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.
WHY
IT TOOK SO LONG
What’s
more interesting is the lengthy and challenging process Marvel and Sony
underwent to rush to find a director and star for the new Spider-Man reboot
movie in 2017. Holland had appeared on multiple insider shortlists as a top
contender but you might not know that the studios had looked at 1500+ actors
for the part. That’s a lot of young stars vying for a career-defining part.
Holland
won out for his previous work in The Impossible and impressing Marvel with his
auditions and athleticism (see below video from Holland’s Instagram), but he
also had to prove himself alongside The Avengers. Marvel casting director Sarah
Finn, who’s worked on everything from Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy to
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., helped identify the top candidates and had them screen
test at the end of May on the set of Civil War.
Holland
was the clear favorite and it then just became a matter of signing before the
official announcement could be made. The entire process has been fast-tracked
since the get-go due to Sony’s desire to relaunch their most lucrative film
franchise as soon as possible with the help of Marvel – who in turn want to use
the character and his library of supporting characters and villains to help
bolster their own projects and brand going forward. If it wasn’t for the desire
to introduce Spider-Man next year – the best marketing tool ever for promoting
the untitled Spider-Man reboot (again) – Marvel and Sony would have had almost
an extra year to find their Peter Parker.
THE
DIRECTOR
The
surprising element of yesterday’s landmark Spider-Man announcement was the
selection of relative unknown director Jon Watts. He wasn’t listed among the
top five reported by the trades in early May.
The
goal for Sony and Marvel was to do something different with the new Spider-Man,
a bit of a must given the rapid fire pace of reboots. Again, it’s only able to
happen again so quickly because of Sony partnering with Marvel and as part of
that, they’re going to skip the been-there-done-that origin story. When
moviegoers first meet Peter Parker, he will already be serving as a young hero
on his own in the streets of New York.
With
that in mind, whoever was going to direct this new Spider-Man (which according
to rumors could be titled The Spectacular Spider-Man or Spider-Man: The New
Avenger) had to pitch their own unique vision for the story and characters.
That’s how Watts impressed Kevin Feige which in turn, got him the blessing from
Sony’s new boss, Tom Rothman.
Watts,
who’s only 33 years old, earned some buzz earlier this year for his film Cop
Car which played at the Sundance Film Festival but comes from a bit of a comedy
background having worked for The Onion News Network. His hiring continues
Marvel’s trend of given unproven tentpole directors a chance,, much like they
did with Joss Whedon and James Gunn.
Wahhh film idaman aku
BalasHapus