Who Is Tom Holland? 7 Things To Know About Marvel's Spider-Man Actor

Tom Holland is the latest actor to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’ll be Spider-Man, a.k.a. Peter Parker, Marvel and Sony announced on Tuesday.

“Sony, Marvel, Kevin [Feige] and I all knew that for Peter Parker, we had to find a vibrant, talented young actor capable of embodying one of the most well-known characters in the world,” producer Amy Pascal said in a statement. “With Tom, we’ve found the perfect actor to bring Spider-Man’s story into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

Spider-Man’s previous incarnations (with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield) were helmed by Sony Pictures, but this time Sony is working with Marvel Studios on the action film. When the collaboration was announced earlier this year, it was revealed that the web-slinger will appear in an unnamed Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film (widely speculated to be “Captain America: Civil War”) as well as his own film, due out in July 2017.

While audiences are very familiar with Spider-Man (it’s Sony’s most successful franchise), Holland’s name might be unfamiliar to some. There are few things audiences might want to know about the new Spidey:

1. He Had Serious Competition – Fans had been speculating about who would play Peter Parker for months. Along with Holland’s name, actors like Nat Wolff, Logan Lerman, Asa Butterfield and several others were also reportedly up for the role. “For Spidey himself, we saw many terrific young actors, but Tom's screen tests were special,” Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group Chairmen, said in a statement.

2. He’s British – Like Garfield, Holland is a Brit. He was born and raised in England. He’ll have to perfect his American accent for this role.

3. Serious Resume – Though Spider-Man tends to be snarky and fun, Holland has worked on a lot of dramas. He also has worked with some great dramatic actors. He was in “The Impossible” with Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor and “Wolf Hall” with esteemed theater actor Mark Rylance. He also recently completed “In the Heart of the Sea” with Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth.

4. Training – If working alongside great actors isn’t impressive enough, Holland also went to school specifically for acting. He studied theatre and media. “I go to The Brit School, which is where Adele, Amy Winehouse, and Jessie J went,” he told Teen Vogue in 2012. He graduated in 2014.

5. Youngest Spider-Man – At 19, Holland is the youngest actor to play Spidey on the big screen. Maguire was 27 when he debuted in the role while Garfield was 29.

6. He Has Moves – It doesn’t look like this guy will have a problem moving in the red and blue suit. Holland played the title role in “Billy Elliot the Musical” on the West End. It’s a story of a dancer, so Holland is trained in the art. He also displayed his acrobatic abilities on Instagram over the weekend. The actor posted several videos of himself doing flips.

7. He Loves Social Media – Holland is very active on Instagram and Twitter. Followers will find that he posts about his dog, Tessa, quite a bit. Fans can also look at his Twitter page and see that impending fame wasn’t about to keep him from being normal. The Brit was actually preparing to give his pet a bath just hours before Marvel announced him as the new Spider-Man.

The new “Spider-Man” film will be released in theaters on July 28, 2017. Do you think Tom Holland is a good choice? Sound off in the comments section below!