Jon Bernthal opens up about his 13-year rivalry with MCU costar Tom Holland — and who’s ahead

You know those actor tales about friendly rivalry that just keep going for years? Well, Jon Bernthal and Tom Holland have one of those, and Bernthal decided to get a few things off his chest about it while chatting on 'Late Night with Seth Meyers'. It’s all a bit of fun, but there’s clearly a tiny scoring system going on in Bernthal’s head, and he’s not letting Holland forget it.

The Match That Won’t Die

Bernthal and Holland have been mates since filming Pilgrimage back in 2017, which seems to have triggered some good-natured one-upmanship that’s still simmering over a decade later. Bernthal’s quick to dish out compliments about Holland’s gymnastic skills—Holland is apparently part spider in real life too: flips, parkour, proper acrobatics, all very impressive. Bernthal says, 'He is an unbelievable athlete. He can run up walls, he can do flips, he can do all kinds of things. And it's enormously impressive.'

But then he throws in a qualifier, and it’s a classic mate’s move for anyone who can’t complete a backflip to save their life: when it comes to actual sports — you know, the ones people play in the park instead of Cirque du Soleil — Bernthal reckons it’s not even close. Except for archery, where apparently Holland is worryingly good.

That Time Bernthal Beat Spider-Man (Sort Of)

If you’re waiting for the bit where Bernthal beats Holland at his own game, here it comes—though it’s not exactly what you’d call a proper scientific experiment. Sometime around when Holland was just 17, Bernthal roped him into an international football match (and he’ll tell you this isn’t even his sport). Here’s how Bernthal puts it:

'For the record, we did play in a sort of international soccer match, and soccer is not a game that I play. When he was 17 years old, he and a Frenchman played me and an Irishman, and we beat them soundly. So I just wanna point that out.'

The man loves a stat. Holland probably has other athletic highlights — but Bernthal’s not missing the chance to remind the internet that there’s one match where he took the crown.

Mutual Respect, Mad Schedules

It’s not all banter, though. Apparently these two actually helped each other out back in the day — before they blew up in the MCU. When they were both stuck in Ireland during filming, they shot each other’s audition tapes: Bernthal’s was for The Punisher, and Holland’s was for Spider-Man: Homecoming. There’s a decent chance superheroes owe their jobs to a homemade camcorder and a rainy set in Galway. As Bernthal says, 'He was 17 years old. We were in Ireland making a film and we did each other's audition tapes.'

Where You’ll See Them Next

• The Odyssey (dir. Christopher Nolan): Bernthal as King Menelaus and Holland as Telemachus. Big beards, ancient Greece, probably lots of glowering into the middle distance.
• Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Holland’s Peter Parker is back, obviously, and Bernthal returns as Frank Castle, The Punisher. A bit more punching, one would hope.

Both films land in July, so expect plenty more banter and reminders about that legendary football match from at least one side.