Dan Slott's Tom Holland Easter Egg Shut Down By Marvel

Marvel Comics writer Dan Slott recently shared how he tried to get a clever reference to Tom Holland's Spider-Man in one of his own Spider-Verse stories — but Marvel shut him down. He described it as the 'trade-off' of getting to tell stories with characters he loves.

In a series of posts on Threads, Slott recalled how he wasn't allowed to use Sony's Spider-Men in his comics' story, but a clever workaround saw him getting permission to use Spider-Man from the Web-Slingers Ride at Disney's Avengers Campus, which is technically based on Tom Holland's likeness. Despite not being able to directly show Holland's Spider-Man unmasked, Slott came up with a clever way to pay tribute to the MCU actor, but Marvel quickly shut his plans down.

"Writing comics [with] licensed properties means you don't always get to do what you want. That's the trade-off for getting the opportunity to tell stories w/ characters you love," Slott said. "Case in point: I couldn't use the Sony movie Spideys in my 1st Spider-Verse story, or its follow-up, End of the Spider-Verse."

The Spider-Man writer offered some elaboration as to how he was able to find a compromise. "However, we came up [with] a work around for [one] of them, because we did get permission to use Spidey from the Web-Slingers Ride at Disney's Avengers Campus. And technically he's a Tom Holland Spidey," Slott continued. "But we did NOT have permission to take off his mask and show a face with Tom Holland's likeness."

Slott continued to explain the situation on his Threads post. "[I]n an early draft I wrote a sequence where *that* Spider-Man would be saving people near the entrance to The Holland Tunnel," Slott said of his clever idea. "And you'd get a panel where you'd cut to a close up of Spidey with the sign right behind him, but cropped so that it read "Holland T" with Spider-Man's head blocking the letters in "unnel"."

While Marvel didn't like the idea, Slott was able to quickly pivot. "Marvel Editorial quickly let me know that there was no way in Hell that I could do that. Ever. And I was like... Fine," he added.

Responding to people who often ask how he was able to stay working on Spider-Man comics for so long, Slott had some sage advice: respect Marvel's decisions. "[P]art of the very long answer to that question is I ALWAYS ran stuff like that by the Powers That Be and NEVER tried to sneak it into the background [without] anyone noticing," Slott said. "That's the kinda move that gets your butt booted."

Tom Holland's Spider-Man Still Isn't Confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday

While only eagle-eyed Marvel fans would be looking to spot Tom Holland's Spider-Man likeness in a comic story, many more fans are expecting to see the actor reprising his role in the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is set to star in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is eyeing a theatrical release on July 31, 2026, as part of the MCU's Phase Six.

At the time of writing, Holland has yet to be confirmed for another major MCU release. However. Avengers: Doomsday announced a long list of returning cast members, but Holland's Spider-Man was notably absent. Marvel likely has several surprises in the story for the new Avengers film — and Holland's inclusion does seem likely, especially considering both Brand New Day and Doomsday were filming at the same location earlier this year. Rumors earlier this year suggested that Marvel and Sony were trying to reach an agreement for the character to appear in the film.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives on July 31, 2026.