Tom Holland is no stranger to getting in trouble with Sony and Marvel while promoting Spider-Man movies. But just when he’d mastered the art of keeping a lid on it, he found himself being reprimanded again. This time, he told The Hollywood Reporter in a new interview, it wasn’t because he’d inadvertently revealed a major spoiler, but because he kept calling Spider-Man: No Way Home “brutal” and “emotional.”

Holland said that this didn’t align with the marketing strategy that had been put together for the film. Sony didn’t want to suggest to the world that the Spider-Man movie they were waiting so eagerly for was going to be a downer. They wanted Holland to tell fans, almost reassuringly, that it was going to be a “fun” superhero movie. In his own words:

“It’s funny, I actually got in trouble on the press tour. I got a phone call from some people at the studio, saying, ‘Stop saying the movie is brutal! Stop saying the movie is emotional! It doesn’t sell the movie!’ And I was like, ‘But it is! This is the most emotional superhero movie that’s ever been made.’ And they were like, 'We want people to understand how fun it is.’ And I was like, ‘It is fun, but it’s also kind of heartbreaking.’ So I had to sort of change track on how I was promoting the movie, but I’m glad I gave at least some people some warning.”

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Image via Sony

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Holland said that filming certain scenes in the movie—especially the ones with co-stars Zendaya and Jacob Batalon—was “tough” because they didn’t know if they’d be back for more. He said that the future is “uncertain” as far as his involvement in the Spider-Man series is concerned, although both producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal have suggested that Holland will return.

Uniting three different generations of Spider-Man actors, No Way Home’s plot involved the multiverse and parallel dimensions. This allowed both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after Peter Parker and Doctor Strange inadvertently ripped apart the fabric of space and time.

Maguire had played Spider-Man in a trilogy of films directed by Sam Raimi. Garfield took over the role for two films—The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2—both directed by Marc Webb. Holland was first introduced as the fan-favorite character in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, through a unique deal struck by Sony and Marvel. He has since appeared as Spider-Man in three solo films and two Avengers movies.

No Way Home is the highest grossing film of the pandemic era, having made over $1.7 billion worldwide. It’s currently playing in theaters. Holland will next be seen in another potential franchise-starter, Uncharted, due out on February 18.