Naomi Watts Voices Spider-Man AI, Reunites With Tom Holland
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- Naomi Watts voices Peter Parker's artificial intelligence assistant E.V. in 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day,' a secret role she celebrated on Instagram with a photo of herself recording lines virtually with director Destin Daniel Cretton.
- Watts captioned her post: 'From playing your mom to playing your AI (100% human made),' marking her reunion with Tom Holland 12 years after they co-starred in 2012's tsunami drama 'The Impossible,' which earned her an Oscar nomination and marked Holland's live-action debut.
- The role also reunites Watts with Cretton and Sadie Sink, with whom she starred in Cretton's 2017 drama 'The Glass Castle' alongside MCU alum Brie Larson.
- On Amy Poehler's 'Good Hang' podcast, Holland said Watts was the first person to teach him how to work on a film set during 'The Impossible,' adding she took him 'under her wing' and taught him 'everything I know about cinema.'
- 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' set the domestic box office opening weekend record with a $360 million debut and crossed $1 billion globally in six days, making it the second fastest film in history to hit that milestone.
Why it matters: Watts' voice cameo closes a 12-year loop with Holland that began on 'The Impossible' — her Oscar-nominated performance in that film launched his acting career, and he landed the Spider-Man role three years later, so this reunion on a $1 billion-grossing hit has clear career-arc symmetry for Sony and Marvel's flagship franchise star.
