Angourie Rice, who played Betty Brant in the first three Tom Holland-led “Spider-Man” movies, addressed her absence from the latest installment, noting that reprising her role was never on the table.
The actress weighed in on her MIA status in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” after “Collider Ladies Night” host Perri Nemiroff asked what she thought became of her resilient and hardworking comic book character.
“I don’t know. She’s probably practicing ethical journalism and, you know, doing it in style,” Rice said of Peter Parker’s classmate. “I like to think she’s got a good job somewhere and, you know, doing something worthwhile. Meaningful.”
After mentioning that some “Spider-Man” fans were disappointed by her absence in the fourth film, Nemiroff asked Rice point-blank if it was “on the table” for her to return in the latest installment.
“I don’t think it was like part of the story,” she responded. “Like, everybody forgets and then, you know, he’s on his new journey now. … I think that’s meaningful for the story, too. You know, you watch this character grow from high school, and he’s not in high school anymore, and I think it’s like – it’s a new era.”
Watch her comments about the Marvel franchise below.
While some fans may’ve missed Rice’s presence in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” it didn’t stop the superhero movie from becoming a box office sensation this summer. As we reported on Sunday, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” passed $2.33 billion at the global box office after its fifth weekend atop the charts, which made it poised to pass the global run of 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
The highly successful sequel arrived nearly five years after “Spider-Man: No Way Home” hit theaters, which saw all of Peter Parker (Holland)’s friends – including Zendaya’s MJ Jones-Watson and Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds – forget about his existence in order to stop a disastrous breach in the multi-verse. “Brand New Day” picks up after these events and welcomes “Spider-Man” newcomers Jon Bernthal and Sadie Sink into the fold.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is still playing in theaters.
