A new Peter Parker has been picked: Tom Holland, who found fame as Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watt’s son in ‘The Impossible‘, has been announced as the lead in the new ‘Spider-Man‘ movie.
The as yet untitled Spider-Man reboot is being written by comic legends Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, with a 28 July 2017 release date. It will be directed by Jon Watts, who’s upcoming thriller ‘Cop Car‘ made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
Holland is the first cast member to be announced in the Marvel and Sony produced film. The studios were looking to cast either a young teen or someone who could pass as a teenager for a few years (Tom Holland, at 19, pulls off both), as the plot will see Peter Parker gain his Spider-Man powers while still in high school.
“For Spidey himself, we saw many terrific young actors, but Tom’s screen tests were special,” said Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group chairman, in a press release. “All in all, we are off to a roaring start.”
Marvel, no stranger to the character crossover, will introduce Holland to the Marvel universe with an appearance in ‘Captain America: Civil War‘. BRING. IT.
Holland might be a bit of an unknown – aside from ‘The Impossible’, he had a smaller role in fictional WWIII film ‘How I Live Now‘ – but he received critical acclaim for his turn in the 2012 disaster film about the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami, holding his own against heavyweights McGregor and Watts.
Meanwhile…
A biracial Spider-Man has officially been introduced to the Marvel universe, with the first issue of the relaunched ‘Spider-Man’ comic, featuring a African-American and Puerto Rican Spidey by the name of Miles Morales, hitting stores last Sunday.
But Stan Lee isn’t all that chill with messing with the Spider-Man character.
In the Sony email leak, it was revealed that Lee thought Spidey should be male, straight, and not smoke or abuse alcohol, which led Gawker to label him a dork (look, anyone who still sees Toby Maguire as Spider-Man wouldn’t be quick to disagree). In an interview with Newsarama, he clarifies these comments.
“I wouldn’t mind, if Peter Parker had originally been black, a Latino, an Indian, or anything else, that he stay that way,” he said. “But we originally made him white. I don’t see any reason to change that.”
“It has nothing to do with being anti-gay, or anti-black, or anti-Latino, or anything like that. Latino characters should stay Latino. The Black Panther should certainly not be Swiss. I just see no reason to change that which has already been established when it’s so easy to add new characters. I say create new characters the way you want to. Hell, I’ll do it myself. ”
“What I like about the costume is that anybody reading Spider-Man in any part of the world can imagine that they themselves are under the costume. And that’s a good thing.”
Photo: Frazer Harrison via Getty Images
