went on to say:
“We are still very much young kids. Should there be a future for this character maybe one day we will explore that. But at the moment, this is a film about celebrating friendships and young love.”
The actor played the teenage Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, while Zendaya played his girlfriend, MJ. The Euphoria actress stated the following during the same interview:
“Peter Parker is like a little brother. No one wants to see Peter Parker having sex! That would be horrible.”
Spider-Man: No Way Home, the follow-up to Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far From Home, surpassed its predecessor as the highest-grossing Sony Pictures release, grossing over $1.9 billion worldwide and garnering positive reviews from critics. It broke multiple box office records and became the highest-grossing movie of 2021, the sixth highest-grossing movie of all time, and the highest-grossing Spider-Man movie.
Well, since Spider-Man has always been a hero for younger audiences, it does not seem likely that Sony and Marvel would want to make him a more mature character.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is streaming on Disney Plus.
