Official: Tom Holland Is the New Spider-Man, Jon Watts to Direct

After plenty of speculation and even an early report the gig had gone to Asa Butterfield, it was finally made official today that Tom Holland (The Impossible, “Wolf Hall”) will be your new Spider-Man, making his first appearance as the webslinger within Captain America: Civil War on May 6, 2016 followed by a new standalone Spider-Man film on July 28, 2017.

In fact, with regard to that new Spider-Man film, Sony has hired Jon Watts (Clown, Cop Car) to direct the feature, which will focus on a much younger Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) with the goal of keeping Parker much younger throughout a new series of films and, according to earlier reports, hoping to mimic the feeling of early John Hughes, coming-of-age features.

Commenting on the announcement in a press release, Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group Chairman, said, “It’s a big day here at Sony. Kevin, Amy 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.”

Marvel’s Kevin Feige commented, “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’s Amy Pascal added, “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.”

Tom Holland will next be seen in Ron Howard‘s In the Heart of the Sea later this year.

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