Sometimes the entertainment press can’t resist making a mountain out of a molehill. Case in point: Bella Ramsey appeared to joke about playing Spider-Man at an HBO Emmys event, and suddenly Variety and other outlets acted like Marvel Studios had a new stunning and brave casting announcement.
Bella Ramsey’s Spider-Man “Pitch”
On the red carpet, Ramsey revealed she had only recently discovered Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man films, calling them “incredible” (no, Bella, they’re “Amazing”…Duh…). Asked about the role, she praised Tom Holland but threw in the line: “Maybe they need to make a new superhero. I could be Spider-Man.”
Bella Ramsey says they could be the next #SpiderMan — and calls Andrew Garfield’s version “incredible” and that they “loved it.”https://t.co/4pHVkhGwJm pic.twitter.com/H5WpCZuV3Q
— Variety (@Variety) August 17, 2025
That’s it. That’s the quote. A playful comment from a young actress who is clearly enjoying her time in the spotlight. But rather than treat it as the offhand remark it was, media outlets immediately jumped on the story as if Marvel is holding screen tests next week. Especially because the interviewing reporter was Variety’s Marc Malkin, who would absolutely love a non-binary Spider-Man in his endless quest to turn all Hollywood interviews into a PRIDE discussion.
Disney claims Marvel’s new movie Agatha is “the gayest project Marvel has ever done. Witches are queer inherently.”
They’re obsessed with making kids gay. pic.twitter.com/7NIrPAyjvd
— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) September 17, 2024
The reality? Marvel already has a Spider-Man in Tom Holland. His contract and character arc are a bigger question mark than anything Ramsey quipped on a red carpet. What Ramsey said was fun, lighthearted, and nothing more. But the media machine needs Marvel buzz, so suddenly we’re asked to imagine Ellie from The Last of Us swinging between skyscrapers.
Tom Holland as Spider-Man in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Marvel Studios
It shows just how desperate the superhero press cycle has become. Every comment, every joke, every half-thought gets turned into content. Ramsey wasn’t laying out a career plan. She was just having fun.
The Pedro Pascal Question
The other half of Ramsey’s playful exchange was a nod to her Last of Us co-star Pedro Pascal. She said she’d love to reunite with him in a heist movie — “just robbing a bank together.” Again, it’s a lighthearted line that Hollywood latched onto because they’re beyond desperate to make Pedro Pascal work with audiences as a blockbuster draw.
Pedro Pascal hugging co-star Bella Ramsay – X, @painfulships
But it leads to a more serious question: would audiences actually show up for another Pascal-fronted project? And would we have to see this 50 year old man awkwardly cuddling this 21 year old during the press tour again?
A few years ago, the answer would’ve been yes. Pascal was everywhere — The Mandalorian, Wonder Woman 1984, The Last of Us. He had the internet’s affection and Hollywood’s full backing.
But lately? The box office is telling a very different story.
- Eddington (2025): Ari Aster’s neo-Western satire with Pascal and Joaquin Phoenix brought in just $12 million worldwide on a $25 million budget — a total flop.
- Freaky Tales (2025): A bizarre anthology comedy where Pascal starred in one of the stories. On UK charts, it grossed a humiliating £2,760.
- The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022): A cult favorite among critics, but financially weak — $29 million against a $30 million budget.
- Materialists (2025): A modest success at $75 million worldwide, but with Chris Evans and Dakota Johnson in the mix, it was hardly a Pascal-driven smash.
- Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025): His most high-profile recent theatrical outing opened at $118 million domestic, but then collapsed 66% in its second weekend, marking one of Marvel’s worst second-week drops.
- Weapons (2025): The horror film that removed Pascal due to scheduling conflicts wound up thriving, projected to open at $40–43 million without him.
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay doing press for The Last of Us – X, @painfulships
This string of underwhelming results paints a clear picture: Pascal’s overexposure has caught up to him. Studios may think attaching his name guarantees box office dollars, but the audience is no longer buying in at the same level no matter how many times Ramsay brings him up.
Conclusion
Bella Ramsey’s Spider-Man line was, in this writer’s opinion, nothing more than a playful aside, yet it became headline fodder. And her dream of robbing a bank on screen with Pedro Pascal? It’s a fun soundbite, but it collides with the reality of Pascal’s waning pull at the box office.
Bella Ramsey as Ellie Williams in The Last of Us (2023), HBO
Hollywood is at a strange moment where every quip is treated like a franchise pitch because, frankly, the entire institution is desperate. Ramsey’s red-carpet banter says less about her actual career trajectory than it does about the entertainment press’s obsession with clicks and pushing specific narratives. Meanwhile, Pedro Pascal’s recent run shows what happens when Hollywood oversaturates audiences with the same face.
Sometimes the story isn’t in what the actors say. It’s in what the numbers say. And the numbers on Pascal are looking rough.
Do you think Bella Ramsay actually wants to play Spider-Man? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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I don’t advocate for violence. Especially against women. Never manhandled a woman in my whole life. But damn, if this little lady doesn’t have the most punchable face out there. She sucks.
I don’t watch The Last of Us, but I can’t imagine what it’s like to watch that show and see that face all the time.
She’s the one who’s lost her mind.