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Tom Holland's dad joins Marvel fans calling on Sony to 'save Spider-Man'

No one wants to see Uncle Ben die for a fourth time.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper
3 min read
Tom Holland

Tom Holland will still be Spider-Man, but fans aren't sure they want him moving out of the MCU.

 Chuck Zlotnick

Spider-Man is caught in a tangled web -- and now his dad is having a say.

On Tuesday, Sony announced that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who's won much praise for the current state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe , would no longer be involved with Sony's upcoming Spider-Man movies, which star Tom Holland .

Sony owns the film rights to Spider-Man, even though he's a Marvel Comics character, and has appeared in the two latest Avengers films, made by Marvel Studios.

The financial details are tangled and still in flux, but fans didn't need much to start freaking out. Spider-Man's a beloved character, and Holland's gawky teen version of the role has settled in nicely with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Watch this: The best moment from every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie

While Holland hasn't said anything publicly, his father jumped into the fray on Wednesday. Dominic Holland, a British comedian, author and broadcaster, tweeted, "Save Spider-Man," with a link to his own blog.

In the post, Holland's dad writes that he's been getting plenty of phone calls from media representatives wanting him to speak about how the "Spider-Man/Sony/Marvel love-in has ended." But when he offers to come on and speak about his books and comedy instead of the Spidey fuss, the media interest fades.

"To conclude, I know nothing about the impasse between Sony and Marvel," Holland writes. "I have no inside track on such issues. But whatever is decided by the big suits at these big Hollywood studios -- my hunch is that the show will continue. Too much at stake and too many dollars riding on it -- and besides, everyone wants the same thing; namely, Spider-Man on large screens keeping people safe and entertained. And with Tom in the suit, for the time being at least."

More on Spider-Man

Holland's son may not have said anything about the news, but Jeremy Renner, who plays Hawkeye in the MCU, weighed in on Tuesday night. 

"Hey Sony Pictures, we want Spider-Man back to Stan Lee and Marvel please, thank you," the actor tweeted. In just two hours, his message was retweeted more than 16,000 times and liked more than 38,000 times.

Fans responded to Hawkeye taking aim at the issue.

Other fans also had things to say.

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to imagine the third Spidey film with it completely ignoring the MCU, and just pretending that Spider-Man was never a part of Marvel," wrote one Twitter user.

Some even used the same video clip.

Holland's Spider-Man and Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man developed a sweet relationship (uh, spoilers for Avengers: Endgame ahead). And Spider-Man seemed primed to step into Iron Man's gigantic metal boots as a real leader. But if Spider-Man's no longer going to cross over into the MCU, will that "next Iron Man" label just be dismissed as drunk talk?

And should Sony reboot the Spidey series, fans do NOT think they can sit through another death of Peter Parker's beloved Uncle Ben. "So does this mean we have to watch Uncle Ben die for a fourth time?" asked one Twitter user.

But not everyone thought that a Sony-Marvel divorce was planet-crushing bad news.

Spider-Man: Far From Home recently became Sony Pictures' highest-grossing film of all time.

Flip through 32 Marvel-ous images from this super exhibit

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Originally published Aug. 20, 5:38 p.m. PT.
Update, 10:22 p.m.: Adds tweet from Jeremy Renner and fan reactions.
Update, Aug. 21, 5:33 p.m.: Adds info about Tom Holland's father, Uncle Ben reactions.