Watch: Andrew Garfield is introduced as the new 'Spider-Man'

After six months of speculation, Avi Arad, Laura Ziskin and director Marc Webb introduced the new Peter Parker in front of an audience of international press in Cancun, Mexico on Thursday night.  26-year-old Andrew Garfield, best known for his roles in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" and "Boy A," will take over for Tobey Maguire who left the franchise after the departure of original series director Sam Raimi.  The series will effectively be re-booted with the upcoming film.

According to Ziskin, Garfield only found out he'd won the role 30 minutes before they announced their long awaited decision.  Garfield was already in town promoting his role in the upcoming David Fincher drama "The Social Network."

Garfield is the second major Brit to play an American superhero after Christian Bale took over the role of Batman in Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins." He beat out a slew of other contenders including Josh Hutcherson, Aaron Johnson and Lloyd Lerman for the part.  Besides "Network," Garfield will be seen opposite Keira Knightly and Carey Mulligan in the new Sci-Fi drama "Never Let Me Go" this October.

To watch Garfield's nervous introduction, check out the video embedded above.

Production on "Spider-Man" is expected to begin sometime this summer.