'Captain America: Civil War' Leaked Image Of Spider-Man Is Fake; Why Is The Costume A Secret?

The highly anticipated next installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), “Captain America: Civil War” has been no stranger to leaked spoilers coming from the set. However, the most recent image, claiming to show Tom Holland in his Spider-Man costume for the first time, isn’t as legitimate as it may have initially seemed.

The photo in question was first posted on Instagram by a person with the username “tonathiu_sunrock.” In it, Holland appears to be sporting a red and black (possibly navy blue) Spider-Man costume complete with winged fabric under the arms, which the character wore in his earlier comic books. He’s shown without his mask against a green screen with a collection of stage hands fussing over him. While it certainly looks like it’s the first look at what Spider-Man’s costume will be in “Civil War,” there’s just one small problem — It’s totally and completely fake.

That’s right, the first ever image of Tom Holland as Spider-Man is just a giant work of fiction created by someone with a talent for photoshop. According to ComicBook, the photo is actually a vertical version of a horizontal snap shot from the set of the 2009 live-action short film “Assassins Creed: Lineage,” based on the popular video game franchise. According to the outlet, the real giveaway was the fact that the person who made it attempted to include Holland’s shadow on the green screen background. This would be a nice touch if it wasn’t for the fact that sets with a green screen are specifically designed so as not to cast a shadow over the digital background.

Unfortunately for fans, they’re still being kept in the dark with regards to the look of Marvel and Sony’s joint “Spider-Man” venture. The character will make his on-screen debut in “Captain America: Civil War” before taking on his very own solo movie in 2017. While the costume is being kept a closely guarded secret, directors Anthony and Joe Russo were willing to share some details about it during a press interview in China.

According to CinemaBlend, the directors noted that they were trying to mirror what they did with the Captain America costume in “The Winter Soldier,” in which his largely unrealistic costume from “Avengers” was scrapped in favor of a much more real-world and tactical look. In essence, it’s possible that Spider-Man will ditch the classic red and blue costume for something a little more stealthy.

Then again, another possible reason that the directors are keeping the costume details such a secret could be that they’re hoping to introduce the mainstream Marvel audience to the Iron Spider. As MoviePilot notes, there’s been rumors circulating online that indicate the film might introduce the Iron Spider suit, a special version of Spidey’s threads designed by Tony Stark in the comic books. The suit played a vital role in the “Civil War” comics and could very well be a part of the upcoming movie.

Unfortunately, fans will just have to wait until the directors decide to reveal the first official images of Spider-Man for real, which will hopefully be soon now that fans are starting to leak fake images online.