The Real Story Behind Peter Parker's Iron Man 2 Cameo
Turns out that Marvel producers didn't always plan for Peter Parker to make his MCU debut in Iron Man 2.
Earlier this week, Spider-Man: Homecoming star Tom Holland confirmed a fan theory that Peter Parker is actually the little kid who briefly meets Tony Stark at the Stark Expo in 2010's Iron Man 2. If you don't remember the scene, watch it above. The character was played by the son of director Jon Favreau.
While Holland didn't reveal any details about how that moment came to be, or whether or not Marvel producers planned it all along, Homecoming director Jon Watts explained the whole thing to UPROXX. He said he came up with the idea while rewatching the older movies set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the studio didn't always know that kid would grow up to be Spider-Man.
"I was watching all these other movies and being like, 'What if that little kid at the Stark Expo was Peter Parker?' Like, he'd be about the right age for that," Watts said. "And he loves Tony Stark."
Watts then brought it up to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. "I remember... everyone being like, 'Does the math work on that?' [Feige] was like, 'It might, maybe.' Then I found out that was Jon Favreau's kid."
If this really does become canon, it could make for a funny conversation between Parker and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) somewhere down the line. Would Tony remember it? He had a lot going on at the time.
Similarly, Watts said he also came up with the idea to include Damage Control (a group that cleans up after battles in the comics) in Homecoming after watching The Avengers. "It's this thing where, because it's not completely figured out, that you can just go back and basically write fan fiction for those movies, then the fan fiction becomes reality," Watts said. "A lot of the easter eggs in [Homecoming] just started by rewatching the movies."
We'll be on the lookout for more of them when the movie lands in theaters July 7. Until then, check out the insane history of Spider-Man.