Tom Holland has traded in his superhero spandex for the role of a potential serial killer in the first thrilling trailer for The Crowded Room.
The Marvel megastar, who portrays Peter Parker and his superpowered alter-ego Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), looks almost unrecognizable in the Apple TV Plus show's first teaser. Sporting long, straggly hair and a pale complexion, Holland's Danny Sullivan is a far cry from everyone's favorite friendly neighborhood wallcrawler – especially when Sullivan appears to be responsible for a spate of murders in 1970s New York.
Take a look at the trailer for The Crowded Room below:
The Crowded Room stars Holland as the aforementioned Sullivan, a reclusive man who was arrested following his apparent involvement in a shooting in 1979. To prove his innocence, Sullivan conducts a series of interviews with police investigator Rya Goodwin (Amanda Seyfried), who slowly unravels Sullivan's mysterious past and his possible involvement in more than one crime.
The period-set psychological thriller, which is based on Daniel Keyes' The Minds of Billy Milligan novel, marks Holland's second appearance in an Apple TV Plus project. Previously, Holland had starred in the Russo brothers' movie Cherry in February 2021. Cherry didn't make it onto our best Apple TV Plus movies list because, well, it's not very good. But, given how suspenseful and dramatic The Crowded Room looks, Holland may finally see his second Apple-led venture make it onto our best Apple TV Plus shows article very soon.
Joining Holland and Seyfried as part of the cast are Emmy Rossum (Shameless), Will Chase (Nashville), Sasha Lane (American Honey), Lior Raz (Hit and Run), Emma Laird (Mayor of Kingstown), Christopher Abbott (Girls), and Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter).
Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind, Transformers: The Last Knight) is on showrunning duties, and is joined by Suzanne Heathcote, Henrietta Ashworth, Jessica Ashworth, Cortney Norris, and Gregory Lassens in the writers' room. Kornél Mundruczó (Pieces of a Woman) is the only confirmed director so far.
The Crowded Room launches exclusively on Apple TV Plus with a three-episode premiere on June 9.
Playing mind games
Apple will be hoping The Crowded Room can launch its psychological-positioned genre fare into the limelight when it lands in under a month's time. After all, overall reception to the corporation's in-house shows and films – in this particular field, anyway – has been mixed at best.
Surface, which debuted earlier this year and starred Loki's Guge Mbatha-Raw, was met with critical acclaim and quickly renewed for a second season. However, the Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd-starring The Shrink Next Door didn't perform as well as critically or commercially.
Meanwhile, Servant – M. Night Shyamalan's four season-long psychological horror series – was met with widespread positive reviews from critics, but hasn't proven as popular among Apple TV Plus' userbase. Lastly, on the movie front, psychological thriller Sharper – starring Julianne Moore and Sebastien Stan – saw a reversal of those roles, with audiences enjoying it far more than critics.
The Crowded Room, then, will hope to steady the psychologically-trained ship upon release. And, with an A-list star in Holland leading its starry cast, audiences will tune in to catch Holland in his latest role, regardless of how good or bad it is. Of course, The Crowded Room will need an engaging and meaty story to keep viewers around, and Apple TV executives will be hoping that it does as well as its other hit shows, such as Ted Lasso, Shrinking, and Severance. Just don't be surprised if, thanks to Holland's involvement, it performs admirably in its opening week or two at the very least.
For more Apple TV Plus coverage, read up on whether there's an Apple TV Plus free trial. Alternatively, find out why Severance season 2 has been delayed.
