It’s closing in on six months since Sony took the decision to scrap Sam Raimi’s proposed fourth “Spider-Man” movie, reboot the franchise in a more teen-friendly manner, and gave “(500) Days Of Summer” helmer Marc Webb the director’s chair. Ever since, every actor in Hollywood under the age of thirty seems to have been linked to the central role, and several, including Logan Lerman (“Percy Jackson and the Olympians”), Jamie Bell (“Billy Elliot”) and Josh Hutcherson (“The Kids Are All Right”), have been reported by various sources as being close to landing it.
But it seems that the Peter Parker saga isn’t quite wrapped up as Mike Fleming at Deadline reported over the weekend that Sony executives gathered together on Friday to look over the screen tests of the final contenders. Fleming reports that that Bell and Lerman were among those whose tests were viewed, alongside Anton Yelchin (“Star Trek”), Aaron Johnson (“Kick-Ass”), Andrew Garfield (“Red Riding”) and Alden Ehrenreich (“Tetro”), all names who’ve appeared in various casting stories over the past few months. Fleming also mentions Frank Dillane (“Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”), who apparently has asked to be removed from the running so he can go to drama school, and Michael Angarano (“Snow Angels”), a new name to the list, but one we suggested months ago.
Interestingly, there’s no mention of Hutcherson, who only a few weeks ago was said to be close to landing the role. However, it should also be noted that Fleming says that it’s possible that more candidates will be seen soon, and Ain’t It Cool have cast some doubt on the report. Could Donald Glover be about to sweep in and take the role?… (Clue: no.)
Of all the candidates, we reckon that Bell, Lerman, Ehrenreich and Angarano are the most likely to land it; Yelchin, as we’ve said along, is likely to have a scheduling conflict with “Star Trek 2,” while Johnson is hotly-tipped to reunite with Matthew Vaughn on “X-Men: First Class”. Having played an essentially identical role in “Kick-Ass,” we’d be very surprised if he wanted to go back to that well (though another franchise paycheck could easily change his mind). Garfield meanwhile is also linked to roles in “X-Men” and Bryan Singer’s “Jack the Giant Killer,” and we hear that he’s Sam Mendes’ top choice to join Carey Mulligan in “On Chesil Beach.”
But really, at this point, it doesn’t seem like anyone really knows what’s going on, but at least there’s the hint of the light at the end of the tunnel; Fleming indicates that Sony are keen for a decision to be made soon, so other actors can be cast around him (Michael Fassbender was linked to the villain role, which may or may not be The Lizard, but jumped ship to play Magneto in “X-Men: First Class”), in order to make the start date of the end of this year and presumably so they can make a big, splashy announcement at Comic Con. We’re at least glad that Angarano’s name is in the mix now; he’s been our pick for a while.