Tom Holland plays the web-slinging hero in this summer’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” as a kid just trying to do the right thing.

by Connie Guglielmo / June 6, 2017

Tom Holland is afraid of spiders. Like really, really afraid of them.

“I hate them, they’re terrifying,” Holland says, laughing and shuddering. “Like 100 percent, I hate spiders. I thought I really liked them and I learned that was just false. I really can’t be around spiders. It scares me so much.”

That’s kind of funny, considering the English actor and dancer is the new Spider-Man, a high school honor student who becomes a superhero when he’s bitten by a radioactive spider. After playing the friendly neighborhood web slinger in last year’s “Captain America: Civil War,” Holland returns to tell the origin story of Peter Parker in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” The movie opens in July.

But his arachnophobia is even more surprising when you consider that Holland, 21, has collected over 20 Spider-Man costumes in honor of his favorite superhero.

The reason he’s such a big fan of Spider-Man is also why he thinks his spin on the role will set him apart from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, who played Spider-Man in five films over 12 years: To Holland, Peter Parker is just a kid trying to do the right thing but who doesn’t always get it right.

“My big thing about this movie is making sure the audience gets to see what would happen if a 15-year-old was given superpowers,” Holland says. “Whenever I do something super badass, something stupid always follows. I’m never quite cool. I’m basically the worst, best superhero.”

Holland, himself, is “just a kid…who really loves doing what he does.” That includes dancing, gymnastics and acting. He played ballet prodigy “Billy Elliot” on the London stage, starting in 2008 when he was 12 years old. He later won awards for his film debut in the 2012 movie “The Impossible,” about a tourist family stranded in Thailand after the devastating 2004 tsunami. He loves to post photos of his dog, Tessa, on Instagram and doesn’t like horror films because they scare him.

Holland spoke with CNET News Editor-in-Chief Connie Guglielmo about why he loves the Spider-Man character, the best thing about the new suit and how backflips got him the part. Here’s an edited excerpt of their conversation.