I think the obsession with constantly rebooting Spider-Man is extremely annoying. As far as superheroes go, Spider-Man is boring. He’s a cheeseball with very little edge. But for the third time in my lifetime (and the second time in the past four years), the Spider-Man film franchise is getting a reboot with a brand-new Spidey. Marvel and Sony spent months auditioning potential candidates and the shortlist was a who’s who of who’s that. So, who is the winner winner chicken dinner? British actor Tom Holland, a 19-year-old kid who could barely pass for 14.

Marvel and Sony have found their Peter Parker. “The Impossible” actor Tom Holland is set to play the web-slinging superhero in the next “Spider-Man” franchise. Jon Watts (“Cop Car”) will direct the film.

“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,” Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group chairman, said in a press release. “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.”

The actor is first expected to make an appearance in “Captain America: Civil War” in order to properly introduce him into the Marvel film universe, with standalone films to follow on July 28, 2017. Sony announced a new partnership with Marvel Studios in February that would bring the popular superhero into the Marvel universe. Former Sony co-chairman Amy Pascal is producing along with Kevin Feige.

[From Variety]

Variety goes on to detail the exhaustive process of finding the new Spidey, which included months of auditions for completely unknown actors before going back to look at actors with some film experience. The other contenders (at various times) were Asa Butterfield, Charlie Rowe and Matthew Lintz. Feige said he really wanted Spider-Man to go back to the beginning, meaning Peter Parker needed to be high-school-aged. Oh, and Spider-Man will have a cameo in Captain America: Civil War.

Also, this new Spider-Man reboot has already caused some consternation in some quarters because of how close-minded Sony execs were being about the casting and the characterization of Peter Parker, as revealed in memos retrieved in the Sony Hack. Sony execs sent out memos declaring that Peter Parker/Spider-Man needed to be a white, heterosexual non-smoker who was a virgin until the age of 16, and never, ever curses like a sailor. Are kids really interested in seeing this? AGAIN? I guess the kids will just see whatever Marvel tells them to see.

Here’s Holland showing off some of his sweet Spidey moves a few days ago. Apparently, he’s very physical and a very talented dancer (he starred in Billy Elliott the musical in London).

More fun more fun

A video posted by ?? (@tomholland2013) on Jun 21, 2015 at 7:40am PDT

Photos courtesy of WENN, Tom’s Instagram.