After his breakout role in the well-received Sundance film Little Men, co-star Michael Barbieri landed a role in The Dark Tower film as Timmy, Jake's (Tom Taylor) close friend before he's drawn to Roland (Idris Elba) and his ka-tet. Following that role, it appears that Barbieri will be co-starring in Marvel's Spider-Man: Homecoming. No details are currently available on the role he'll be playing but it seems likely that Barbieri (14) would play a high school contemporary of Holland's Peter Parker. Could he be playing Harry Osborn?
As a few commenters have pointed out, in the comics, Peter didn't actually meet Harry, Gwen and co. until he enrolled at Empire State University. Peter's supporting cast at Midtown High and Empire were very different. Still, placing Harry at Midtown wouldn't be the first time Marvel has taken a few liberties with the source material. Usually, there tweaks work out for the better. Another possibility is that he's one of the members of Flash Thompson's crew who routinely pranked and bullied a pre-Spider bite Peter?
[
Heroic Hollywood was first to report.]
UPDATE: According to
Comicbook.com, Barbieri is playing an original character who is modeled after
Ultimate Spider-Man's Ganke. In that comic book, he's Miles Morales' best friend and a staunch supporter of superheroes, a viewpoint that seems especially significant given the fallout from
Captain America: Civil War. Will this version of Ganke be repurposed as Peter's bestfriend, or is this a clue that Miles Morales is also lurking around Midtown High?
Spider-Man: Homecoming is directed by Jon Watts. Tom Holland stars as Peter Parker with Marisa Tomei as Aunt May. Robert Downey Jr. will reprise his MCU role of Tony Stark. Zendaya has also joined the cast as a character named Michelle, who possibly be comic book character and Spider-Man love-interest, Michelle Gonzalez. Michael Keaton is in final negotiations to play Adrian Toomes, aka Vulture. Other confirmed cast members include Laura Harrier and Tony Revolori.