While Spider-Man is a Marvel character, for a while his movies were removed from the overarching Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whether it was Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield, Spidey never got to hang out with Iron Man or Captain America. That’s changed, as the new Peter Parker, and his alter ego, now exists within the MCU, with the character first popping up in Captain America: Civil War. Ah, but was that the first time we’ve seen Parker chilling with Tony Stark and company? It turns out, we’ve seen Parker in the Marvel Universe already, and it was way back in Iron Man 2.
Now, you may be thinking, “Oh of course I don’t remember seeing Spider-Man in Iron Man 2. Who remembers anything from Iron Man 2?” However, don’t get too down on yourself, because we don’t really see Spider-Man per se. You may recall in the film a short scene of a little kid in an Iron Man mask interacting with a robot at the Stark Expo. There has evidently been a longstanding theory that was a young Parker, who would grow up to be the current Spider-Man. Turns out that theory was true, and the word comes directly from Tom Holland.
Holland, who will portray Parker and Spidey in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming, was asked about the theory, and he had this to say: “I can confirm that as of today. I literally had a conversation with Kevin Feige only 20 minutes ago. Maybe I’ve just done a big, old spoiler, but it’s out there now.”
There you have it. Spider-Man has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for longer than any of us realized.
