Tom Holland has revealed that Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man is the comic run that inspired his take on the wall-crawler most. As Holland prepares for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, his long-running connection to the comic has resurfaced in an interview with director Destin Daniel Cretton. The revelation offers a glimpse at the kind of Spider-Man storytelling that has stayed with Holland since before he first swung into the MCU.

Sometimes the most revealing superhero influences are not the giant splash pages or universe-ending storylines, but the tiny bits of comic-book mischief that stick in an actor’s head for years.

Tom Holland singled out Ultimate Spider-Man as the comic series he connected with most, particularly a sequence from Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s 2002 run. Speaking to Marvel for Amazing Spider-Man #1000, Holland explained why that particular Kraven moment has stayed with him.

 “My favourite moment, and I tried to get it into this movie, Destin, and you will remember this, is in Ultimate Spider-Man,” he said.

“I have been pitching that idea for over a decade. I just, I always loved that moment,” he said. 

He then recalled how Peter is on his way to fight Doctor Octopus when Kraven suddenly appears, seemingly setting up a major superhero showdown.

He added, as per Bleeding Cool, that Ultimate Spider-Man was “the series that I resonated with the most” and the one from which he drew the most inspiration. Cretton, who directed Spider-Man: Brand New Day, was surprised by just how long Holland had been carrying the idea. That exchange makes Holland’s attachment to the Bendis and Bagley run particularly revealing, because the actor was not simply citing a favorite comic. 

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This also gives the Ultimate Spider-Man connection a more personal dimension. Holland first encountered the story before Spider-Man: Homecoming, and the fact that he still remembers that precise comedic rhythm after years of playing Peter shows how strongly the run shaped his understanding of the character.

The conversation in Amazing Spider-Man #1000 goes beyond that one Ultimate Spider-Man moment. Tom Holland also pointed to the Ultimate version of the Clone Saga, including the sequence where Peter encounters Spider-Woman, as another story that affected him. He even named the Bag-Man costume and Spider-Man 2099 among ideas he would like to explore in the future.

That makes Holland’s comments particularly interesting when placed beside Brand New Day. Marvel confirmed that the fourth MCU Spider-Man movie is directed by Cretton, with Holland returning alongside Zendaya, Jacob Batalon and Jon Bernthal. The movie arrived in theaters on July 31, 2026, putting Holland’s comic-book inspirations into the spotlight at a moment when his version of Peter is entering another era. 

For a performer who has spent years balancing MCU spectacle with Peter’s awkward humor and street-level charm, it is fitting that one of his favorite Spider-Man moments is also one that refuses to take the expected superhero showdown too seriously.

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What do you think of Tom Holland’s Ultimate Spider-Man inspiration? Share your thoughts in the comments.