When it comes to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man films, the title is everything. Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home each did a fantastic job of setting up what those movies were, being purposefully vague, and also keeping a consistent theme. For the follow-up, Holland had a new idea for a title, but it was a little out of the box. What do you think of the title Spider-Puberty?
As we’ve seen in the trailer for what eventually was titled Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Holland’s character, Peter Parker, is going through some changes. He’s experiencing problems with his powers that he hasn’t before, and it was Holland himself who brought this idea to the table. For the first time in the series, the star took part in regular story pitch meetings, and he was particularly passionate about one idea in particular.
“My pitch when I came to the table with it was called ‘Spider-Puberty.’ What happens if Peter Parker is losing control and things are changing?” Holland told Empire. “‘Spider-Puberty'” was my tagline pitch to the studio, which was immediately shot down. But they liked the kernel of the idea, and it grew into what we have in the movie now.”
Clearly, Holland is half-joking here, but for a second, let’s indulge. Do we think he means the film would just have been called Spider-Puberty? Or was he more thinking Spider-Man: Spider-Puberty? Both are terrible but hilarious in their own ways.
More seriously, the idea did allow for the film to focus more on Peter Parker as a character, which is something a certain executive really loved. “It is the first Spider-Man film that we’ve made in the MCU that is focused on the classic elements of Spider-Man,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige also told Empire. “He’s doing the Spidey thing of living in a rather sad, small apartment, listening to the police scanner and going out and using his great power responsibly.”
So maybe they could’ve called it Spider-Man: Just Spider-Man? Nah. Brand New Day works.
The highly anticipated fourth Spider-Man will be here in just a few weeks on July 31. Are you excited?
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