Credit: Marvel Studios/Sony PicturesMarvel fans are going to have to find alternative ways of getting their parasocial fix of Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) Spider-Man actor, Tom Holland.
MCU Spider-Man leading man and British actor Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) currently has a follower count of 67.7 million — which is quite a feat, and absolutely nothing to sneeze at.
Now though, the young Marvel Studios star has confirmed that he is officially, actively staying away from social media because of its effects on his mental health.
Related: Tom Holland Reportedly NOT Returning to ‘Spider-Man,’ Replaced for Upcoming Series
Fans likely assumed that Holland was simply busy with acting work and potentially working on (hopefully) top secret Marvel Studios Spidey projects. Instead, he has been (and will continue to be) taking a break from social media.
In a post uploaded to his Instagram, Tom Holland recorded a video that he said took “about an hour” to finally get out:
Hi guys. So I’ve been trying to make this video for about an hour now, and for someone that has spent that last 13, 14 years, however long I’ve been acting… I cannot seem to say what I need to say without ‘um-ing’ and ‘ah-ing’ every five minutes, so I’m gonna try again.
Holland continues, admitting that he finds social media “overstimulating” and “overwhelming”, and that he “spiral[s] when [he reads] things about [him] online”:
I have taken a break from social media for my mental health, because I find Instagram and Twitter to be overstimulating, to be overwhelming, I get caught up and I spiral when I read things about me online, and ultimately, it’s very detrimental to my mental state, so I decided to take a step back and delete the app.
Citing the fact that it was ultimately “very detrimental” to his mental state, Holland claims that he’s deleting the app for his own mental health.
Related: Sam Raimi Wants To Direct ‘Spider-Man 4′, but Not With Tom Holland
He then goes on to explain in text portion of his seemingly last post for the immediate future, that he’s only breaking his current spate of silence to promote the charity, The Brothers Trust:
Hello and goodbye… I have been taking a break from social media for my mental health, but felt compelled to come on here to talk about @stem4org . Stem4 is one of the many charities @thebrotherstrust is extremely proud to support – and I’d like to take a moment to shine a light on their fantastic work.
Please take the time to watch my video, and should you feel inclined to share it with anyone who it may resonate with – it would be greatly appreciated.
There is a link in my bio to The Brothers Trust Shop, where you can buy a t-shirt, and help us continue to help these amazing charities thrive.
Love to you all, and let’s get talking about mental health ❤️
Ending the post, Holland sends his love to his fans and followers, and prompts everyone to “get talking about mental health”.
It seems that 26-year old Tom Holland is planning to take some time to detox from being constantly online, and going dark for a bit might help him gain some much-needed perspective to keep himself grounded.
What do you think about social media breaks? Would you take one? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
More on Spider-Man:
Tom Holland’s iteration of Peter Parker and the web-slinging Spider-Man is on hiatus for the moment after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which introduced us to the Multiversal variants of Peter Parker – The Amazing Spider-Man’s (2012) Andrew Garfield and Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy’s Tobey Maguire.
Spidey fans said farewell to Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May, who was caught in the fray when Holland’s Peter Parker tangled with the villainous Green Goblin/Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), as well as Jamie Foxx’s Electro and Alfred Molina’s Otto Octavius. With the help of the other Spider-Men, the MCU’s Peter Parker managed to triumph over evil — at great personal cost.
More on the Marvel Cinematic Universe:
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s dramatic ending to Phase Three, Avengers: Endgame directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, saying goodbye to Marvel heavyweights Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America. This led to the beginning of Phase Four with the Disney+ Original WandaVision, starring Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch) and Paul Bettany (Vision) back in 2021. Marvel went full steam ahead, releasing Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) starring Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) with Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire all as their own separate, Multiversal version of Peter Parker, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) with Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange) and most recently, Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) with Chris Hemsworth (Thor Odinson) and Natalie Portman (Jane Foster/Mighty Thor).
Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe wraps things up with Tatiana Maslany as the eponymous She-Hulk: Attorney at Law this August 17, 2022, and Chadwick Boseman as King T’Challa send-off Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, November 11, 2022 later this year.
The newly announced MCU Phase Five kicks off with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania with Scott Lang as Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Janet van Dyne as the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) hitting theatres on February 17, 2023, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson)-centric Secret Invasion in Spring that year, before May 5, 2023 brings us the final James Gunn-directed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 with Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), and July 28, 2023 takes us to new cosmic heights with The Marvels, a direct sequel to Captain Marvel (2019) starring Brie Larson as Carol Danvers and newcomer Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel).
We can expect the Disney+ Original Ironheart featuring Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) Fall 2023, as well as the brand new Blade in November, with 2023 ending in Agatha: Coven of Chaos and 2024 starting with Daredevil: Born Again – both Disney+ exclusives.
Phase Six will surely break new records with Fantastic Four in November 8, 2024, and likely the biggest announcements to date – a return to an Avengers-level threat with the Multiverse Saga’s conclusion in May 2025’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and November’s Avengers: Secret Wars.