Just as Marc Webb, Andrew Garfield, Rhys Ifans, Emma Stone and the rest of the cast and crew of the new Spider-Man start doing whatever a spider can in LA this month, the film is in the process of scooping up some extra cast members. Campbell Scott has officially signed on to play Peter Parker’s father, with Annie Parisse, Julianne Nicholson and Slumdog Millionaire’s Irrfran Khan all in negotiations to snag roles.
If she signs, Nicholson will join Scott as Parker’s mother, which would make for a very different type of Spider-story, since Parker is usually just shown as an orphan being raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May (Martin Sheen and, assuming she’s locked in a deal, Sally Field). The characters have cropped up occasionally in the comics, but this will be the first time they’ve been depicted on screen. We wouldn’t hold out much hope for them lasting through the running time, if we were you.
Khan, meanwhile, is looking to sign on as Nels Van Adder, who in the comics is an employee of a pre-Green Goblin Norman Osborn. Thanks to some experimental tinkering, he ends up turning into a red demon-type creature called the Proto-Goblin with handy, near-bulletproof skin. But while the Hollywood Reporter’s story puts him firmly in the villain category alongside Ifans, it remains to be seen if he’ll go full Goblin. But we do know he’ll have a wife, which is the role Parisse is playing.
Webb is about to start calling the shots, so soon enough we’ll have more details to share about the movie’s story. For now, we know it focuses on a slightly younger Parker, a lad in love with Gwen Stacy and dealing with Ifans as Dr Curt Connors, AKA The Lizard…