That crazy 'Iron Man 2' Spider-Man fan theory is actually true, confirms Tom Holland

In Spider-Man: Homecoming, as in Captain America: Civil War, Tony Stark serves as a sort of mentor to young Peter Parker. But it turns out Peter's been looking up to Tony a lot longer than that.

In fact, we now have confirmation that Peter's first encounter with Tony happened all the way back in Iron Man 2 – released in 2010, long before Sony and Marvel struck a deal to bring Spidey into the MCU.

Confused? Let us explain.

In Iron Man 2, Iron Man gets into a big battle at the Stark Expo in Queens. At one point, we see a little boy in an Iron Man mask face a killer robot, before the real Iron Man swoops in to save the day. Tony tosses off a quick "Nice work, kid!" before flying off to finish the fight.

Fans have long theorized that that little kid is actually a young Peter Parker. It isn't as random as it might seem: the kid seems to be in the right age for Peter circa the events of Iron Man 2, and the Stark Expo was held in Peter's hometown of Queens, New York.

But while most fan theories turn out to be little more than fan fiction, this one's actually true. Spider-Man: Homecoming star Tom Holland said as much in an interview with The Huffington Post, and he got the word directly from someone who should know.

I can confirm that as of today. I literally had a conversation with Kevin Feige only 20 minutes ago. Maybe I’ve just done a big, old spoiler, but it’s out there now. It’s cool. I like the idea that Peter Parker has been in the universe since the beginning.

And now here's the part where we dish out some caveats. While the fan theory might be true retroactively, it couldn't have been completely true at the time. At least, not legally.

Iron Man 2 was produced and released years before Sony and Marvel even began talking in earnest about sharing Spider-Man. Remember, 2010 was after the end of the Sam Raimi trilogy but before the Amazing Spider-Man reboots.

Maybe Sony agreed to let Marvel slip in this little Easter egg, or maybe Marvel just snuck it in without telling them. Since the kid is never named, Marvel had plausible deniability. And they couldn't have known back then that Spider-Man would join the MCU in time to show up as a teenager in 2016's Captain America: Civil War.

But let's be real – none of that really matters. If Kevin Feige says it's true, that's as good as gospel. Peter Parker was a small child who was present at the battle at Stark Expo in Iron Man 2, and grew up to become the superpowered protégé of the man who'd saved his life. It's canon now.