You can’t say it isn’t the perfect fit. He has the looks. He has the acting chops. And he loves big action films. Tom Holland would make the perfect “older” Ben 10 in a live-action movie.
There’s one simple truth that no one can deny: superheroes rule the modern box office by a comfortable margin. There’s just no other movie genre that even comes close to the impressive blockbusters that Marvel and DC dole out every year – which is why every studio seems eager to create their own take on the superhero fad.
However, the world of superpowered individuals in pop culture isn’t exclusively inhabited by the likes of Superman or Captain America. For every mainstream supe out there, there are dozens if not hundreds of lesser-known superheroes just waiting for their chance to shine under the spotlight. But what happens when one of those heroes isn’t all that unknown, to begin with?
A few years back, Ben 10 dominated the kid and pre-teen market. Sometime before the cultural avalanche that the Avengers brought to an entire generation, kids were all about Ben and his multiple alien transformations. The show is actually quite enjoyable, featuring some surprisingly serious plotlines for a kids’ show.
The titular Ben turns into any number of alien beings – much more than ten in the later seasons – with a mysterious device known as the Omnitrix, each with its own abilities and personalities. Each episode follows Ben and his sister Gwen as they go out on missions to defeat the incredibly diverse bad guys while also learning valuable lessons about friendship, family, and teamwork.
It sounds just like the action shows that were so popular in the 80s and 90s, and that might be why Ben 10 also had a considerable number of fans outside of its target demographic. All of this leads us to the following question: why isn’t Ben 10 being made into a Hollywood blockbuster?
The show has been brought to live-action before – more than once, as a matter of fact. However, if any new film has any hopes to succeed with younger audiences, it needs, at least, a tangential relation to the superhero Hall of Fame. That’s why we believe that Tom Holland would be the ideal actor to play the titular role in a new live-action Ben 10 project.
It’s not like this is the first time the idea has been pitched to Holland, either. In 2020, a viral Instagram post conceptualized how a live-action Ben 10: Alien Force movie might look like with Tom Holland as the protagonist. The post quickly gained traction on the social network – perhaps a little too much traction for its good, as the post was seen by Holland himself, who shot down any hopes that Ben 10 fans might have had.
“No” was all that the actor commented on the post. Still, there’s no denying that the photomanipulation gave us a glimpse into an amazing concept for a Ben 10 flick – perhaps the only live-action version of the franchise that has any real hopes of succeeding with fans.
Holland, currently playing Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has proven to be immensely skilled at portraying the kind of character that can make us cheer for him regardless of the odds. With his natural charm and charisma, coupled with his onscreen presence and solid acting chops, Holland could easily pull off the role of Ben.
After the explosive success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it would be easy to see why someone like Tom Holland would be the right pick to reinvigorate the Ben 10 franchise and give the hero a proper live-action treatment. The young actor already has a loyal fan base behind him, which means that he won’t struggle to gain the attention of a new generation of Ben 10 aficionados.