Tom Holland Is The New Spider-Man, Jon Watts Will Direct

The new Spider-Man has been chosen: Tom Holland (The Impossible, Wolf Hall) will play Peter Parker and his heroic alter-ego, Spider-Man. He'll first appear in Captain America: Civil War, and then take center stage in a solo film set for 2017. That solo movie, a collaboration between Marvel Studios and Sony, will be directed by Jon Watts, whose film Cop Car was among the movies we enjoyed at Sundance earlier this year.

THR had an early report. Sony's new Spider-Man solo movie will be the first of a new series of films, and is set for release on July 28, 2017. The casting goal for the new actor was to find someone young enough to be able to play Peter Parker as a teenager through a series of films set in high school.

(This Spidey's first appearance, Captain America: Civil War, opens in theaters on May 6 2016.)

And Jon Watts is an interesting choice as director. I really liked his film Cop Car at Sundance this year. While it has a few mid-section pacing problems, overall the movie is a very lean thriller with sharply drawn characters and situations, and is able to mine some terrific suspense out of very basic raw materials.

Holland was among several actors who tested for the role over the last couple months. He and Charlie Rowe both reportedly were asked to do a second screen test for Marvel to help the studio make a final decision.

Holland recently posted some acrobatic moves to Instagram, such as the one below, to demonstrate his suitability for the role:

Here's the press release from Marvel and Sony about the new hires.

Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios Find Their 'Spider-Man' Star and Director

Tom Holland Cast as the Web-Slinger, Jon Watts to Direct the Next Spider-Man Adventure

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.