There's A New Spider-Man And You've Probably Never Heard Of Him

You may want to sit down for this news: the new Spider-Man is British.

He's also pretty much a child compared to the comparatively geriatric Andrew Garfield and Toby Maguire who took the role before him. 

In fact, at 19, he’s actually much closer in age to 15-year-old Peter Parker, suggesting his casting could well be the shot in the arm and much more youthful direction this franchise needs.

Signed on for four movies, one of which will be directed by Jon Watts (Clown), we’ll first see him making an entrance in Captain America: Civil War. But for now, here’s a bit more about your new friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man…

He’s already worked with The Avengers

No doubt IMDB hounds will already know about The Heart of the Sea, Ron Howard’s upcoming whale-hunting blockbuster which sees Holland appear opposite Thor himself Chris Hemsworth. But according to the Hollywood Reporter, our new web-slinger has also screen tested opposite Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans after Marvel honchos deemed the casting so important that they brought in Cap and Iron Man to see exactly what sort of chemistry the actors shared. Quite a lot it appears.

 

Bored

A video posted by ✌️ (@tomholland2013) on Jun 21, 2015 at 7:44am PDT

He can do his own stunts

Considering Marvel now has the same GDP as a small country, we can’t see the studio asking Holland to do his own stunts when the cameras start rolling – but make no mistake, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch for the actor who first caught the eye of choreographer Lynne Page at a Wimbledon dance school, doing hip hop no less, where he went on to star in hit West End show Billy Elliot The Musical. His skills even got him a ticket to Downing Street to meet then-PM Gordon Brown. And he’s still got it too: adept at the backwards somersault. Only three days ago, Holland added this acrobatic effort to his Instagram page, which we we’re sure studio execs were watching through the gaps in their hands.

He’ll handle fame well

While he’s entering a whole new stratosphere of attention with his character, raised in South West London to a photographer mother (Nicola Elizabeth) and comedian father (Dominic Holland) - not to mention being an alumnus of the now eponymous BRIT School - Holland will know all about the culture of celebrity, or at least how to avoid its trappings. Speaking to BBC Five Live, director Ron Howard echoed these sentiments: "Tom has a good sense of how the film industry works as a business. He'll handle that pressure very well."

This isn’t his first rodeo

This isn’t Daniel Radcliffe getting plucked from a bespectacled crowd, handed a wand and magically turned into a star. He’s acted in big budget Hollywood movies before. One of which being the excellent tsunami drama The Impossible, featuring Naomi Watts, which was apparently one of the major reasons Marvel execs were drawn to his talents. He'll also be appearing in upcoming outdoors thriller Backcountry, where Holland stars alongside Joel Kinnaman and a killer bear. For now, however, you can watch his acting skills in the BBC’s Wolf Hall, playing Gregory Cromwell, son of Thomas.

He’s prolific on Instagram

When not working, he’s snapping pictures of his dog Tess, showcasing his acrobatics and singing Taylor Swift. All for his Instagram account, set to explode exponentially with more visitors now he gears up for his biggest cinematic role yet. Take a look at his efforts so far here.