Tom Holland is weighing in on who should play Spider-Man next.
After previously hinting at plans to pass the iconic superhero franchise to a worthy successor, the 30-year-old actor told Esquire in an interview published Tuesday that he has another baby-faced Brit in mind to take over the beloved character of Peter Parker.
“Owen Cooper would be awesome,” he said of the 16-year-old star of Netflix’s hit miniseries Adolescence. “Obviously he’s super-talented and the talk of the town right now.”
Cooper has skyrocketed to fame following his breakout role in the Emmy-winning drama, in which he played Jamie Miller, a troubled teen who stabbed his female classmate to death.
His performance made him the youngest ever actor to win both the BAFTA Television Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe in the same category.
Although he threw Cooper’s name out, there has been no confirmation that Holland — who has played Parker since 2016’s Captain America: Civil War — plans to hang up his Spider-Man mask anytime soon ahead of the release of the franchise’s fourth installment, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Holland, who also confirmed in the Esquire interview that he has officially married his Spider-Man franchise co-star and longtime girlfriend Zendaya, has previously said that he plans to quit acting when he starts a family.
He has also spoken several times about his plans to stay involved in the Marvel films after his tenure is finished.
“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 told Esquire.
In April, he said about the future transition: “For whoever’s next, whether that is a Miles Morales or a Spider-Gwen or a Spider-Woman or something like that, I would love to be a part of setting up the next chapter. Whatever that looks like, I don’t know. But if I could do what [Robert Downey Jr.] did for me, then I would be so content swinging off into the sunset.”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which Holland has previously described as “the most emotional Spider-Man movie yet,” is in theaters July 31. Also starring Zendaya, Jacob Batalon and franchise newcomer Sadie Sink, Brand New Day is set five years after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which ended with Parker living in a universe where his loved ones do not remember him.
