Tom Holland may not have been at D23 in person, but the Spider-Man star still found a way to be part of the celebration.
During the “Celebrate 65 Years of Marvel’s Spider-Man!” panel on Saturday, August 15, the 30-year-old actor appeared in a pre-recorded video message played for fans on the big screen at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Reflecting on the legacy of Marvel’s iconic web-slinger, the BAFTA award winner admitted that his connection to the character still feels surreal.
“The legacy of this character is incredible and honestly still a bit surreal,” he said, according to a video snippet posted by a fan account.
Zendaya’s husband then looked back at his childhood dream of playing Peter Parker.
He revealed that there are even old videos of him talking about the role long before he actually became Spider-Man.
“I think that there are videos of me floating around as a kid saying that playing Peter Parker is my dream,” the Spider-Man: Brand New Daystar shared.
And for him, getting to turn that childhood dream into reality has been one of the defining privileges of his career.
“Getting to live that dream has been one of the greatest privileges of my career,” he said.
Zendaya’s husband concluded his message by wishing the D23 crowd well, adding, “So have an incredible D23 and from everyone over here, lots of love.”
The heartfelt appearance came during a panel celebrating 65 years of Spider-Man, with Kevin Feige, Jacob Batalon and Jeff Trammell among those taking part. Notably, Holland did not attend the panel in person.
However, his brief video message gave the celebration a personal touch. particularly as the actor reflected not on Spider-Man as a blockbuster franchise, but on Peter Parker as the childhood dream he actually got to live.
2026-08-16 13:59:00
