Marvel's new Spider-Man spends his free time flipping and running up trees

By Charles Pulliam-Moore  |  June 24, 2015 | 4:02pm
Latest

Yesterday, Marvel Studios announced that Tom Holland was set to become its new Spider-Man, likely to make his first appearance in next year’s Captain America: Civil War. Like a lot of people (read: comicbook movie nerds), I was an ardent believer in the idea that maybe, just maybe, Marvel might have been secretly considering casting a brown face as its latest Spidey.

This was despite all of the casting rumors and a rather disappointing leak detailing that Spider-Man is pretty much contractually obligated to be a young white man. Suffice it to say that I wasn’t all that pumped to see Tom Holland on the big screen swinging through NYC fighting crime.

But then I looked up the 19-year-old’s Instagram account. You guys—this kid’s going to make a damned good Spider-Man. Allow me to explain with a set of videos.

As you should all know by now, Spider-Man has a core set of spider-themed abilities that involve feats of strength, ability, and overall acrobacy. This a video Tom Holland posted to his Instagram account. Can we talk about that form?

https://instagram.com/p/4MeUrXMdqo/

Holland’s a trained dancer whom you might have heard about back in 2008 when he starred in a West End production of Billy Elliot the Musical. He was Billy Elliot. What’s he been doing since then? Running up trees:

Flipping and kicking moving objects in mid air:

And occasionally not sticking his landings. Honestly, this happens to Peter Parker from time to time as well, so…A for effort.

We still don’t quite know what Holland will bring to the iconic role, but if artist BossLogic’s mockup of him in the Spider-Man suit is any indication, he’ll fit into Marvel’s Cinematic Universe just fine.

 
Join the discussion...