After weeks of anticipation and non-stop guessing, Marvel and Sony finally reached an agreement, announcing that Tom Holland will dress up as the new Spiderman in next year's Captain America: Civil War and the upcoming solo Spiderman movie in 2017.
Tom Holland will be the youngest actor to play the most popular superhero of all-time, besides Batman and Superman, as he is only 19 years old. He only debuted in Hollywood in 2012 with the movie The Impossible, which was followed by Locke (2013) and How I Live Now (2013). This year he will appear in three different films: Pilgrimage, In The Heart of The Sea (a Moby Dick story adaptation) and Backcountry.
Although there's not much in Holland's resume, Marvel really wanted a young actor to succeed Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, the previous lead actors of the Spiderman movies. Marvel wants the character to return to his roots as a teenager, because Spiderman's most memorable moments are from this period. Also, Marvel chose Holland because he fits the studio's long-term plan. As Holland gets older in real life so will Spiderman on the screen, and if all goes well, there won't be any need to replace him in the next ten years or more.
As it turns out, Holland was competing with Charlie Rowe (Red Band Society, The Boat That Rocked) for the role, and the final decision was made by Robert Downey Jr.
and Chris Evans. Holland played so well in the trial scene that featured Spiderman, Ironman and Captain America that the superstar actors chose him as the arachnid hero.
The new teenager Spiderman will debut next year in the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe via Captain America: Civil War, although rumors tell that it will be only a cameo scene by Holland, since he will only spend a week on the sets in Atlanta, where the movie is shooting currently.
The following year Holland will get his solo movie which will be directed by Jon Watts, another newcomer in the field, whose first Film, Clown, premiered in 2014. Watts' second movie, Cop Car, hits theatres this summer. Those who worry, fear not: Marvel and Sony both stressed that they don't want to bombard the audience with yet another origin story of Spiderman.
Captain America: Civil War has a May 6, 2016 release date, and will surely feature the aforementioned Captain America, Ironman, Spiderman and also Black Widow, the Winter Soldier, Falcon, Vision, Hawkeye, Warmachine, Scarlet Witch and Ant-Man. Black Panther, Baron Zemo, Crossbones and General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross will also appear.
