Last week brought word that Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures were at odds over who to cast as the MCU Spider-Man. Well, all has now been resolved and we have ourselves a new Wallcrawler as well as a director for Spidey’s first solo movie.

For a long period of time it was believed that Ender’s Game’s Asa Butterfield was the frontrunner to play Spider-Man, although he took himself out of the running by regularly talking about the whole process in interviews. Then the search was supposedly down to two names: The Impossible’s Tom Holland and Red Band Society’s Charlie Rowe. Last week it was reported that Sony were keen on Holland, whilst Marvel were looking at giving the nod to Rowe.

Now comes confirmation that it is indeed Tom Holland who will be the new Spider-Man. Additionally, today has also brought word that it will be Cop Car’s Jon Watts who will be directing the first new Spider-Man movie. Before that, of course, Spidey will be making his MCU bow in next year’s Captain America: Civil War.

On all of this news, Sony Pictures’ Tom Rothman said, “It’s a big day here at Sony. Kevin 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.”

Marvel’s Kevin Feige added, “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.”

Also commenting was Sony’s Amy Pascal, who will serve as a producer on the new Spider-Man movies. She said, “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.”

Despite now being in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the creative control of Spidey and the distribution rights for his films will be handled by Sony Pictures in a unique deal that took an age to put together.

As mentioned, Spider-Man will make his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War, which hits screens on May 6th, 2016. After that, he’ll spin-off to his own solo movie on July 28th, 2017. The new Spidey solo film is believed to be the first of a new trilogy of films, at this stage rumoured to be called Spectacular Spider-Man.

Expect more on this as it develops.

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