Tom Holland has made a career-defining asset out of his talent for unguarded, youthful vulnerability—“Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good” wouldn’t have punched millions of people in the gut nearly as hard, after all, if it hadn’t been coming from someone so capable of projecting the innocent air of the (spider) boy next door. But that kind of ability to fit a pre-defined niche in the public consciousness can also be a kind of curse, which might help explain why—oh, shit, Tom Holland’s got a gun!
Oh, Jesus, that scared us. Aw, Christ. C’mon, Tom!
Alright, okay, we’re good. Phew! Anyway, this is the first image from Holland’s new film Cherry, which he’s starring in on behalf of his old pals Joe and Anthony Russo—now in their own “rebrand as people who do not just make very large superhero movies” phase of their careers. The film is an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical novel by convicted bank robber Nico Walker, who wrote the book in the midst of serving an 11-year prison sentence for robbing 10 banks in a four-month period.
Now, we’re not sure whether Walker ever robbed a bank that was owned by either Nathan Fielder or Banksy—as the “Shitty Bank” logo in the background of the picture would suggest—but we do know that Holland is playing the book’s unnamed main character, loosely based on Walker himself. It’s a pretty radical instance of playing against type, what with the shaved head, the cold eyes, and, you know, the gun.
Cherry co-stars Bill Skarsgård, Jack Reynor, and Ciara Bravo; it’s due out in 2020, which, coincidentally, is also when Walker is set to get out of prison.
