Take this piece of news with a grain of salt, but according to Cinematical, via a site called Bleeding Cool, the role of the next Spider-Man has been offered to Brit actor Jamie Bell by Sony execs and director Marc Webb. Bell has appeared in such films as Billy Eliot, King Kong and Jumper.

If this proves to be true, and folks at Sony told Cinematical they are “officially not commenting” on the story, 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 nerdy outcast type as evidenced by his work in The Chumscrubber and Mister Foe.

Bell, who is 23, also looks younger than his age, so if he is the pick, he could easily pull off a couple installments without looking out of place as young Peter Parker. Anyway, none of this is confirmed, but the fact that Sony isn’t denying it has our collective eyebrows raised.

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.