A report from Heroic Hollywood reveals that Sony and Marvel Studios may have officially cast 14-year old actor Michael Barbieri in the upcoming "Spider-Man: Homecoming" film. It is further revealed that Barbieri will be playing a brand-new character unseen in previous films and will be Peter Parker aka Spider-Man's (Tom Holland) best friend.
Comic Book also reveals that Barbieri's character is going to be based on Ganke, a character from the "Ultimate Spider-Man" comic books. Ganke, in the comic books, is a friend to Miles Morales, the Latino-African American teenager that became Spider-Man when Peter Parker allegedly died in the hands of the Green Goblin.
If the rumors prove true then it is possible that Marvel Studios is teasing a future appearance of Miles Morales. Morales is said to be the main protagonist of the upcoming animated "Spider-Man" movie and having Ganke in the live-action films may indicate that Morales exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Cinema Blend reports that giving Morales's best friend to Peter Parker may be a strange decision but it will help differentiate this version of Spider-Man from all previous iterations, where Peter Parker's friend was Harry Osborn. Harry was played by James Franco in the Sam Raimi films and portrayed by Dane DeHaan in the Marc Webb films.
As of the time of writing, Barbieri is currently filming scenes for "The Dark Tower," the film adaptation of the popular horror-fantasy books by Stephen King. The film is also being produced by Sony Pictures.
"Spider-Man: Homecoming" will see the return of Tom Holland as Spider-Man, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May and Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. Joining the cast are Zendaya, Tony Revolori, Laura Harrier and Michael Keaton, who is rumored to play the villain Vulture although this has yet to be confirmed.
"Spider-Man: Homecoming" premieres in theaters on July 7, 2017.
