We have not seen a great spidey film in the franchise arguably since Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 so after the failure of the last film it was in Sony’s best interest to team with Marvel and Marvel to team with them to save one of their most beloved and most popular characters, but this is crucial for Marvel has well because if they don’t finally get it right fans will lose hope in the character. So there is an immense pressure placed on both Marvel and Sony to get the character absolutely right this time around.
Here are some of the reasons why I think they’ve got it right this time:
1. Tom Holland is, as of this moment 19 years old making him and actual teenager who’ll be done filming for Civil War and his first movie before he turns 21 and who’ll probably finish shooting the trilogy at the age Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire started playing the role. This works because Peter Parker as a high schooler has never been done right. This way Peter Parker’s character as a high schooler becomes more developed and believable and Marvel/Sony can take a character that we’ve seen so many times before and make it feel new to us, making us connect with the character feeling his struggles as a teenager and grow and connect more with the character in ways the other movies didn’t allow.
2. He actually looks like a gawky teenager. What makes him the perfect fit for Peter Parker besides his appearance fitting the role is that he has the acting chops to pull off the emotional aspects and situations that Peter Parker has deal with on a day to day basis as an awkward teenager.
Holland’s acting ability shows in “The Impossible” where he established his name in the business and was able to hold his own alongside Ewan McGreggor and Naomi Watts becoming the film’s breakout star. He also gave a great performance in “How I Live Now”. Not to mention he’s going to be alongside Chris Hemsworth in Ron Howard’s in "The Heart of the Sea” and also share the screen with the future Punisher, Jon Bernthal in the movie Pilgrimage. So no doubt he has gravitas in his acting ability to pull off the role.
Ron Howard, a veteran director who has directed 8 Oscar-nominated performances and former child star himself was asked his opinion on Holland being cast as Spider-Man and had this to say: “Tom's young, incredibly agile and fit. He's also very accessible and very relatable. He's one of us and has tremendous skills as an actor. He'll bring humanity and heart and humor and energy." He also praised his work ethic and the experience, and training he gained going back to his time working on the musical Billy Elliot.
When questioned about Holland’s ability to handle a high profile role. Howard remembers his old friend Michael Keaton, and how he was an unpopular pick for the first Batman movie. Howard relates the situation this way. In regards to Keaton: “Fans were up in arms and so forth, and Keaton turned out to be stunning, and people’s favorite of all time. Tom will face some of that, but he’s got a good sense how the film Industry works as a business. He’ll handle the pressure well, and give a good performance.”
3. In addition to having what it takes to pull off Peter Parker he has what it takes to pull off Spider-Man. His father Dominic Holland is a professional comedian and so I’m definitely sure growing up and having exposure to comedy all around him was sure to rub off on him a bit and one of the main things Spider-Man is known for is his quips. Also, Tom Holland has always been a huge Spiderman fan and is able to do a few tricks and stunt work which is a plus.
4. We would not have to suffer through another origin story.
According to
Comicbook, “It will not be an origin story,“ Feige stated. “But, with great power comes great responsibility. It is inherent to who his character is. But we want to reveal it in different ways and spend much more time focusing on this young high school kid in the MCU dealing with his powers.”
5. We’ll be getting Marvel’s version of the ‘classic’ spidey suit.
"We’ve already designed the costume, which is different than any of the ones that have come before," Feige revealed to Crave Online. "And yet ours is classic Spidey, as I think you’ll see.”
6. Spider-Man is already established in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Feige added, "There is a young kid [already] running around New York City in a homemade version of the Spider-Man costume in the MCU, you just don’t know it yet.”
This is great because with the previous movies we had to believe that a high school student could go to school and also save the whole city of New York. Making him an established character that’s already in a universe with so many heroes including Daredevil cleaning the streets means that he doesn’t have to do it alone and could still be a teenager that stops a few thugs and gets home in time to finish his home-work.
Also we are finally getting to see Spidey interacting with the Avengers and other Marvel characters (fingers crossed for Daredevil). Now if you’re a comic reader and have been reading comics for a long time this is a dream come true. What we’ve all been waiting for since the first movie in 2002.
7. Why choosing Jon Watts as the director was a great decision.
Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal were apparently keen on "someone with comedy experience but also with a perspective that would distinguish the new movies from the five already made in the past 13 years.” Marvel's Kevin Feige is said to have handpicked Jon Watts for the director, falling for the filmmaker’s take on the world of Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
The fact that Kevin Feige handpicked this guy to direct the movie says something by itself.
Also Jon Watts isn’t new to comedy as well having ‘The Onion News Network’ on his resume means that he could bring some serious comedy to Spider-Man so that is a plus.
8. Jon Watts being an indie director actually helps.
Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Motion Pictures Group — which will produce (with Marvel) and finance the new Spider-Man franchise — gave Feige his blessing for Watts, who will follow an indie-to-tentpole path paved by previous Marvel helmers like James Gunn, who went from low-budget horror to giant sci-fi franchise with Guardians of the Galaxy.
Some people are criticizing this decision saying that he doesn’t have the experience but if you think about it the less experienced/more indie film directors have done some of the best Marvel films (The Russos with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, James Gunn with Guardians of the Galaxy and even Shane Black with Iron Man 3, Favreau with Iron Man 1 and Whedon with Avengers did have an immense amount of experience as directors. So Marvel’s strategy from day one was always thinking divergently and choosing the route that would often shock people but it was always effective.
Also, Director Jon Watts is said to have the ability to get the best performances out of teenager actors with his film “Cop Car” which earned him outstanding reviews at the Sundance Film Festival.
9. Casting Director, Sarah Finn.
Tom Holland was chosen after seeing more than 1,500 actors, Marvel and Sony, using lead casting director Sarah Finn. This is another important reason why I think that Tom Holland will knock his performance as Spider-Man out of the park. Casting Director, Sarah Finn—who’s cast all the Marvel movies since Iron Man, has a knack for finding the best possible fit for a role and creating stars out of actors. Sarah was responsible for earning Chris Pratt his breakout role which led to him to superstardom with Guardians of the Galaxy.
Gunn credits casting director Sarah Finn with continually pushing him in the direction of Pratt.
“Sarah kept putting Chris’s picture in front of me and saying, “What about this guy? Why don’t you meet with him?” and I was, like, “The chubby guy from `Parks & Recreation’? You’re stupid!”
But Finn persisted. “ I don’t remember ever agreeing to even see Chris, actually,” says Gunn. “I just remember Sarah saying, “Okay, and after this guy, Chris Pratt is here.” And I was a little mad. I didn’t want to see him.
“And then Chris came in and he started to read, and this is 100 percent true, within 20 seconds, I was , like, “Holy s—t, that’s the guy. That’s who we’ve been looking for.
“Sometimes a role and a person are meant for each other and that’s what I felt this was….I thought, `chubby or not, he’s the guy. If he’s chubby, the world is going to have to be ready for the first chubby superhero because he’s still going to be better than all of the other people we [auditioned].”
10. Tom Holland tested with 'Avengers' stars Downey and Chris Evans before landing the lead.
THR reports says that, Robert Downey Jr., whose Iron Man character appears in Civil War and is said to share scenes with Peter Parker/Spider-Man, participated with the actors in the tests, which included former-Sony-chief-turned-producer Amy Pascal and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige. They were looking for chemistry between the boy and the elder Avenger.
After the initial round of tests, producers narrowed the contenders to just two, Holland and Rowe, though Holland was the frontrunner. Unable to decide between them, they asked for a second screen test that occurred the week of June 8. Sources say that Holland was the only actor who tested separately with Downey and Chris Evans, who portrays Captain America. Some sources say Holland emerged as the clear choice during the second test.
11. Marvel is “producing it for Sony” and they will be treating it like they treat all of their films.
Kevin Feige talking with
THR took the opportunity to explain how much Marvel Studios will be involved in the reboot after the new web-slinger debuts in Civil War. "Well, we're producing it for Sony," said Feige. "It's exciting, and we're treating it like we treat all of our films. To try to make the best version now of Spider-Man and a version of Spider-Man that inhabits this universe that we've created. We're in lockstep with [Sony Motion Picture Group chairman] Tom Rothman and [producer] Amy Pascal at every turn." Asked if some MCU characters will show up in the solo movie(s), Kevin Feige, "Specifics of the story aside, the agreement that has been made between Sony and Marvel is that we could do that."
13. He was destined for the role.
12. And also because of these…
Bored
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More fun more fun
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Fun fun fun
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Ninja
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So these are all of the main reasons why I agree with everything Marvel/Sony has done so far. What do you guys think? I think this kid IS Spider-Man!