Florence Pugh has credited Tom Holland for pushing for her Black Widow character to appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Florence Pugh has heaped praise on Tom Holland for helping her to land her Spider-Man: Brand New Day appearance.
The 30-year-old actress plays Yelena Belova/ Black Widow in the motion picture, and she has credited Holland – who plays main character Peter Parker/ Spider-Man – for pushing for her alter-ego to appear alongside him in a Spider-Man film.
Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she said: “This all happened because of Tom.
“Years ago, when I just started my relationship with Marvel and Black Widow came out, my Yelena wasn’t as obviously big as all of the other big superheroes.
“He, on the red carpet of his previous movie, when someone said, ‘Who do you want to be in the next movie with? … And he said, ‘No, actually, I want to do it with Florence Pugh, who plays Yelena.’ “
Pugh initially portrayed Yelena in 2021 movie Black Widow, and she reprised the role in TV miniseries Hawkeye later that year.
Last year, Pugh reprised her role for 2025 superhero film Thunderbolts*, before appearing as Yelena again in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which dropped in July.
The actress feels grateful for Holland’s support, which led to fans becoming “excited” about her appearing in a Spider-Man movie.
Speaking about his comments, she said: “So because of that, fans were then so excited about the idea of it, and that started the ball rolling. So, thanks to Tom. Thank you, Tom!”
In 2021, Holland admitted at the Spider-Man: No Way Home premiere that he would love to appear alongside Pugh’s Yelena.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight at the time, he said: “I think a really cool Spider-Man/Black Widow movie would be a fun little twist.”
Two years later, Pugh admitted she wanted Yelena to appear opposite Holland’s Spider-Man character.
Speaking to Buzzfeed in 2023, she explained: “I think they’d be so silly together. It would be so fun, as well.
“And I’ve been desperate to meet Tom for such a long time.”
Florence Pugh credits huge star with helping her to land Spider-Man role
