Body Language Expert Confirms Tom Holland Knew About Maguire And Garfield Joining The MCU All Along

After multiple outings as New York City's favorite webslinger, Tom Holland (who has been keeping busy) is returning for his third standalone Spider-Man movie, and based on the Hollywood rumor mill, it looks like he's going to be joined by some very special co-stars. According to reports, both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield will join Holland in Spider-Man 3, along with many other actors from past iterations of the franchise. The return of the former red suit-wearing heroes would be part of a multiverse storyline, a concept the series explored in 2018's animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

The developing story, which will have major implications not just for the Spider-Man franchise, but the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), is a major piece of show business news. Well, that is, for those of us who haven't been in the know. Holland has a history of accidentally letting things slip during interviews, and it looks like the news of the Spider-Man multiverse is no different. His penchant for loose lips had us itching to get to the bottom of how long he has been sitting on this particularly juicy bit of news.

So, Looper contacted body language expert Alison Henderson of Moving Image Consulting and had her review a 2019 interview with Holland in which he was asked about the possibility of Maguire and Garfield returning. After watching, she confirmed for us, "Tom is definitely holding back and knows the answer to the question but just can't confirm."

Here's what else she had to say about Holland's silent tells.

The interview in question was with Jake Hamilton, host of Jake's Takes. Along with co-stars Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, Holland was promoting Spider-Man: Far From Home when Hamilton posed the question, "With [Into the Spider-Verse] ... and then this film, it sort of touches on this idea of the multiverse ... any chance that there's a multiverse in which Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man, and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, and then your Spider-Man all meet together?"

According to Henderson, Holland was already spilling the beans before he even opened his mouth. She noted, "Before Jake Hamilton finishes the question, Tom Holland is already playing with his fingers, which is a nervous signal." Henderson also pointed out that as Hamilton wrapped up the question, Holland "looks to Zendaya and Jacob to answer the question for him. He is holding his breath a little and then shuts his lips tight to hold in his reaction and not give away the secret."

Holland wasn't the only person dropping clues that Hamilton was onto something with his line of questioning. Henderson drew our attention to his co-stars: "During the question, Zendaya looks to Tom like 'How are you getting out of this one?'" She also noted the fact that Holland and Batalon "exchange a knowing look" during the interview.

As you can imagine, considering he was already giving things away before speaking, the interview didn't get more subtle when Holland actually attempted to answer the question.

After twiddling his thumbs and looking at his co-stars to intervene, Holland eventually ran out of road and had to say something. His nervous energy prompted reactions from his co-stars, which didn't go unnoticed by Henderson, who said, "Zendaya calls Tom out when she points to him and Jacob breaks into laughter and leans away (to distance himself from the secret being blown)."

Holland's cageyness prompted Hamilton to ask, "Is your no answer an answer in and of itself?" Holland then quickly pivoted and gave a joking non-answer about Far From Home taking Spider-Man to Europe, which elicits laughs from everyone. He cops to the fact that he's deflecting, but even then, he's still in the hot seat. Henderson explained, "Tom then leans forward and sits up a bit while shifting, which indicates he is trying to move on from this topic and change the subject with the Europe bit."

Finally, Holland addressed the topic at hand by saying, "Of course I'd love to make a movie with those guys, it would be so cool." 

But his carefully worded response wasn't enough to pull one over on Henderson, who noted that, as he spoke, Holland "deflects and looks down and to the left. He won't look Jake in the eye or really answer the question."

Henderson again drew our attention to Holland's hands, which she says "are telling us he is uncomfortable." She added, "Clasping hands together is a self soothing move with him literally trying to 'get a grip' and 'get ahold of himself.'"

Even though Holland managed to not come right out and spoil Maguire and Garfield's return in the interview, he was still no match for Henderson's expert grasp of human body language.