The next Spider-Man….is British again.
Marvel announced on Tuesday that they would be finding someone across the pond to play Peter Parker in their upcoming reboot of Spider-Man and they have named The Impossible and Wolf Hall star Tom Holland for the part.
Holland beat out a range of actors who tested for the role including Asa Butterfield (Hugo), who was rumored in mid-April to have the role all but locked up.
Holland doesn’t have an extensive resume with his biggest role (and first) coming beside Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts in The Impossible. He has also appeared in the television series, Wolf Hall, and is set to have a role in Ron Howard’s upcoming film, In The Heart of the Sea.
Marvel also tapped Jon Watts to direct the film with the director just finishing up his Sundance film, Cop Car. Much like his actor, Watts doesn’t have an extensive resume and is best known for the Sundance film and Clown, which he wrote and directed.
I haven’t seen Cop Car, but our own Dylan Griffin caught it at Sundance and said that it was “an instant American genre film classic” comparing it to other hits such as Mud, Badlands, and the early work of Steven Spielberg.
Grabbing up-and-coming directors has been something that big studios have been doing lately and it seems to have worked for Gareth Edwards with Godzilla and the upcoming Star Wars: Rogue One and Colin Trevorrow with Jurassic World. Watts is another indie guy who is starting to make a name for himself plus Marvel probably has a good feel for him especially since their head, Kevin Feige, decided on putting Watts in charge of the franchise.
Holland’s Spider-Man will first appear in a cameo role in Captain America: Civil War before teaming up with Watts for the currently untitled reboot, which is set to open in theaters on July 28, 2017.