Tom Holland appeared onstage at D23 today for his appearance in Pixar’s Onward, but he also indirectly addressed what was on everyone’s minds: Disney and Sony’s split over Spider-Man.
Tom Holland: "Listen, it's been a crazy week, but I want you to know, I am grateful from the bottom of my heart, and I love you 3000." #D23Expo
— BD (@BrandonDavisBD) August 24, 2019
“I love you 3000” is a reference to (spoilers for Avengers: Endgame here) Tony Stark’s final words, recorded as a last goodbye to his wife and daughter ahead of what ended up being his final mission:
This time travel thing that we are going to pull off tomorrow, it’s got me scratching my head about the survivability of all this. But then again, that’s the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. What am I tripping for? Everything is going to work out exactly the way it’s supposed to.
I love you 3000.
This could just be an expression of gratitude and affection for his fans, but it’s hard not to read into the phrase as a way for Holland to bid goodbye to his time as Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
News broke recently that Sony and Disney had failed to come to an agreement for collaborating on future Spider-Man films. Sony owns the right to the cinematic depiction of the character, but the studios had reached a financial arrangement to bring the character back under the Marvel cinematic banner for previous films. Unless an understanding is reached, which so far does not seem the case based on a recent statement from Sony, it’s unlikely we’ll see Holland’s version of Spider-Man reunited with any of his Avengers co-stars going forward.
Silver lining, though – maybe we’ll see Holland on screen with Tom Hardy’s Venom instead?
