Tom Holland wants ‘Adolescence’ star Owen Cooper to play Spider-Man after he steps down
"He’s super-talented and the talk of the town right now”
by Victoria Luxford · NMETom Holland has named Adolescence award-winner Owen Cooper as his ideal successor for the role of Spider-Man.
The actor was speaking ahead of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, his fourth solo outing as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and seventh appearance overall as the character (including cameos). He is the longest serving actor in the role, both in terms of years and movie appearances, and in a new interview he was asked who he thought would be the best actor to step into the suit after he leaves.
“Owen Cooper would be awesome,” he told Esquire. “Obviously he’s super-talented and the talk of the town right now.”
Sixteen-year-old Cooper exploded onto the scene with his debut role as troubled teenager Jamie Miller in Netflix smash hit Adolescence. He won an Emmy for the performance, and has made high profile appearances in this year’s Wuthering Heights, playing a young version of Jacob Elordi’s character, as well as appearing in the TV series Film Club.
His next role will be 2027 historical drama Cry To Heaven, directed by Tom Ford.
Elsewhere in the interview, Holland reflected on coming back to his most famous role. “At the end of the last one, I’d finished my contract that I signed as an 18-year-old,” he said. “I have been very open that I was on the fence about making this fourth instalment.”
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He has since decided to move ahead with a fourth film, and admitted that a 2021 interview where he was quoted as saying he shouldn’t play Spider-Man past 30 (his age now) was “really stupid,” adding: “I don’t even really know what that means.”
As well as Brand New Day, Holland will be seen in cinemas as part of one of the biggest movies of the year, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. The film’s marketing department recently unveiled the tie-in popcorn bucket for the movie, shaped like the fabled Trojan Horse.