‘Spider-Man’ Rumors: Marvel And Sony Close In On Two Young Actors To Play Webslinger

Much has been discussed about Sony’s blunder that was The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Despite doing pretty well at the box office, enthusiasm for the franchise was at an all-time low due to the film’s inherently low quality. It didn’t take long for Sony to jump on the Marvel bandwagon. After now 11 successful films in its Cinematic Universe, Marvel has proven time and again that they know how to treat their properties. So after two films in the Amazing Spider-Man series, Sony opted to reboot the character yet again, this time with a bit of Marvel influence.

There have been a number of questions regarding this new iteration of Spider-Man: How will it integrate with the MCU? How old will Spider-Man be? Who’s going to play him? Little by little, we’ve been getting bits and pieces of information. We know that Spider-Man will be introduced in a Marvel film, followed by a standalone Spider-Man movie. We know they’re going for a teenage Peter Parker (rather than the twenty-something Peter Parkers we’ve been getting).

Those who’ve been following the casting rumors know that around last week, the role was reportedly down to six or so young actors, including Nat Wolff, Asa Butterfield, Tom Holland, Timothee Chalamet, and Liam James (via Latino Review).

Now, thanks to a tweet from Devin Faraci of Badass Digest, we may have a more solid idea of who’s going to play him.

The final two contenders for Spider-Man are Asa Butterfield and Tom Holland, I am hearing. It was down to 2 last week.

— Devin Faraci (@devincf) May 1, 2015

As both of these actors are so young, it makes sense that many wouldn’t have much exposure to their roles. Probably the most recognizable of the two Spider-Man frontrunners is Asa Butterfield. A couple years ago, the young actor impressed audiences with his portrayal of Ender in the science fiction film Ender’s Game. While the film wasn’t quite the success the studio was hoping for, many praised Butterfield for his nuanced depiction of Ender, including IGN, who claimed his performance was “worth the price of admission alone.” Despite his strength as an actor, it’s a wonder if Butterfield will be able to play up the comedic side of Spider-Man, as his performance in Ender’s Game was deadly serious.

The other actor up for Spider-Man is Tom Holland, who’s biggest performance was in the 2012 disaster film The Impossible, which told the tale of a family caught up in the 2004 tsunami that hit Thailand. Like Butterfield, Holland was also widely praised for his work in his respective film, where he was said to have “outstanding gravitas” as Lucas. Needless to say, both Butterfield and Holland have the chops to take on the role of Peter Parker, and it’ll likely come down to whoever’s a more natural fit based on their personal characteristics.

It is important to reiterate that all of this is hearsay, so we won’t know if any of this information is accurate until Sony/Marvel come out and say who they’ve picked.

Who do you want to play Spider-Man? Do either of these two actors fit the bill? Let us know in the comments below!

[Image Credits: Cinechew, Den Of Geek, Collider]