A special Sunday evening episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live pulled out all the stops with a slew of NBA Finals content, as well as Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland making an appearance. Jimmy Kimmel was quick to praise the newcomer’s role in Spidey’s underoos, saying it was “easily the best Spider-Man movie and a great movie,” to which Robert Downey Jr. applauded with gusto. (Why was Downey there? He just kind of hung out for five minutes. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)
Normally, a late night talk show host buttering up his guest by praising their work is no big deal, but this comes on the heels of James Gunn saying Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man ever, which just adds to the growing list of people who love the British actor as Peter Parker. Many still hold Sam Raimi’s adaptation of Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire as the webslinger near and dear to their heart (just not the third movie), so hearing this gushing from multiple parties after a third Spidey reboot should hype up the Marvel fan in anyone.
Maybe Holland is getting these early rave reviews because Marvel Studios embedded him into a high school for geniuses, and when he told people he was actually British and Spider-Man, they didn’t believe him. The guy understood his character.
We’ve already seen a brief glimpse of Spidey in Captain America: Civil War, and his relationship with his newfound mentor Tony Stark will continue when Homecoming drops on July 7th.