Spider-Man re-casted for Sony, Marvel reboot

It was announced earlier this year Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios would be teaming to reboot the Spider-Man franchise. Today, they made a joint announcement to reveal they’ve found their new web-slinger as well as the person who will be calling the shots behind the camera. Peter Parker will be played by Tom Holland and the yet-to-be-named new adventure will be directed by Jon Watts.

If these names don’t sound familiar, don’t worry you’re not missing anything. Holland is an English actor who most recently appeared in the BBC mini-series, Wolf Hall, and portrayed Naomi Watts’ son in 2012’s The Impossible. He’s best known for playing the title role in Billy Elliot the Musical in London. Apparently he really impressed everyone with his screen tests. He will replace Andrew Garfield, who played the superhero in the last two franchise pictures. Watts recently grabbed people’s attentions with his thriller, Cop Car, starring Kevin Bacon, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The partnership between Sony and Marvel came on the heels of Marvel announcing it would be introducing its comic mini-series Civil War in next year’s Captain America. Spider-Man plays a significant role in the storyline, so it’s likely he’ll make his debut in that film before appearing in his standalone picture set for release in IMAX and 3D on July 28, 2017. Marvel has already rearranged its 2017 slate to make room for the Spider-Man reboot.

Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group Chairman, said “It’s a big day here at Sony. [Producers] Kevin [Feige], Amy [Pascal] and their teams have done an incredible job. The Marvel process is very thorough, and that’s why their results are so outstanding. I’m confident Spider-Man will be no exception. I’ve worked with a number of up-and-coming directors who have gone on to be superstars and believe that Jon is just such an outstanding talent. For Spidey himself, we saw many terrific young actors, but Tom’s screen tests were special. All in all, we are off to a roaring start.”

Produce Kevin Feige added, “As with James Gunn, Joss Whedon, and the Russo brothers, we love finding new and exciting voices to bring these characters to life. We spent a lot of time with Jon and find his take and work inspiring.”

Sony has owned the feature film rights to the comic book character since 1999, when Marvel sold it to them for $7 million. Sony will continue to distribute, finance, own and have final creative control of the Spider-Man movies.

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