Ever since Sony announced that it was scrapping plans for **Spider-Man 4 **and instead pushing forward with a rebooted franchise that took Peter Parker back to high school and his early days as a superhero, it was only a matter of time before the names began flying about who might be pulling on the stretchy Spider-costume. Now the Heat Vision Blog has the names of a few actors who have been taking meetings, including Jamie Bell, Andrew Garfield and Josh Hutcherson.
With (500) Days Of Summer’s Marc Webb preparing to direct the movie and regular Spider-writer Alvin Sargent giving the script a spit-and-polish job, it makes sense that the filmmakers would be narrowing the list of who could play Peter Parker. Percy Jackson’s Logan Lerman has already cropped up as a possibility, though A) he’s never been officially confirmed as in talks and B) he’s just snagged one of the main roles in Paul WS Anderson’s Three Musketeers.
So right now, the focus is on those actors who have met with Webb and co, with King Kong’s Jamie Bell as probably the biggest name on the list and the one boasting the most experienced CV. But there’s also Josh Hutcherson, who has been building an impressive body of work in the likes of Zathura and Bridge To Terabithia, and comes equipped with 3D chops having shot Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. The sequel to which, by the way, might keep him from working on **Spider-Man **even if he reaches the final stages.
Then there’s Garfield, who last appeared in The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus and has an upcoming role in** The Social Network**. He may, however, be a little old for the part at 27. The others are slightly less well known, which might help their favour if Webb’s looking to crack some new talent and focus on the character – Frank Dillane, who played Tom Riddle in Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince and Alden Ehrenreich, who appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro after being discovered by no less a Hollywood giant than Steven Spielberg.
Bear in mind here that none of the actors have reached screen test stage yet, and that the blog reports that the studio and Webb are still very much on the hunt for a new Parker. And Sony’s refusing to confirm anything, which is par for the course in this leaky age of casting and other rumours. Plus, they’ve got time – the film is planned to shoot by the end of the year and Sargent is still hard at work on the screenplay.
So who would you choose? One of this lot? Or do you have someone else in mind?