After an exhaustive search to find the perfect young actor to play Peter Parker/Spiderman in the 347th reboot of the franchise, Sony Pictures has landed on relatively unknown British teen Tom Holland. Tom is best known for playing Billy in the West End production of Billy Elliot (“GO BILLAYYYYY!”) and for the BBC Two series Wolf Hall (see pic below). Oh yeah, he was also one of the kids in that Naomi Watts/Ewan McGregor tsunami movie, The Impossible. And one of the voices that Tom Hardy talked to in that movie where he was in the car on his cell phone the whole time. Locke. But, yeah, that’s about it.

Said Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman (via Deadline):

“It’s a big day here at Sony. The Marvel process is very thorough, and that’s why their results are so outstanding. I’m confident Spider-Man will be no exception. I’ve worked with a number of up-and-coming directors who have gone on to be superstars, and for Spidey himself, we saw many terrific young actors, but Tom’s screen tests were special. All in all, we are off to a roaring start… We love finding new and exciting voices to bring these characters to life.

“Sony, Marvel, Kevin and I all knew that for Peter Parker, we had to find a vibrant, talented young actor capable of embodying one of the most well-known characters in the world,” added Amy Pascal in a statement: “With Tom, we’ve found the perfect actor to bring Spider-Man’s story into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

Tom beat out every young hunk in Hollywood, including my favorites Dylan O’Brien and Charlie Rowe, as well as likeable every-teen Nat Wolff,  broody outsider Liam James, and that creepy (and possibly encephalitic) Asa Butterfield.