Florence Pugh Credits Tom Holland for ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Role: ‘This All Happened Because of Tom’

Florence Pugh appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Monday night and revealed that fans of her Marvel character, Yelena Belova, really have Tom Holland to thank for her appearance in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

“This all happened because of Tom,” said Pugh. “Years ago, when I just started my relationship with Marvel and ‘Black Widow’ came out, my Yelena wasn’t as obviously big as all of the other big superheroes. He, on the red carpet of his previous movie, when someone said, ‘Who do you want to be in the next movie with?… And he said, ‘No, actually, I want to do it with Florence Pugh, who plays Yelena.’ So because of that, fans were then so excited about the idea of it.”

Pugh has played the character of Yelena since 2021 when she appeared in “Black Widow,” and has since reprised the role for 2025’s “Thunderbolts*” and 2026’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Within the MCU, Yelena is known as an assassin and the successor to the Black Widow title.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which premiered on July 31, has grossed $2.49 billion at the domestic box office, making it the third highest-grossing movie of all time. It ranks behind 2009’s “Avatar” ($2.92 billion) and 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” ($2.88 billion). “Well done, Spidey!” said Pugh of the accomplishment.

Scheduled to release in theaters on Dec. 18, Pugh is also set to start as Princess Irulan Corrino once again in “Dune: Part Three” from director Denis Villeneuve. That same day, theatergoers will once again get to see her reprise her role as Yelena in the highly anticipated “Avengers: Doomsday,” the Anthony and Joe Russo-directed follow-up to 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.”