Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios have finally settled on their new cinematic Spider-Man. According to The Hollywood Reporter (and soon directly confirmed by Marvel), British actor Tom Holland will play the latest incarnation of the web-slinger in a reboot of the franchise.
Holland, 19, has starred in 2012’s The Impossible, BBC miniseries Wolf Hall (seen in the U.S. on PBS), and has a role in the upcoming In the Heart of the Sea with fellow Marvel superhero Chris Hemsworth. Marvel wanted a younger actor as Spider-Man, someone who could return him to the adolescent roots of the original comic book character and present a contrast with Marvel’s older cinematic heroes like Iron Man and Captain America.
Sure enough, the new Spider-Man will soon make his on-screen debut in next summer’s Captain America: Civil War. That movie is being filmed right now, so Spidey had to be cast very soon.
It’s doubtful that Holland cemented the role with recent videos he posted to Instagram. But the three clips showing his acrobatic abilities demonstrated how much he wanted to play Spider-Man and how suitable he felt he was to play the part. Watching him flip through the air likely helped convince fans who don’t know much about Holland that he could bound and swing between skyscrapers in Manhattan as your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler.
According to various reports, Holland was a finalist for the role with Charlie Plummer (Boardwalk Empire) and Matthew Lintz (Pixels), along with Charlie Rowe (Never Let Me Go). Perhaps the most surprising aspect of those recent rumors was that Asa Butterfield (Ender’s Game), once thought to be the front-runner for the role — something The AP Party’s Liam McGuire wrote about at the time — had been eliminated from consideration after being reported as a virtual lock.
Marvel and Sony had another opening to fill in regards to the Spider-Man property, as the next movie starring the character didn’t yet have a director. But the studios found their man to announce along with Holland’s casting, and the choice has to be considered a surprise. Jon Watts basically has two films on his filmmaking résumé, the most prominent of which is the upcoming thriller Cop Car, starring Kevin Bacon.
After showing at the Sundance Film Festival, Cop Car was a hit among those who saw it and drew a bidding war for distribution with Focus Features beating out Lionsgate and IFC. The film, described by some as a mix between a Steven Spielberg Amblin film and a Coen Brothers movie, is about two 10-year-old boys who steal a police car and are subsequently chased down by the sheriff whom the vehicle belongs to. Judging from the trailer, the movie blends elements of comedy with suspense and maybe even a bit of horror.
Working with young actors and guiding quality performances out of them surely went a long way toward Watts winning the Spider-Man gig, as he’ll be directing Holland in a story that will place the superhero in his early high school years, attempting to navigate the difficulties of adolescence (Homework! Girls! Aunt May!) along with having superhuman abilities and fighting extraordinary villains.
Still, we’re talking about a guy who’s only made two smaller-budget films (the other being 2014’s horror film Clown), in addition to a gag remake of RoboCop and several videos for The Onion. Watts reportedly beat out Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies), Ted Melfi (St. Vincent) and the team of John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein (this summer’s Vacation). The comedy background among all of those directors hints at the tone Marvel is seeking for its new Spider-Man series.
Handing Watts the keys to a blockbuster superhero franchise that really need to come through with a hit after the disappointment of Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man series seems like a significant risk. Yet Marvel’s daring track record in picking directors — even if they collaborated on this process with Sony, though THR says Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige made the final call — has been solid, even if they haven’t all necessarily been winners. (Looking at you, Thor: The Dark World‘s Alan Taylor.)
The new Spider-Man film from Marvel and Sony, now starring Holland and directed by Watts, is scheduled to hit theaters on July 28, 2017.
