Highlights
- Tom Holland calls Adolescence star Owen Cooper “super-talented” and his pick for the next Spider-Man.
- Cooper, 16, previously told Jimmy Fallon that playing Spider-Man would be his “dream role.”
- Holland wants to mentor whoever takes over, much like Robert Downey Jr. did for him.
Tom Holland is already thinking about who should wear the red-and-blue suit next, and he’s got a very specific name in mind.
The Spider-Man: Brand New Day star sat down with Esquire ahead of the film’s July 31 release and didn’t hold back when asked who should eventually take over the iconic Marvel role. His answer: 16-year-old British actor Owen Cooper, the breakout star of Netflix’s Adolescence.
“Owen Cooper would be awesome,” Holland told the outlet. “Obviously, he’s super-talented and the talk of the town right now.”
Cooper exploded onto Hollywood’s radar earlier this year when he played teenage murder suspect Jamie Miller in the Netflix limited series, earning widespread critical praise and an Emmy win in the process.
Holland’s endorsement isn’t just a casual compliment. The 30-year-old said he’d love to stay involved in the franchise as a producer and serve as a mentor to whoever steps into the suit next. “In the way that Robert Downey was such a mentor for me in my first three movies, I would love to be that person for whoever is next,” he said.
The feeling, it turns out, is mutual. Cooper himself told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that Spider-Man would be a “dream role” for him down the line. “In like 10 years’ time, maybe. But that’s, like, everyone’s dream as a kid,” the teen said.
There’s no indication Cooper is in talks for the role, and Holland isn’t a decision-maker on who follows him. But coming from the actor who has defined the role for nearly a decade, the endorsement carries serious weight.
Holland also used the Esquire sit-down to officially confirm, after months of speculation, that he married Zendaya in a private ceremony.
As for his own Spider-Man timeline, Holland recently told GQ, “I think the point of it is that I would love to pass the baton on, and I haven’t achieved that yet. It’s definitely something that we talk about a lot at the studio. So maybe I need to change the quote to 37.”
For now, the web is still very much Holland’s. But if he gets his way, Owen Cooper may be the next one slinging it.
