In what will likely be a long string of announcements regarding the cast of the upcoming Spider-Man film reboot, word comes from the Hollywood press that child-star Zendaya has been cast as Michelle in the upcoming film. Disney star Zendaya (one name, like Madonna) landed the role after the studios tested several actresses as they continue to build the supporting cast around Holland’s Peter Parker.

The actress/singer, who currently stars in the Disney series “K.C. Undercover”, will play a character named Michelle according to IMDB (or Michele, depending on who you ask), although it’s not uncommon for alternate names to be used to through fans off the scent and the details of the character are being kept under wraps. It would be hard to imagine Peter Parker without Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane, but maybe Sony/Marvel is trying to avoid rehashing the same thing over again. It sounds like Michelle won’t be a romantic interest for Spidey and may not even be a main character in the series (we have some information about this from a source we can’t report), though that won’t stop the press from running amok with speculation and frenzied hypotheses about who she is.

In an unfortunate bit of other casting news, it’s been confirmed that J.K. Simmons has officially been cast as Commissioner James Gordon in the upcoming “Justice League” movies. While it’s not out of the question that he could still reprise his iconic role as J. Jonah Jameson (as fans have been petitioning for since the reboot was announced) it seems unlikely. Rumor has it that Ice Cube is being tossed around as a potential JJJ. And you know what? After seeing him play the angry Captain in “21 Jump Street”, I wouldn’t discount him.

Tom Holland will make his debut as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in “Captain America: Civil War” when it storms into theaters May 6th (that’s less than two months away!) and will be joined by Zendaya and Marisa Tomei (as Aunt May and is rumored to appear in “Civil War” as well) when the new Spider-Man movie drops on July 7th, 2017. More news on casting to come!