Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios have announced that Tom Holland has been cast as the new Peter Parker/Spider-Man. He will play the webslinger in the next Sony Spider-Man film and is also expected to appear in Captain America: Civil War for Marvel. Additionally, the studios have revealed that the Spider-Man film will be directed by Jon Watts, director of Cop Car, a thriller that debuted earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.

Tom Holland

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According to Marvel , “Marvel and Sony Pictures, and producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal conducted an extensive search for both the actor and the director. The studios and producers were impressed by Holland’s performances in The Impossible, Wolf Hall, and the upcoming In the Heart of the Sea, and by a series of complex screen tests. Following Marvel’s tradition of working with the brightest next wave of directors, Watts also went through multiple meetings with Feige, Pascal, and the studio, before winning the job.”The 19-year-old Holland beats out an array of potential Spideys, including Ender's Game star Asa Butterfield, Boardwalk Empire’s Charlie Plummer, and Pixels’ Matthew Lintz among many others.Said Feige of director Jon Watts, “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.”Pascal also chimed in with a statement: “Sony, Marvel, Kevin and I all knew that for Peter Parker, we had to find a vibrant, talented young actor capable of embodying one of the most well-known characters in the world. With Tom, we’ve found the perfect actor to bring Spider-Man’s story into the Marvel Cinematic Universe .”Sony will release the next Spider-Man movie on July 28, 2017. And while this is not mentioned in Marvel’s press release, it is widely expected that Holland will be suiting up very soon to shoot his part in Marvel’s Civil War, which is in production right now for a May 6, 2016, release. Thwip!

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