Tom Holland is about to return as Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is widely expected to be one of the biggest hit movies of 2026. This could be the start of a brand new series of movies for Holland’s web-slinger, but the actor will retire from playing Peter Parker sooner or later, and then Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios will need to find a replacement.
Holland himself has already weighed in. In an interview on June 16, 2026, Holland said it would be “awesome” if 16-year-old English actor Owen Cooper would step into the role of Spider-Man, calling Cooper “super-talented and the talk of the town right now.”
Cooper is best known for playing disturbed teenager Jamie Miller in Adolescence, which was a huge hit for Netflix when it debuted in 2025. Since then, he’s landed a recurring role on the comedy series Film Club and starred as Young Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, so his career is on the rise. As it happens, Cooper already fielded questions about playing the next Spider-Man before Holland even brought it up.
Netflix
People were already suggesting that Owen Cooper would be a great Spider-Man over a year ago. While promoting Adolescence during a June 2025 interview with Jimmy Fallon, Cooper talked about the possibility.
In, like, 10 years’ time, maybe. But that’s, like, everyone’s dream as a kid… I’ve seen this on TikTok. Everyone thinks I expected to play Spider-Man, but I was like, ‘no, that’s not true.’ It was a dream of mine since I was a kid. So, yeah, I’m not expecting it… I just wanted to be it.
Cooper was just 15 years old when he gave this interview, meaning he could foresee himself swinging through New York City when he’s 25. For the record, Tom Holland was 19 years old when he first appeared as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, and would have been even younger when he was cast.
Assuming there really will be a need to find a new Spider-Man sooner rather than later, perhaps Holland could help get Cooper on board, since the younger actor looks up to Holland. In the Fallon interview, Cooper mentions that Holland’s debut film The Impossible (2012) had a big effect on him when he was younger. “It won’t make me cry now, but when I was a kid, it made me cry every single time. It was the first film that I watched where I thought, ‘oh, that’s such a good film,'” Cooper said. “I just looked at it and thought, ‘I just want to do what [Tom Holland] is doing.'”
For now, Holland’s spot as Spider-Man is secure. Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters on July 30, 2026.
Release Date
July 31, 2026
Runtime
150 Minutes
Director
Destin Daniel Cretton