Let’s be real for a second. If you’ve spent any time on the internet over the last few years, specifically the corners of Twitter (or X, whatever) and TikTok where Marvel fans congregate, you’ve seen the discourse. It’s not about the multiverse or Peter Parker’s trauma. It’s about the tom holland butt phenomenon.
It sounds silly. It is silly. But it’s also a massive part of how the MCU is marketed and consumed.
The obsession really hit a fever pitch around the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. You remember the hype. Everyone was looking for leaks of Tobey and Andrew. But once the movie actually dropped, a new mystery emerged. People started squinting at the screen, not looking for Easter eggs, but trying to figure out whose "assets" were real and whose were... strategically enhanced.
The "Fake Ass" Debacle of 2022
The whole thing basically exploded because Tom Holland can't help himself in interviews. While appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers in February 2022, he dropped a bombshell. He told Seth, "I’ll give you a spoiler, and I’m not going to tell you who, but one of us has a fake ass in their suit."
The internet lost its collective mind.
People started doing frame-by-frame analysis like they were investigating a crime scene. Most of the finger-pointing went toward Tobey Maguire. Why? Mostly because he hadn't played the character in fifteen years and people assumed he might need a little help filling out the spandex. Andrew Garfield, on the other hand, went on the offensive. He told Seth Meyers in a separate interview that he was "totally unmodified."
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Why Do They Even Use Padding?
Honestly, it’s not always about vanity. It’s about the silhouette.
In the comics, Spider-Man is drawn with these impossible, exaggerated proportions. Real human bodies, even ones as fit as Tom's, don't always create those sharp lines when wrapped in thick, multi-layered spandex.
There's also the harness issue.
When Tom is swinging through the air, he’s wearing a complex safety harness under that suit. It’s bulky. It’s uncomfortable. It digs into the skin. To make the suit look smooth and "superheroic" over the top of metal clips and nylon straps, costume designers often use thin layers of foam padding. This isn't just for the tom holland butt area; it's used on the shoulders, the chest, and the thighs to give that "drawn by a Marvel artist" look.
The Training Behind the Physique
Tom doesn't just wake up looking like an acrobat. He’s been a dancer and a gymnast since he was a kid—remember his time in Billy Elliot? That foundation is why he can do those standing backflips you see in his Instagram videos.
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But for Spider-Man: Brand New Day (the 2026 film), the training shifted.
According to reports from Men’s Health UK, Tom has a love-hate relationship with one specific movement: the Bulgarian split squat. If you’ve ever done them, you know they’re brutal. You put one foot back on a bench and squat with the other. It’s a glute-killer. He also incorporates:
- Bear Crawls: 60-second intervals to build functional core strength.
- Weighted Chin-ups: For that classic V-taper.
- HIIT Circuits: 1,500-rep bodyweight workouts to keep the "lean" look Spidey is known for.
It’s grueling. He’s not just wearing a suit; he’s building the engine to move in it.
The CGI Problem
Recently, fans have noticed something weird in the trailers for the newer movies. Sometimes, the suit looks too perfect.
In No Way Home and Far From Home, Marvel used a lot of "digital suit replacement." This means Tom wears a real suit on set, but in post-production, the VFX team paints over it with a 100% digital version. Why? To remove wrinkles.
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Fans on Reddit have complained that this makes the tom holland butt and his overall physique look "like a video game character." They miss the ripples and the way the fabric moves. In the 2025 BTS leaks from the Glasgow set of Brand New Day, the suit looked much more "low-tech" and baggy. Some people actually criticized it, saying he looked "out of shape," but experts pointed out that it’s just what a real person looks like in un-CGI'd fabric.
What This Means for You
If you're trying to get that Spider-Man build, don't just look for a "magic" suit. It’s about functional athleticism.
Start with mobility. Tom’s background in gymnastics is more important than his bench press. If you want to build a stronger lower body, focus on unilateral movements like those dreaded Bulgarian split squats. They fix muscle imbalances and create that stability needed for "superhero" movements.
Also, understand that what you see on screen is a mix of three things: hard work in the gym, clever costume engineering, and a massive team of digital artists. Nobody looks like a comic book character 24/7. Not even Tom.
Focus on your own functional strength. Move like an athlete, not just a bodybuilder.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Add Bulgarian Split Squats to your leg day—3 sets of 10-12 reps per leg.
- Incorporate Mobility Work like bear crawls or yoga once a week to improve agility.
- Don't Compare Yourself to CGI. Remember that even A-list stars use padding and digital touch-ups to achieve the "perfect" look.