The hunt for the next actor to play Spider-Man is nearly complete. Five days ago, it was reported that the list of candidates had been narrowed down to five, and then Tuesday, Ender’s Game’s Asa Butterfield was said to be the top choice for the new Peter Parker. While Butterfield is still being considered for the role, a new report has come out saying that it isn’t his quite yet, as he now faces competition from actor Tom Holland for the role.
Badass Digest’s Devin Faraci tweeted out today that since last week, Buttefield and Holland have been the final two candidates being looked at to play Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although Marvel and Sony have yet to comment on this. Both actors are 18, which fits with Marvel’s goal of looking for a teenage actor to play the next live-action iteration of the Wall-Crawler. If Marvel is looking to keep this version of Peter in high school for awhile, these actors will certainly still be able to pass for teenage students even after they reach their 20s. Regardless of whether Butterfield or Holland is chosen, they will be the first actor to be a teenager when cast as Spider-Man. Tobey Maguire was 25 when cast in the 2002 film, while Andrew Garfield was 26 when cast in The Amazing Spider-Man.
In addition to Ender’s Game, Buttefield’s resume includes Hugo, Nanny McPhee Returns and the upcoming Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Compared to most of the other actors previously mentioned to be in contention, Butterfield arguably has the most "blockbuster" career out of all of them, so playing a superhero wouldn’t be much of a stretch for him.
As for Holland, his body of work includes includes The Impossible, How I Live Now and the upcoming In The Heart Of The Sea. These are lesser-known works to be sure, but his performance in The Impossible earned many award nominations, so acting-wise he’ll be up to the challenge breathing life into the Web-Slinger.
The MCU Spider-Man is reported to debut in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War before starring in a new solo film (rumored to be titled Spider-Man: The New Avenger) on July 28, 2017. Few details on what to expect from the new Peter Parker, but we do know that he will be a high schooler, his origin story won’t be retold and his costume has already been designed. There is also an animated Spider-Man film coming in 2018, but it’s unclear whether the live-action actor will voice him for this unique adventure or whether a different voice actor will be hired.
