Tom Holland Cast as Spider-Man
So now it’s official. We have the new Peter Parker as well as the director for the movie as well. From Marvel:
[quote]
Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios are proud to announce that after a full worldwide casting search, Tom Holland will play Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the next Spider-Man film, in theaters in IMAX and 3D on July 28, 2017. The film will be directed by Jon Watts, director of “Cop Car,” the upcoming thriller that made its debut earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
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.
Commenting on the announcement, 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.”
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.”
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.”
Sony Pictures will finance and release worldwide the next installment of the $4 billion Spider-Man franchise on July 28, 2017, in a film co-produced by Kevin Feige and his expert team at Marvel and Amy Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for the studio 13 years ago. Together, they will collaborate on a new creative direction for the Web-Slinger.
Spider-Man, embraced all over the world, is the most successful franchise in the history of Sony Pictures, with the five films having taken in more than $4 billion worldwide.[/quote]
So there you have it. Tom Holland and Jon Watts. I haven’t seen anything that either of them have worked on but I know that Marvel doesn’t take casting or directing likely so look forward to what they have in store for us. The most interesting thing about this new Spider-Man project will be just how hands on Sony is or if they let Feige and company handle most of the heavy lifting. In my opinion it would be in Sony’s best interest to defer to whatever it is Marvel wants. Sure, Sony still owns the rights but they need this partnership to work more than Marvel Studios does. Plus, we heard one of the final screen tests also involved not only Feige but the Russos so I think its safe to say that Marvel will have a lot of control. Notice in the announcement Tom Rothman talks about the “Marvel Process”. So it really sounds like Sony is buying into Marvel Studio’s vision and that’s a great for not only Sony & Marvel but also us the fans.
Now, on to another topic that I know will be done to death: Should they have gone with Miles Morales instead? Look, I can’t wait to get a Miles Morales movies. I have no doubt that’s in the plans. Miles is becoming the main Spider-Man in the Marvel comics this fall with his own book and so it seems we’re on that path. I wouldn’t have been mad if they went with Miles instead of Peter. But look, when it comes to having the FIRST Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I can’t blame them for wanting to not only go with a white male but also a young one. If you’re going to bring Spider-Man into the MCU, then I’m not going to look down on going with the “traditional” Peter Parker. Especially when we see the push to raise Miles Morales’ profile in the comics. All this means is that when Sony/Marvel are finally ready to go the Miles route, he’ll have close to a decade of historical source material. I’m okay with that. Because to me its not enough to just cast diverse characters, I want them to be GOOD characters and be set up for success and not failure. If the plain from Marvel is to continue to plaster Miles Morales all over their new Marvel Universe in the comics so that he becomes known as THE Spider-Man, then I’m all for waiting for his movie.
