Like Butterfield, Tom Holland is one of the young actors on the suppose shortlist of Sony's that has been circulating film blogs this week. And, like Butterfield, the British actor is best known for his appearances in a couple of particularly harrowing movies: the fact-based drama The Impossible, Orphanage director Juan Antonio Bayona's take on the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, and How I Live Now, based on Meg Rosoff's book about the inception and aftermath of World War III in rural England. But then he's also known for playing the eponymous role in the West End musical version of Billy Elliot. There's a high level of acrobatics that go into playing Spider-Man, more so than Peter Parker, that often gets forgotten in casting the character. Holland is a kid who has literally gone through ballet training, and so they might not be totally reliant on stunt doubles to make his web slinging look good. Most recently he had small parts in BBC Henry VII drama Wolf Hall (based on Hilary Mantel's books) as the son of Thomas Cromwell, and Ron Howard's In The Heart Of The Sea. He's the same age as Butterfield, too. The only strike against him, really, is that he doesn't really have the experience of the big blockbuster film of the sort that the new Spider-Man will likely be. But who knows, perhaps being ignorant the ins and outs will end up being a strength.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
