'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Adds Comedian Hannibal Buress to MCU Web Slinger Cast

After Tom Holland's smashing début as Spidey in Captain America: Civil War, the stand-alone Sony-Marvel co-production, Spider-Man: Homecoming, has turned into one of the most widely expected superhero films of 2017. In the most recent casting news regarding the upcoming movie, stand-up comedian star Hannibal Buress has joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

According to Variety, Buress is the latest cast member to join Homecoming, the third iteration of Spider-Man in the last 20 years. Like it has happened with the majority of the characters in the upcoming movie, it's unclear what character he'll be playing, but considering the actor's recent success in the world of comedy, it seems likely he'll be a sort of comic relief -- think of Michael Peña's hilariously eloquent Luis in Ant-Man.

Buress hit stardom in late 2014 when a joke he made during a stand-up act regarding the many assault accusations against Bill Cosby, ended up becoming viral. Besides his words sparking new talk and even a trial against the legendary comedian, it was a career turning point for Buress, and he's releasing 10 new films between this year and the next, plus a number of television projects.

So far, Spider-Man: Homecoming has assembled a pretty impressive cast. Besides Holland coming back, Marisa Tomei will also be reprising her Civil War role of (the younger-by-the-movie) Aunt May, with Marvel superstar Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark/Iron Man. Other additions to the cast also include Disney Channel actress Zendaya, Grand Budapest Hotel star Tony Revolori, Community alum Donald Glover, Quarry star Logan Marshall-Green and, even more impressively, Oscar nominee and former Batman Michael Keaton as a yet-unspecified villain.

When Marvel was going through difficult financial times way back in the 90s, the company sold adaptation rights to many of their characters to different studios, which is why these days, the X-Men exist in a different universe than Iron Man and company. It took five Sony Pictures adaptations of Spidey with two different actors playing the role and many years for Marvel Studios to finally reach an agreement regarding Spider-Man, one of the most vital Avengers, so the character would share universes with the rest of the villain-fighting super-crew -- and it became a reality on Civil War.

Spider-Man: Homecoming reaches theaters on July 7, 2017.