Casting Couch: Who Will Be The Next Spider-Man?
With Sony and Marvel giving (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb full Spidey sense, just who will he cast to play Peter Parker and his web-slinging alter ego in his 2012 Spider-Man reboot? Unlike picking the protagonist for the Batman (Christian Bale) and Bond (Daniel Craig) reboots, nabbing the new Spider-Man will be more of a challenge. Our staff had an e-mail exchange that covered this very topic, and here’s who we picked for Webb’s short list.
Patrick Fugit, 27
The kid whole stole the show in Almost Famous has been out of the spotlight, but he’d be a great PP. He still looks young and we think he has the range to pull off the entire Spidey spectrum.
Jamie Bell, 23
Jamie Bell is no stranger to huge blockbusters (King Kong), so he wouldn’t be intimidated one bit. He’s also versatile, as his work in both Billy Elliot and The Chumscrubber indicate.
Anton Yelchin, 20
Yelchin has blown up over the course of the past year, due to his sizable roles in Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation. We’re guessing the young thespian also has landed a spot on Webb’s short list.
Luke Grimes, 26
Grimes is not nearly as famous as the aforementioned trio, bu he definitely has some qualities that made him a candidate of interest for our panel. Plus, he’s kind of like a less-vampish Robbert Pattinson. The chicks would dig him.
Emile Hirsch, 24
Here’s another early favorite, due to his work in films like The Girl Next Door, Into the Wild and Milk. Hey, if two-time Best Actor winner Sean Penn signs off on his acting chops, everybody else kind of has to as well.
Chace Crawford, 24
He was tabbed to star in the Footloose remake, but since that isn’t happening his schedule is pretty wide open. The actor once named the “Summer’s Hottest Bachelor” has breakout star written all over him.
Reece Thompson, 21
This is one of our favorites after seeing his work in both Assassination of a High School President and Rocket Science. The young Canadian seems like a perfect candidate to don the red-and-blue spandex.
Lou Taylor Pucci, 24
He’s a major dark horse, but after he got suggested we just couldn’t keep him off this list. Best known for his performance in Thumbsucker.
Daryl Sabara, 17
The youngest of the bunch, we had to add him to the list after seeing his turn in World’s Greatest Dad. Plus, he already has some superhero hype due to his involvement in the Spy Kids series and the upcoming John Carter of Mars.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 28
He’s the oldest actor on this list, but he might be the favorite. After all, given his rise to prominence and history with Webb, he might even be part of why the young director was hired in the first place. We think he looks young enough, especially if you surrounded him with an older cast.
As for Mary Jane Watson, three words:
Evan. Rachel. Wood.
I say Emile Hirsch or JGL
no,no,No,No, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!
Peter Parker is not a teen heartthrob. NONE of these pretty-boys, with possible (and I mean, POSSIBLE) exception of Joseph Gordon-Levitt could possibly “look” like Peter Parker. Spider-Man is CG, so once the mask is on, there’s not an actor in there anyway (except for the voice acting).
Peter Parker has to speak to the nerd in us, especially if Spider-Man 4 is to be a (ugh!) re-boot.
An actor doesn’t come to mind right now, but that person has to look like he’s WAY out of Mary Jane’s league, especially if they’re thinking of Evan Rachel Wood.
For which I approve.
Conor oberst as peter parker & jenny lewis as mary jane
nuff said
come on…dork. conor and jenny? this is too much for words. bright eyes and rilo kiley…this isn’t some douche 1999 indie rock fantasy. grow a pair and get with it. spiderman for sure has been the biggest pussy letdown of any of the comic movies so why make it worse with crybaby wieners who write middle school girl music leading the cast. for shame…
My vote is for Daryl Sabara!
Or maybe an actor who is actually high school age so when you make the 3rd one he doesn’t look like a mopey divorcee pedophile like Tobey did or still does. Also preferable someone that can’t dance so that will never happen again, ever.
Question is why on earth is everyone shooting for over 20 year olds for a character who first gets his powers at 15. Daryl Sabara, 17, doesn’t count, Parker is not a Ginger.
But really if you want to have a focus on a teen drama aspect of a Ultimate Spider-Man focused story give us actual teenagers. They did it for Harry Potter. I don’t want to watch a 90210 equivalent of 30 somethings playing teenagers. As for a Peter Parker between 15 and 17 for a casting age I can’t really think of one off the top of my head.
But for a Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy I shoot out these possible Castings ideas:
Mary Jane Watson – Molly C. Quinn from tv show Castle
Gwen Stacy – AnnaSophia Robb from Bridge to Terabithia
This list is filled with pussys, all those kids are weak
and this article fails to mention why any of em is a good choice.
MOST Asinine list I have ever seen. I agree with Mike, PP is not a heart-throb, but neither is he a total dork. He is just average, and so is MJ. She is supposed to be the girl next door type. Not some beauty queen. This is why I hatted the last boot. Toby McGuire was the worst cast ever, he made PP a whiny little weakling.
And as for the red headed whore you have listed up there, grow a set of balls and get off the bandwagon. She is one of the worst actresses out there. Oh and not a natural red head…cant even pull off the dye job with class. I feel like I should be seeing here on the corner of a seedy Las Vegas street.
Ben Foster and only Ben Foster
MJ should a pertorican chick from NY. This spider-man shit is wack.
I have to say that I agree with quite a few people up here. I think we should start with some no name actors so there aren’t stereotypes and drama associated with them already. And to play a high schooler shouldn’t we set an age limit of oh, say, 25?
Also, as a natural red headed actress (who of course would love to play MJ) I have to agree that a bottled red mane is simply not going to cut it. Kirsten Dunst is great, don’t get me wrong, but with all the red headed talent out there why on earth do we feel obligated to dye a blonde for the part? Gwen will be a blonde, and that’s enough for one movie.
If this reboot is supposed to be so down to earth, gritty, and real then why do we feel the urge to use such fake actors?
I believe that between patrick,anton,jamie,and joseph would play a nice peter parker. ERW is a PERFRECT mary jane. I just hope sony take their choice under deep consideration.
I also agree with Victoria, they should pick some no name actors
New Upcoming actress Lindsey Elise Tewell wants the role of Mary Jane Watson, so please join the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=295691629218 and here’s another link to check out: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2953575/ for her biography, pictures, movie credits, and more info. Trust Me people, look up her YouTube videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/EliseLindsey She’s sweet, totally hot, red-head, looks exactly like MJ from the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, and very passionate about her acting.
only two men can pull this off perfectly one is Chuck Norris the other is Brad Pitt
I will say that the next peter parker will be played by MILO VENTIMIGLIA. think about it, i think he would be a perfect fit. He is known from the role as peter petrelli in tv series heroes. What do u guys think?
Evan Rachel Wood is already playing Mary Jane in the Spider-man musical.
In My Opinon a good actor to play spiderman besides Tobey Maugire Would be Zac Efron And a good actress to play maryjane would be mary Elizabeth Winstead
Im not seeing this movie unless its Reece Thompson!!! Totally won me over in Rocket Science and i wont stand for anyone else!!!
Why not Ashton Kutcher.
Slim, funny. I think he fits the profile for a great peter parker
[...] for the part. I write this after I listed all traditional potential Peter Parkers in my original Casting Couch post. Why? Because what do Webb, Marvel and Sony have to lose by taking a look at going a different and [...]
[...] then we here at FlickSided will look pretty smart. Ya see, back in January we compiled our own list of webslinger candidates and Bell was one of our top choices. He can do action and comedy, and is also adept at playing the [...]
Great list of actors! How long did it take you to make the list?
Edward Speleers could be the good choice, beside Andrew Garfield…