'Spider-Man' Actor Tom Holland Backtracks on Oscar Hosting Question: 'Of Course I Would!!'

Asked if he would accept an invitation to host the next Oscars, sexy "Spider-Man" actor Tom Holland said no. But unlike his onscreen character, that answer didn't stick. Minutes later, People Magazine reported, Holland did a 180, saying, "Of course I would!"

Holland, 25, stars in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," which has shaken up the global box office by taking in more than $1 billion worldwide despite the pandemic.

The resounding response from moviegoers prompted The Hollywood Reporter to ask whether the high-flying film franchise might have "save[d] the theatrical moviegoing experience."

But the publication had another question for the hot British actor: "And could he yet save the Oscars, too?"

"Some industry insiders have encouraged the Academy to beg and plead for Holland – perhaps with his 'No Way Home' costar Zendaya and/or his Spider-Man predecessors [Toby] Maguire and [Andrew] Garfield – to host the Oscars telecast on March 27," THR noted.

Asked if he might be open to hosting the next Oscars ceremony, Holland initially demurred, citing a jam-packed schedule.

"I've got an 'Uncharted' press tour to do," Holland said of the upcoming film, currently slated to open on Feb. 18, 2022, in which he stars with Mark Wahlberg, "and then I start shooting in early March for this TV show [Apple TV+'s 'The Crowded Room'] which is going to take up a lot of my time and is definitely the hardest role I've ever taken on."

"So maybe one day in the future," Holland said "But no, not right now. Honestly, I just don't have the time."

A couple of minutes later, though, the web-slinging thesp had recalibrated his schedule. Phoning the reporter from THR back again, Holland exclaimed, "I just wanted to quickly backtrack on what I said. You asking me about the Oscars – you're the first person to bring that up – and I'm sitting here going, 'Of course I would host the fucking Oscars!' "

Holland added that the conversation had left him asking himself, "'What kind of fucking idiot wouldn't host the Oscars?'"

"So yeah, if they ask me to, I would, and it would be very fun," Holland said. "I would really enjoy it."

Speaking of Oscars, THR also chatted with Holland, as well as Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chair Tom Rothman, and producer Amy Pascal, about the film's chances for Academy Award consideration in the Best Picture category. Noting that only one "comic book" movie has been nominated in that category – 2018's "Black Panther" – the entertainment publication heard only optimistic responses.

"Just because they're a certain kind of genre doesn't mean they're not quality movies," Pascal pointed out.