Re: Spider-Man: The Reboot!
'Spider-Man' Casting Down To 5 Actors?
Posted 5/26/10 11:10 pm ET by
Brian Warmoth in
Marvel,
News
Marc Webb's "Spider-Man" movie may have a
writer in Alvin Sargent, but he and Columbia Pictures still haven't settled on their lead actor to portray Peter Parker. If an anonymous source speaking to
The Hollywood Reporter's
Heat Vision blog speaks the truth, Jamie Bell, Alden Ehrenreich, Frank Dillane, Andrew Garfield and Josh Hutcherson are the final five actors in line for the part.
Hutcherson has been mentioned as a candidate before, but a few names among his competition come as surprises. Garfield in particular would have to play down from his age significantly to attend high school as Peter Parker, considering he clocks in at 27 years old. Hutcherson rounds off the lower end of the age spectrum in the bunch at 17 going on 18.
Part of Mark Bagley's charm as an artist in "Ultimate Spider-Man" was rendering a Peter Parker who looked far younger than comics readers had previously seen. His visuals and writer Brian Michael Bendis' impassioned snark set the tone for the massively successful series, which Webb claims as a favorite, and if Columbia wants to replicate that appeal on a worldwide theatrical scale, they'll need to cast an anti-Tobey Maguire who makes filmgoers feel the shift back to Parker's youth.
Hutcherson and Dillane are the two of these five most likely to inspire such a reaction, but Hollywood notoriously likes to cast older when they populate high schools. Personally, I'm hoping they stick with what worked in the comics, and keep this film as true to Bendis' take as the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire years were to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
Josh Hutcherson
Frank Dillane
Alden Ehrenreich
Jamie Bell: At 24-years-old, Bell is in the upper age range of the five contenders, a possible strike against him as producers have stated their intention to bring Parker back to high school for
Marc Webb's reboot. Working in Bell's favor is his experience with blockbuster features including
Peter Jackson's "King Kong" and the lead role in Jackson and
Steven Spielberg's "
The Adventures of Tintin." If Jackson and Spielberg see greatness in Bell, perhaps Sony does, too.
Alden Ehrenreich: Another actor who was allegedly "discovered" by Steven Spielberg, Ehrenreich has appeared on television shows such as "Supernatural and "CSI" and will star opposite Vincent Gallo in Francis Ford Coppola's "Tetro," but his credits remain relatively few. Perhaps his anonymity is a good thing, allowing audiences to focus on the man under the mask as opposed to the man
playing the man under the mask.
Frank Dillane: The 19-year-old Dillane delivered one of the creepiest kid performances in recent cinema as a young Tom Riddle — aka He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named — in last year's "
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." While Dillane did a tremendous job in his brief moments of screen time, his role was the polar opposite of what one would hope for out of Spider-Man: creepy, cold, repelling. If he can overcome those qualities and deliver a hilarious, warm and inviting Parker, he could be a great fit for the role.
Andrew Garfield: Although "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" will go down in history as
Heath Ledger's final performance, enough can't be said for Garfield's terrific performance as circus traveler Anton. Truly, he deserves a major role ala "Spider-Man" to boost his status in the mainstream eye. But at 27-years-old, is Garfield too old for a high school character? If Sony is willing to go that high, they might as well pony up and lock in the 29-year-old
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a fan-favorite pick for the part.
Josh Hutcherson: The only candidate on this list that has already been mentioned as
a "Spider-Man" contender, Hutcherson is the youngest possible Parker and therefore the closest fit to the character's high school age. With plenty of high octane features under his belt including "Zathura" and "Red Dawn," Hutcherson has plenty of experience when it comes to big budget franchises. Considering the angle that Sony is reportedly going for, it's hard to find flaws in Hutcherson's prospects as the new Spider-Man.
