Andrew Garfield is no longer Spider-Man, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing a new web-slinger movie.
After Sony Pictures and Marvel announced that they’ve reached a deal to share Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a full worldwide casting search was launched as the studios were looking for the next actor who can portray the young Spider-Man. Amidst the search, multiple sites reported that a slew of young actors have screen-tested for the role, with “Hugo” actor Asa Butterfield emerging as the frontrunner. However, he was later reported to have been taken out from the casting process.
Today however, Marvel officially announced that British teen Tom Holland will be the new Spider-Man in an upcoming reboot of “The Amazing Spider-Man”.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on 1st June that the list of candidates had been narrowed down to 6 and Holland was one of the final contenders to be screen-test for the role. They were all flown to Atlanta for a “secretive, all-day screen-testing process” on 30th May and the casting location was also where “Captain America: Civil War” is currently being filmed.
Butterfield was earlier rumoured to have landed the role, as a source told Latino Review’s Kevin Chavez that “Marvel had liked him since day one”. However, TheWrap‘s Jeff Sneider revealed in an episode of “Meet The Movie Press Live” that he is apparently out of the picture as there were only 3 contenders left in the casting process. The actors who were in final contention are Holland, Matthew Lintz, and Charlie Plummer.
After much deliberation, Marvel and Sony finally decided to cast Holland as they were impressed by his performances in his previous films and a series of complex screen tests conducted by the studios.
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The studios as well as producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal also conducted an extensive search for the director. After going through a couple of meetings with the studios and the producers, up-and-coming director Jon Watts has been hired to helm the next Spider-Man movie.
Regarding their choice on the casting and director, Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group Chairman, said in a statement:
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.
Feige and his expert team at Marvel will co-produce the next instalment of the $4 billion “Spider-Man” franchise with Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for Sony Pictures 13 years ago. Sony will also finance and release it worldwide on 28th July 2017.
Holland, who will be seen next in Ron Howard’s “In the Heart of the Sea”, has starred alongside Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor in tsunami movie “The Impossible”. He is known for his work as Thomas Cromwell’s son in “Wolf Hall”. As for Watts, his thriller film titled “Cop Car” recently made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival 2015.
What do you think of the announcement? Do you think Holland would be a great Spider-Man? Let us know in the comments box below.
Source: Marvel
