Whilst Avengers: Age of Ultron has been stealing the limelight this week, from posters to a new trailer, there seems to be something we have all forgotten; Robert Downey Jr revealed that tomorrow will hold a huge announcement from Marvel. If I had to take an educated guess, since he has to make an appearance in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, I’m willing to be that we’re on the cusp of learning who will be playing Spider-Man when he returns to Marvel and heads into the MCU.
There have been a fair few rumours floating around as to who will be involved in the new version of the wall-crawling hero, but there are three things we all want to know: Who’s playing Peter, who’s directing the standalone Spidey film in 2017 and which story will they be adapting?
Today, we’ll run through a few possibilities.
Today, we’ll run through a few possibilities.
Who Could Be Spidey?
Logan Lerman
Image Credit: independent.co.uk
This name has been bandied about since we heard about the MCU-based reboot. I’d say that this is a pretty safe bet. Whilst I still can’t separate him from the painfully average percy Jackson movies, lerman has proved he has the acting chops to take on Peter Parker. In Fury, released last year, he managed to hold his own against Brad Pitt. That alone is an achievement. He has also impressed in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but he’s yet to have an utter stand-out moment. Give him the Spider Suit and we’ll see if he’s capable.
Dylan O'Brien
Image Credit: neogaf.com
This one could prove to be true, as rumour are that Marvel opted for this young man to take up the mantle of Peter Parker. Similarly to Lerman, O’Brien has yet to have a defining moment in film, coming the closest to it in The Maze Runner, which is itself quite average. Still, he does have potential and we certainly won’t rule him out.
Dom Fera
Image Credit: twitter.com
Talk about an outsiders choice, and this will probably never happen, but my God, this kid is born to be Spider-Man. Fera is an outspoken fan of Spidey and has shown a growing and developing acting range over the past few years on his YouTube channel. After the MCU announcement, Fera made this fan video and showed he more than has the chops to take up Peter Parker's name and do this role justice. The video did go viral for a few days, but it’s unknown if it got into Marvel’s hands, but I’d love for this to happen.
Who Could Direct?
Drew Goddard
Image Credit: collider.com
Here’s your bookies favourite; it’s Whedon alum Drew Goddard. Goddard already has a hand in the MCU, being one of the writers on Daredevil, so it wouldn’t be impossible to get him onto Team Spidey. His excellent film The Cabin In The Woods shows that he has knack for otherworldly cynicsm and that he has the correct level of artistic flair to pull of the colourful world of Spidey. As a motion picture director, he stiull has a lot to prove, even after Cabin, but much like the proposed main star, it could be his proving grounds. Stranger things have happened, that’s for sure.
Sam Raimi
Image Credit: moviepilot.com
Here’s how Marvel could make a statement: In the old Spider-Man trilogy, the first two movies rock and the third one was ruined by Sony. In the Amazing movies, both of the films are pretty bad due to a design by jury problem which can be drawn back to meddling by Sony in Marc Webb’s vision for that version of Spidey. If Marvel gave the reigns back to Sam Raimi, it could result in a really fun movie. He’s shown he can handle the character and concepts well, the colourful campy style fits amazingly well in the current climate. It’s unlikely, but it’s clear Raimi had a talent for classic superhero flicks.
Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Image Credit: thefilmstage.com
Another outsiders choice, but imagine if the people who made The Lego Movie and the new Jump Street movies were given the keys to Spider-man. With a knack for well developed action scenes, fantastic comedic writing, likable and relatable leads and an experience working with fantastical and strange elements in the plot and characters, the duo seem an almost perfect fit for Peter's strange new world. The pair were supposedly already approached to make a Marvel animated movie, but I’d like to see them take on Spider-Man full time. I reckon they’d come up with an excellent vision for our Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man.
What Story Should They Adapt?
Kraven's Last Hunt
Image Credit: marvel.wikia.com
Kraven The Hunter is awesome. Having no superpowers isn’t a problem for him, he’s still badass. In this story, Kraven seemingly kills off Spidey, steals his costume and sets out to prove that Spider-Man would be better off as a cold hearted killer. As it turns out, this would be Kraven’s last attempt to best Spidey before having up his fur coat. Imagine our new Spidey having serious problems dealing with Kraven, leading to problems with his application to join The Avengers. It would work great for a Spider-Man who’s just finding his feet and give us an opportunity to see Kraven finally brought to life on the big screen.
The Gauntlet
Image Credit: wikipedia.org
This one could really work out for Sony and Marvel and would require the least amount of original thought. In this story, several of Spidey’s nemesises(?) make their grand reappearances in an un-coordinated attempt to overwhelm the wall-crawler with their sheer numbers. You could either play this as an origin for the Sinister Six, or as a way to establish several main players of the Spideyverse in the MCU. This gives marvel the perfect way to revamp Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Electro, Lizard and Sandman, as well as possibly introducing Mysterio, Kraven, Vulture and Chameleon to movie audiences. It’s the perfect test for our new web-slinger.
'The Audition' (Spidey Vs Iron Man)
Image Credit: moviepilot.com
This isn't a comic arc, but it is an idea that's been doing the rounds in the rumour mill that is entertainment news. The rumour doing the rounds at the moment is that Iron Man will play a part in the new Spidey’s story. Whether or not this rumour holds any truth is yet to be seen, but it could make for an interesting story in parallel to Iron Man’s rise to fame. We could see a cool mirror story to Iron Man getting rejected for the Avengers Initiative whilst saving the world with Spidey’s rebooted outing; falling short of passing the test to join The Avengers, whilst still proving he has the power to save the day. Rumours are reporting that Spidey will actually end up fighting Tony Stark, but I’m happier to wager that should this rumour hold any truth, we’re likely to see Spidey choose Stark’s side in Civil War and win some training and guidance from Iron Man in his run up to becoming an Avenger.
Robert Downey Jr’s big announcement lands tomorrow, Avengers: Age of Ultron lands on April 23rd, Captain America: Civil War will land on 6th May 2016 and Spider-Man will arrive on 28th July 2017.
Robert Downey Jr’s big announcement lands tomorrow, Avengers: Age of Ultron lands on April 23rd, Captain America: Civil War will land on 6th May 2016 and Spider-Man will arrive on 28th July 2017.
By Mike Owen
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of all three of our current podcasts, he is responsible for logo, art design and site design, and does a good deal of writing across the spectrum.
@ThatMikeOwen
The Editor in Chief of Foul Entertainment, Mike edits most of what you see on the site. He runs the production of all three of our current podcasts, he is responsible for logo, art design and site design, and does a good deal of writing across the spectrum.