The new Spider-Man’s cast count is about to go up by one, it would seem, as Denis Leary is now negotiating to take the role of police captain George Stacy, better known as the father of Emma Stone’s Gwen.
Given his gruff, sarcastic and occasionally violent attitude to men who approach his TV daughters on Rescue Me, we’re betting Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker will be glad he has Spidey strength and the ability to scuttle away up walls.
And in one run of the comics, of course, (spoiler alert in case this carries over into the new film) George comes to a rather sticky end thanks to falling debris caused by a battle between Spider-Man and Doc Ock. While the good (bad?) Doctor won’t be cropping up this time, and no one outside of the production knows what plot elements Marc Webb's film will use, it’s possible that Captain Stacy could still meet his end, resulting in a split between Gwen and Spidey. Tch… Girls, eh? One little super heroic incident in which their father is tragically killed and they’re all, “I need some space to think about our relationship! Boo hoo!”
Either way, it’ll be good to see Leary back on the big screen – his cinematic career has been somewhat mixed, but he could bring some real spark to the new Spider-outing.
Leary will join a cast that already includes Garfield, Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen and Sally Field for a shoot scheduled to kick off next month.