Sony and Marvel’s deal will give the character of Spider-Man a fresh start, and with that in mind Sony has begun the search for a younger actor to portray the character.
Andrew Garfield, who is now 31 years old, was 28 years old when he began playing the role of Spidey in the two films of the Spider-Man reboot series. Garfield took over for Tobey Maguire, who was 26 years old when he started the role and also 31 years old when he finished.
Sony intends to send Peter Parker back to high school, and not as a senior soon to graduate. They want audiences to serve as witness to his awkward teen years as a student at Mid-Town High School, with more of a focus on his relationships with his fellow classmates. The story lines will likely feature Peter trying to balance school, his home life, and his new life as the heroic web-slinger.
While Sony will likely have many young actors to choose from, Dylan O’Brien and Logan Lerman may be the initial front-runners. Both actors have something of an action pedigree, with Lerman starring in the Percy Jackson films and O’Brien in The Maze Runner movies. Each actor is only 23 years old and they still have very boyish and somewhat “baby-faced” appearances that will make it easier to believe they are still high school aged.
Of course there is no guarantee that Sony won’t decide to go with the Miles Morales story arc. Miles Morales is a teenager of black and Hispanic heritage, who gained his powers from a different sort of genetically engineered spider than the one that bit Peter Parker. He possesses similar powers to the ones Parker had, but he also has camouflaging ability and the power of an electrical “venom strike”.
Whomever Sony seeks to cast in the role, they had better make the choice soon. Especially since Marvel gets first crack at the new incarnation of Spider-Man, as his debut appearance will be in Captain America: Civil War.
Captain America: Civil War is currently in pre-production with a release date of May 4th 2016, and Sony’s Spider-Man stand alone reboot is set to be released on July 28th of 2017.