This article contains some spoilers for SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
Tom Holland
Before swinging into Captain America: Civil War as Spider-Man, Tom Holland impressed viewers by playing Billy Elliot on stage and a teenager surviving a tsunami in J.A. Bayona’s The Impossible. Holland’s natural charm and youthful wit made him a pleasing screen presence. But as Peter Parker graduates high school and moves onto the real world, it’s clear that Holland is ready for more complex and adult roles.
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Jacob Batalon
Before being cast as Peter Parker’s best friend Ned Leeds, Jacob Batalon was an unknown, with his only other film role coming in the low-budget horror movie North Woods. Despite his limited experience, Batalon quickly won over audiences, thanks in part to his easy charm. Outside of MCU movies, Batalon has starred in a range of movies, including a horror movie (Blood Fest), a comedy (Banana Split), and a rom-com (Let it Snow).
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch was a favorite among genre fans long before he donned the Cloak of Levitation to play Doctor Strange in 2016. Most first noted Cumberbatch playing the arrogant but alluring Sherlock Holmes in the 2010 Sherlock series from Doctor Who writers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. However, he brought to the role a long history of stage acting, including a lead role in a Frankenstein production from Trainspotting director Danny Boyle. Simply put, Cumberbatch has proven himself adept in a wide range of roles.
His award-winning turn in The Power of the Dog may be getting most of the attention, but Cumberbatch will soon reprise his superhero role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, opening on May 6. Before that, the star-studded Judd Apatow comedy The Bubble comes to Netflix on April 1, in which Cumberbatch appears beside Karen Gillan and Pedro Pascal. At the moment, Cumberbatch is filming the Roald Dahl adaptation The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar with Wes Anderson.
Andrew Garfield
When Andrew Garfield was announced as the new Peter Parker for 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, fans hoped for the best. The lanky actor not only resembled the character as imagined by co-creator Steve Ditko, but he brought with him a great deal of promise, coming off of striking turns in The Social Network and Never Let Me Go. Even as fans rejected director Marc Webb’s approach to Spider-Man, they also praised Garfield and his co-star Emma Stone as the lone bright spots in The Amazing Spider-Man and its 2014 sequel.
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Tobey Maguire
It’s hard to describe just how exciting it was when Tobey Maguire had been cast as Spider-Man for the 2002 film directed by Sam Raimi. Thanks to Stan Lee’s tireless hustle, a Spider-Man film had been in the works for years, coming closest when James Cameron proposed an R-rated movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio or Chris O’Donnell. Unlike those big-named actors, Maguire has an awkward and unassuming screen presence, exactly what fans wanted for nerdy ol’ Peter Parker.
The Villains
Unsurprisingly, the always busy Willem Dafoe has a full schedule after his return as the Green Goblin. You’ll see him next in The Northman, director Robert Eggers’s eagerly-awaited follow-up to The Lighthouse, and in Poor Things from The Lobster director Yirgos Lanthamos. The run of interesting projects continues for Dafoe with The Legend of Ochi, the first fantasy film from indie distributor A24.
It’s unlikely that any of these projects will do Spider-Man numbers, but hopefully audiences will make time to see the talented cast in other roles.
