British teen nets super role as Spider-Man

LOS ANGELES - Months of speculation ended Tuesday as British actor Tom Holland scored a coveted Hollywood superhero franchise, and will be spinning webs on Andrew Garfield's heels.

Sony Pictures and Marvel, apparently keen to get back to Spidey's schoolboy beginnings in the comic's tradition, picked the up-and-coming boyish 19-year-old who starred in "The Impossible" to play Peter Parker.

"We saw many terrific young actors, but Tom's screen tests were special. All in all, we are off to a roaring start," said Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group.

Holland's first Spider-Man film, as yet untitled, will be released in 2017. He follows British-American Garfield and American Tobey Maguire.

Jon Watts will be directing.