So that didn't take long. With reports surfacing today that Marvel and Sony Pictures are targeting a younger actor for their rebooted Spider-Man franchise (rebooted before the last one was finished!!), a pair of names have surfaced for the role, including one who was close to nabbing it before.
According to a report at Variety, two of the actors in the mix to play Spider-Man are Logan Lerman, last seen in Fury opposite Brad Pitt; and The Maze Runner's Dylan O'Brien. Lerman had tested for the role some years ago only to lose out to Andrew Garfield, and Sony could still have their eye on him. Plus he's eight years younger than Garfield and comes with name recognition and franchise experience as star of the Percy Jackson movies. O'Brien may be the hotter of the two right now, though, and is the same age as Lerman. Nobody has been approached yet and the priority is to find a director first before casting a star. They'll need to do it quick in order to have the character ready in time for 2016's Captain America: Civil War. Part of that will be deciding whether to go with Peter Parker or Ultimate Spider-Man's Miles Morales, who is a black Latino and obviously not going to be played by O'Brien or Lerman.
And while it may be annoying to think that a younger Spider-Man would be heading right back to school again, the report says this time could be a little different. The plan is to spend more time at Midtown High School to "explore his awkward relationship with other students while fighting crime out of the classroom." While the idea of a crime-fighting high school student isn't exactly novel, it would still be the first such superhero for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
