We've got some exciting news to report on the Marvel Entertainment/Sony Pictures team-up that is the new Spider-Man. It's looking like teen Disney star Zendaya will be taking a role in the film. But who will she play?
The next Spider-Man film will be released on July 7, 2017 but actor Tom Holland will first debut as the new Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War. A recent report from Deadline says he's got a new co-star in Zendaya.
I”m told that actress-singer Zendaya has landed a key role in the ensemble they are building around Tom Holland, who”ll play Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the film to be directed by Jon Watts (Cop Car). She was among the actresses who”ve quietly been testing for roles, and I hear she will play a character named Michelle. Nobody is providing details on whether this is the romantic lead opposite Peter Parker, but it doesn”t sound like it.
“Michelle” could literally be anyone but it could also be a fake name being given until they're ready to release more info about the film. Previously we've only learned Marisa Tomei will play Aunt May. Zendaya's latest Disney role has her playing K.C. Cooper, “a high school math whiz and karate black-belt who learns that her parents are spies when they recruit her to join them in the secret government agency, The Organization” so I could see her tackling some action in Spider-Man for sure.
My personal hope is she'll play a superhero from Marvel Comics instead of just a regular character as Marvel Entertainment's films desperately need to even the score in that area. It would also be a great move for their diversity overall and hopefully is just a taste of what's to come. The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit had this to add to the film's news:
Sources tell me that Marvel/Sony has been looking to go heavily non-white with the SPIDER-MAN supporting cast.
– Borys Kit (@Borys_Kit) March 7, 2016
Don't forget, back in 2014 there were reports of Sony planning an all-female Spider-based film tentatively titled (*vomit*) Glass Ceiling. There hasn't been word on that for a while so there's no guarantee Marvel would continue with the plan.