Tom Holland Turns Bank Robber In Crime-Drama ‘Cherry’

The happy-go-lucky and highly acrobatic star of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Avengers: Infinity War” turns to a life of crime in an all-new bank robbery flick “Cherry.”

After web-slinging between studios as the titular arachnid Marvel hero, Tom Holland loses the tights for a whole new role. The actor recently shared a photo of himself on Instagram sporting a buzz cut and holding a gun with an ambiguously named Shitty Bank sign hanging in the background behind him. The caption read:

“No alarms. I’m a wanted man. They’ll kill me…”

The Russo Brothers may have worked with Holland before, but never on something quite like this. “Cherry,” a crime-drama by the duo of Marvel graduates, tells the true story of an Army medic who returns home suffering from a simultaneous opioid addiction and PTSD. To survive, Holland’s character assumes a life of crime by robbing banks, though things may not be so easily understood and equitable in the mind of this unreliable protagonist.

Drug addiction is a big part of the film, which is a departure from Holland's past roles. As Joe Russo said in an interview with Collider:

“It’s a very different role for Tom... The subject matter is profound and the epidemic is staggering. We’ve had people close to us in our lives that we’ve lost due to the epidemic. It just felt like an area we were exceedingly passionate about telling a story in.”

The narrative itself is based on the book and real-life of Nicholas “Nico” Walker’s, whose debut novel “Cherry” undergoes an in-depth look not only at crime and addiction but also the severity of war. Not just any war, but the Iraq War, in particular, for which he considers the most poignant aspect of his semi-autobiography. Walker, who not only served in the said battlefield but is also now serving an 11-year prison sentence for bank robbery, understands more than most the hardships of returning home from battle and what it’s like coping with normalcy.

Revealing to Rolling Stone from a prison phone, Walker noted:

“As far as the scenes that take place in Iraq, those are the most realistic parts because I wanted to give a true account of what it was like where I was. I didn’t want to put more drama in there to make it more interesting, glamorous or romantic.”

With Holland’s determination, as showcased in the ways he fought to keep Spider-Man in the MCU, on display like never before in “Cherry,” Nico’s story is seemingly in good hands. Holland stars alongside cast members Jack Reynor, Ciara Bravo, and Bill Skarsgård. As the movie still remains in pre-production, no official release date has been confirmed, though it’s expected to arrive in 2020.