First
there was Tobey Maguire, then there was Andrew Garfield, and next will be Tom
Holland as the third actor tapped to play Peter Parker in a live-action
adaptation of Marvel Comics’ most popular character, Spider-Man. Before this
new and younger version of high school-aged Peter Parker gets his own movie in
summer 2017, the first of which is actually set in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe – the same continuity as The Avengers – Holland will make an
appearance beforehand in a Marvel movie.
We
knew that much from the initial official announcement of the agreement between
Sony Pictures and Disney-owned Marvel Studios that would see the studios work
together to share characters, and there was only one movie that was applicable
for his introduction: Captain America: Civil War.
Spider-Man
plays an important role in the Civil War crossover event in Marvel Comics and
we knew from leaked Sony emails in the fall that directors Anthony and Joe
Russo wanted Spidey in their next Captain America movie, but at the time the
deal wasn’t going through. And because it didn’t, Marvel unveiled their
schedule of new release dates and titles (collectively dubbed “Phase 3″) in
October that didn’t include Spider-Man even though Marvel Studios boss Kevin
Feige knew Spider-Man was always going to be part Phase 3.
So,
as a surprise to no one who’s been following these developments, Tom Holland’s
Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man will in fact appear in Captain America: Civil
War. We had heard descriptions of a Spider-Man costume and multiple reports of
the shortlist of potential actors actually screen-testing as Parker on the
Atlanta set of Civil War, and as confirmed yesterday in THR’s cover story on
Marvel’s Ant-Man, Holland must “immediately” report to set. So far, any shots
involving Spider-Man must have been made with a double or stunt actor wearing
the costume. Holland is really just needed for the Peter Parker sequences.
Marvel
has yet to confirm when and where Spider-Man will appear in the MCU, but they
could be saving it for a San Diego Comic-Con reveal. Their film division will
not be hosting a Hall H panel this year, but will still have a large presence
on the TV and Comics sides with other panels and a large booth on the floor.
They traditionally hand out concept art for upcoming films so it’s possible we
get a look at Spidey.
