Superheroes are always nervous about making sure their secret identities don’t get discovered, but as it turns out, it’s actually a lot harder to recognize a famous person in the wild than you’d expect. Remember last year when Batman v Superman‘s Henry Cavill walked around Times Square in a literal Superman shirtOpens in a new tab and nobody said anything to him? While preparing for Spider-Man: HomecomingOpens in a new tab, newcomer Tom HollandOpens in a new tab tried that out for himself by walking right into Peter Parker’s natural territory: a prestigious STEM high school in the greater New York City area.
As first reported by Business InsiderOpens in a new tab, in February 2016 Holland spent a day shadowing Bronx High School of Science graduating senior Arun Bishop as his cousin “Ben” (I see what you did there and I do not approve of it, Marvel, how dare you), complete with a fake American accent. The goal was for Holland, who wouldn’t start principal photography on Homecoming until June of that year, to get a sense of what a Midtown High student’s day to day life would actually be like.
“He’d ask them, ‘Do you watch Marvel Movies? Who’s your favorite superhero? What do you think of the new Spider-Man actor?’” Bishop said. “It was crazy; nobody recognized him.” Of course, Captain America: Civil War didn’t hit theaters until May, so I think we can forgive the students of Bronx Science for not having his face memorized just yet!
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You can learn more about Holland’s high school shenanigans and even see the neat student ID Marvel had made for him over at Business InsiderOpens in a new tab. Do you think you’d recognize Tom Holland if you saw him just hanging out with a bunch of kids? I probably wouldn’t, I’m gonna be honest. Tell us your thought in the comments!
Featured Image: Sony
