Tom Holland is Spider-Man. Right, now that's out of the way, time for some context. Ever since Sony and Marvel made their historic deal to share the rights to Spider-Man (Sony will still distribute the stand-alone movies, but Marvel have some creative say so and can use him in their Cinematic Universe) speculation has been rife over who'd be donning the skin-tight suit. Pretty much every male under the age of thirty (Peter Parker may be high school age, but that's never stopped Hollywood) has been mentioned, and for a long time Asa Butterfield looked to be a firm favourite, but Holland, a name who's been linked to the role for a long time, has finally won out. For my money Holland is a great choice. Casting young is already a big plus - nobody wants another reboot - and the actor, first discovered for the Billy Elliot stage musical, was pretty great in The Impossible (the underrated survival drama set around the Boxing Day tsunami), managing to be both distressed and shoulder responsibility. Being an relative unknown, at least on the international stage, should help make his Spidey feel like a proper every-teen. Holland will be making his Peter Parker debut in next year's Captain America: Civil War, which is shooting now. It's also been announced that Jon Watts will be the director of the first standalone Spider-Man flick, due just over a year after Civil War. Now that's something nobody saw coming - Watts is as unknown as they come. Of course, Marvel traditionally go a bit out there with their directors, so there's no doubt this'll pay off. There's going to be a lot of discussion about the casting and director choice in the coming weeks, but for now this all looks very positive. Stayed tuned for more Spidey coverage. Captain America: Civil War is out on 29th April, 2016 in the UK and 6th May, 2016 in the US. The standalone Spider-Man movie is set for release on 28th July, 2017.
