Marvel Officially Casts New Spider-Man Actor

There's big news today for Spider-Man fans, as Marvel and Sony officially announced the next actor to take up the mantle of the web-slinging superhero...and the next director to helm his film.

The announcement from Marvel revealed that British actor Tom Holland will be the next Spider-Man. Holland is most likely unknown to American audiences, so it's clear that Marvel doesn't consider it necessary to put a big name in Spidey's shoes: Holland is best known for appearing in the historical PBS mini-series "Wolf Hall," and also had an off-screen role in the Tom Hardy thriller "Locke."

The casting also proves that Marvel wasn't kidding when they said they wanted to go young with their next Spidey: Holland is currently just 19 years old, making him the youngest actor to play Spider-Man on the big screen thus far (and the second Brit after Andrew Garfield).

Marvel also announced the director for the upcoming Spider-Man film in the same press release. Jon Watts will helm the film, and in keeping with the casting choice, Watts is relatively new to the game as well. Watts' only major feature film directing credits include the relatively small films "Cop Car" with Kevin Bacon and the Eli Roth horror flick "Clown."

This Spider-Man project is set to hit theaters in July of 2017, and depending on Sony and Marvel's deal, we might see Spidey in other upcoming Marvel films as well.