CAST THIS: Spider-Man!

Sony stunned the entertainment world yesterday when amidst rumors of delays and disagreements concerning SPIDER-MAN 4 they announced they were now planning to not only scrap the Raimi/Maguire project, but actually reboot it from scratch with a completely new director and cast. This is a move so drastic, it’s caused me to move up my Cast This column a whole TWO DAYS. That’s big folks.

I was on the fence about a fourth SPIDER-MAN to begin with, but my head is still spinning trying to comprehend this decision. The original film came out a mere seven years ago, which would make this the unofficial record for “fastest reboot ever,” and I liken it to someone rebooting THE MATRIX or LORD OF THE RINGS. Maybe in thirty years when you’ve run out of ideas, but seven? Are superhero movies really that much of a cash cow that studios are now reducing their turnover time to almost laughable proportions? It would appear the answer is yes, and now, we have a new SPIDER-MAN to cast.

Sony has stated that they want to bring the series back to its “roots,” i.e. what’s usually the best part of any superhero movie, the origin story. They want a teenage Peter Parker coming to grips with newfound powers, which despite all that happening seven years ago in the first movie, their logic is presumably that technology has evolved to a point where they can now capture high school awkwardness on film with detail never previously thought possible.

I’ve zero idea as to just how they’re planning on differentiating this from the first movie, and “villain issues” of the fourth film aside (Raimi wanted Vulture, the studio didn’t), they should remember they DO in fact need a villain for this reboot as well. But we’ll talk about that another day, right now we’re looking for a brand new, high school-aged Peter Parker. Previous suggestions like Jake Gyllenhaal are likely out due to the age restrictions, (though maybe if he lost 85lbs of muscle he’s put on during PRINCE OF PERSIA) so now we need someone quite young, or at least someone who can pass for an awkward teen. And I’m about to open the floor up to you, but first, another hero…

Last Week: HAWKEYE

As evidenced by last week’s column, we are getting a bit low on superheroes to cast these days, hence the aforementioned ridiculous reboot we’ve just finished discussing. But Hawkeye is an Avenger, and we will see him onscreen some day. The results?

1. Jeremy Renner (15%) 2. Aaron Eckhart (12%) 3. Michael Fassbender (9%)

I wasn’t terribly surprised that Jeremy Renner remained your guys’ number one choice for the role of Hawkeye, even though he denied such rumors last week. I still see him as Captain America though, no matter how much no one seems to be considering that these days.

Eckhart certainly has the superhero chin, but I’m more intrigued by your selection of Michael Fassbender, as someone said he had a “old timey swashbuckling look” that could fit the character. I would definitely agree with that, but now that you mention it, I could probably see him better as Green Arrow.

Alright, enough with the minor heroes, time to get to a major one. Shout out those SPIDER-MAN suggestions!