Peter Parker Actor and Spider-Man Director Announced

Sony Pictures and Marvel Entertainment have announced both the actor to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man and the director for the reboot of the reboot of the reboot of Spider-Man. They are (drumroll please)… Tom Holland and Jon Watts!

Right.

So neither of these are talents most people have heard of. No big deal. Sony brought in Sam Raimi when he wasn’t known for anything other than a few cult B movies and made approximately all of the money in the early part of the 2000s. Their Spider-Man actor though… not quite as unknown. Also, Marvel likes to point out that they have a knack for bringing up and elevating relatively unknown talent like James Gunn and… Joss Whedon?

If only I was as unkown as pre-Avengers Joss Whedon, I could’ve directed Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse, Firefly, Serenity, and The Office (I bet you didn’t know about that last one). Or written…

Rosanne, Toy Story, Alien: Resurrection, Titan A.E., Buffy, Firefly, Angel, Dollhouse, Serenity, Astonishing X-Men, and Cabin in the Woods.

But I digress. Tom Holland certainly possesses the boyish, high school looks that Spider-Man should have. And three of his recent projects–The Impossible, Locke, and Wolf Hall–rated above 70 on Metacritic.

Jon Watts currently has a film at Cannes (Cop Car starring Kevin Bacon) that’s rated 60 on Metacritic. Although he also has several episodes of The Onion News Network and The Onion Sportdome so… that’s something.

None of this is to say either way whether this movie will be good or bad. But Sony and Marvel are definitely taking this “unknown talent” thing to the maximum with these choices.

The upcoming Spider-Man reboot is slated for release on July 28th, 2017. Are you excited? What do you think of these decisions?