With the Spider-Man franchise going into reboot mode following the departure of Sam Raimi and the hiring of Marc Webb as director, the talk turned to who would slip into Tobey Maguire’s Spider-suit to play Peter Parker. It looks like they’ve locked on a likely candidate – Logan Lerman.
Last seen in Percy Jackson And The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, the 18-year-old actor has, according to HitFix’s sources, beaten out other possible Parkers including Anthon Yelchin, Jesse Eisenberg and the one name everyone brought up once Webb got the job, **(500) Days Of Summer’**s Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Lerman is a much more age-appropriate choice, given that this new take on the Spidey story will take Peter Parker back to high school to explore more of his tentative early steps – and swings – in the world of fighting the girl and trying to win the heart of his dream evil. Or... something like that.
It’s believed that Lerman hasn’t entered into a deal yet, so this could change – but he’s definitely a solid candidate. The film itself starts shooting later this year to hit a planned 2012 release date.
UPDATE 12/04: Sony is now denying the rumour about Lerman's casting, according to Deadline New York. Though the company would naturally be expected to clamp down on any news until the official announcement, it's not like anything has happened with Spider-Man that Sony has denied in the past. Oh, hang on...