𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲

Two | Script

TOM

WHEN MARVEL told me I was going to be featured in the new Miles Morales movie, a part of me felt nostalgic and happy to don the Spider-Man suit again. Another part of me however, felt shattered inside realising I had to act alongside Zendaya once again, my ex girlfriend.

For context, I found out about this about six months ago but the movie kept getting delayed because of Sony and Marvel having legal disputes... Again. So I've been kicking back with mates every day, stuck in America just waiting aimlessly for the call to say, 'we need you on set'. I couldn't even fly home invade I got a call saying 'come tomorrow'.

Our break up wasn't particularly easy on me. It seemed mutual and respectful at the time, her telling me that the pressure of being so heavily viewed in the spotlight at our age made her overwhelmed. Of course, we both knew that was completely true. I practically begged her to let us give our relationship another shot, but she had her mind made up. It was over.

What really crushed me afterwards though, was seeing a paparazzi photo where she was cozying up to her Dune co-star, Timothee Chalamet. You know those memes online where it has two pictures saying 'you' and then 'the guy she told you not to worry about'? That was him. The guy I shouldn't have had to worry about, but rightfully did.

The first movie they became best mates and the three of us hung out fairly often, whenever our schedules all aligned. But given the fact I lived in London and they both lived in the United States obviously made their bond even tighter.

When our relationship started getting rocky and she became more distant, I bought a property in the States with my best friend Harrison. He and I lived together back in London and thought that having a place here as well would suit us both with each of our acting jobs; we could just alternate between the two houses when we needed to.

The break up wasn't too long after I moved here and she was shooting the second Dune movie with Timothee. She would bail on our plans, take longer to reply to my messages and eventually she and I got in petty arguments over things neither of us would have been bothered about.

The penultimate argument before our breakup was that she felt like I put our relationship in the public eye more than she had liked. Of course, I was proud of my girlfriend and was madly in love with her. I would post photos of her on Instagram, I'd like fans comments about the two of us and occasionally I would mention her and my relationship in interviews.

She didn't like that.
She didn't like that at all apparently.

So, when I got the call from my agency that the Miles movie was back on for me, I went to celebrate with Haz over a few drinks the night before we filmed. All was well until I got an article link texted to me from my Mum; which was nice of her but it came off badly.

Her text message initially was to congratulate me on being in the Miles movie because before now, the public had only been speculating. I did tell her I was going to be in it, I guess she just forgot because it was so long ago. The article however, was mostly talking about the animosity between Zendaya and I as we reunite to film once again as Peter Parker and MJ; as love interests.

Thanks Mum.

Honestly a part of me thinks that if I had just left London earlier and been here whilst Zendaya was shooting Dune II, we would still be together. But me being stubborn and not wanting to leave my friends and family permanently, I stayed there. Maybe the Miles Morales movie will rekindle that spark for us, who knows.

The set is familiar to any Marvel actor, a big empty lot where majority of our scenes will be edited with crazy computer graphics whilst Miles and I stand in tight suits and male g-strings. You heard correctly, we can't wear boxer briefs with a superhero suit.

Did I mention that the actor playing Miles Morales is named Miles Brown? Crazy that they have the same name hey? It's like it was meant to be.

I introduced myself to him with a preemptive handshake that turned into a welcoming hug. He gushed over me with admiration and I shrugged it off; I'm not good at taking compliments.

"Dude, you do not realise how much I fucking idolise you," he grinned, covering his mouth in shock and awe. He seemed cool.

"Man, trust me you're going to make waves in the superhero community. Morales is such an icon and inspiration for so many people, you're going to crush it," I smiled, looking around the set bustling with crew members and a few people pretending to be busy.

"Oh great, you two have met, perfect. Mr. Holland, can you please check into hair and makeup?" A girl around our age asked, before speaking to another crew member through her headset and briskly walking away.

"She's really fucking young, I'm guessing she's an assistant?" I asked Miles, who then nodded and explained that she was the assistant to one of our executive producers Mike. He had been filming the film over the past few months, they were just waiting on these last scenes with Zendaya and I.

We spoke more about the fact that I was 'passing the baton' in the responsibility of being Spider-Man. It sounds dumb, but it really is such an impactful role to so many people around the world. Peter Parker absolutely changed my fucking life.

In the script, Peter finds out about Miles Morales following in his footsteps with similar powers and basically hands him the role of Spider-Man whilst he and MJ go on a trip. It's the first time Peter could actually have a vacation from being a hero, and for me it's the very last time I'll be playing Peter in a film.

It's a sad time, but it's a nice time.

"Miles!" An awfully familiar voice squealed behind me, alerting me to the fact Zendaya had arrived on set and was now running towards us. She embraced him in a hug and grinned, making a quick supportive comment about him joining the black community in representing Marvel before apologising to me.

"Oh my god Tom, I didn't even recognise you! I thought you were crew I'm sorry," she laughed, hugging me next. Her perfume enveloped me, her head tucked into the crook of my neck as I tried to not take a deep breath and audibly sigh.

Fuck, I miss her.

Another crew member came over to us again and asked both her and I to check into hair and makeup. We said goodbye to Miles, walked in silence to the makeup trailer and sat in our own respective chairs.

We barely spoke the entire time inside. It was probably a good thing for our artists because we could keep our heads straight and not move too much - but the awkward tension obviously filled the room.

"Tom? We need you for a few minutes. It's urgent," a man in a suit said knocking at the trailer door, causing the assistant from before to sigh as she stood behind him. Poor girl, I would hate to be a production assistant and have the actors always pulled away from their actual jobs.

"Urgent? Okay, uh, I'll be in soon?" I said looking at my makeup artist who implied she was basically finished besides some hairspray.

"Now would be preferable."