'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Cast Adds Kenneth Choi to Tom Holland/Robert Downey Jr. Blockbuster
In a new move of Marvel hiring actors they've worked with before, next year's Sony/Disney co-production Spider-Man: Homecoming has added a cast member with an MCU connection: Kenneth Choi, who played Jim Morita in Captain America: The First Avenger. This time around, the actor will be joining Tom Holland as the web slinger and Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man.
According to Deadline, Choi is currently in talks to return to the MCU in a role different to the one he played on the first Captain America film; in fact, he might be playing the principal of Peter Parker's high school.
This isn't the first time that an actor who's played a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe plays another one in a different property. Enver Gjokaj, for example, played a police officer in the 2012 box office smash The Avengers, later going on to play Daniel Sousa in the canceled ABC show Agent Carter; and most recently Alfre Woodard played a grieving mother on this summer's Captain America: Civil War, and she's also set to play villain Black Mariah in this year's Netflix series Luke Cage.
Spider-Man: Homecoming will see Holland reprising his role as Peter Parker after débuting in the MCU on this year's Captain America: Civil War. Oscar-winning actress Marisa Tomei will also come back to the MCU for the film, reprising her role of Aunt May, with Marvel headliner Downey Jr. playing his iconic Tony Stark role.
Other actors attached to the film so far include singer/actress Zendaya in the mysterious role of "Michelle," Tony Revolori, Laura Harrier and Michael Barbieri. Academy Award nominee and former Bruce Wayne Michael Keaton is also rumored to be circling a role in the film as a still-unspecified Marvel villain, which would mark his grand return to the world of superhero adaptations after Batman and the critically acclaimed spoof of the genre Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).
Bringing Spider-Man to the MCU was a process that took years to accomplish, as Sony Pictures owns the film rights to the character as well as others associated with it. In the early months of 2015, however, it was revealed Marvel and Sony had finally reached a deal to share the character for Civil War and future films, a deal later further cemented by having Downey, arguably the most familiar face of the MCU, joining the stand-alone Spidey film.
Spider-Man: Homecoming will reach theaters in the U.S. on July 7, 2017.