Latino-Review, which has broken a lot of big casting news over the years, is reporting Asa Butterfield has been cast as the new Spider-Man. While this hasn’t been officially confirmed, Butterfield has been rumored as one of two finalists for the role, and Kellvin Chavez says he’s been sitting on the news for a week. Here’s more from the report:
This just in: it looks like Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment have found their new shared Spider-Man.
We’ve been sitting on this information since Friday but can confirm now, that his reps and Marvel are under negotiations. Its all about formalities now and then an official announcement from Marvel will follow shortly.
This would be a very solid move by Marvel. Because of the deal between Sony and Disney, this incarnation of Spider-Man will appear with The Avengers and in his own solo Sony film. While I’d much rather a Peter Parker-less Spidey, with the Miles Morales “Ultimate Spider-Man” version of the character donning the outfit, if Marvel goes this route, the studio has picked one hell of an actor. He was my personal choice out of the shortlist of actors that recently made its rounds through the media.
Butterfield first captured my attention in Martin Scorsese’s passion project Hugo. He showed a surprising amount of sensitivity and promise, playing a character who was alone after his parents had passed on. His performance was lauded by critics and the film was nominated for Best Picture at the 2012 Oscars.
He followed that performance by playing the titular character in Ender’s Game, directed by Gavin Hood, opposite Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis and Harrison Ford. The film was based on the science fiction classic of the same name by Orson Scott Card. While the movie received lukewarm reviews, Butterfield perfectly captured the character, bringing Ender Wiggins to life as an underdog more powerful than he could ever imagine — even if he was much older than his book counterpart.
Even if Butterfield doesn’t end up landing the role of Spider-Man, he’s got a bright future ahead of him.
Casting Spider-Man isn’t the only thing Marvel and Sony have to worry about, as a director still needs to be chosen for the film. Deadline reported the list of candidates includes Jonathan Levine (50/50), Ted Melfi (St. Vincent), Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect), the duo of John Francis Daley & Jonathan M. Goldstein (Vacation) and Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite).
All of these filmmakers are up-and-comers who have backgrounds in comedy, which suggests that Marvel wants this version of Spidey to have more of a lighter tone. That notion would perfectly fit right in with the Avengers universe. Let’s not forget a bevy of the studio’s “Phase Two” directors have backgrounds in comedy, including Jon Favreau (Elf), James Gunn (Super), Anthony and Joe Russo (You, Me and Dupree), and Peyton Reed (Yes, Man).
Based on the movies these directors have made, my choice would be Levine. He’s an extremely talented filmmaker. His first three features as a director were The Wackness, 50/50 and Warm Bodies. Each of those films still hold up. With 50/50, he took a movie about a very serious subject — cancer — and made it funny and heartwarming. That’s not easy to do. For Warm Bodies, he managed to take a genre (zombies) that was beginning to get tired, and sort of reinvented the wheel, telling a funny, charming story from the monster’s perspective. There’s nothing Levine has done that throws up any red flags for me.
Jason Moore made an absolutely hilarious movie with Pitch Perfect, and I’m sure he’d be just fine for the role. He’s got some comic chops, and hasn’t made a wrong move. Although I wonder what would happen to the live-action Archie movie he’s supposed to direct, should he sign on with Spider-Man.
I’m very familiar with Daley and Goldstein as writers. They’ve written some solid comedies, including both Horrible Bosses films and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. The duo also has the reboot/sequel of Vacation coming out this summer, which means Spider-Man wouldn’t be their directorial debut. But I’m still hesitant to give them a franchise this big.
I can’t say I’m a fan of Jared Hess’s work, but he’s a creative guy and Marvel has proven me wrong before with their choice of directors. I just find his movies to be too dry, although the upcoming Masterminds trailer was solid.
As for Ted Melfi, I haven’t seen St. Vincent, although it’s received some great reviews.
There’s a lot of pressure for Marvel and Sony to get Spider-Man right. While I liked Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, and thought they were excellent as Spider-Man, I didn’t feel like they nailed the Peter Parker from the comic book. It’s of the utmost importance to hire an actor who looks younger and can help bring the right balance of humor and teen angst to the character, even if it’s not Asa Butterfield.
Hiring the right director isn’t as important to me. They need to nail this character. It will be Spider-Man’s third live-action movie series since 2002. I have to think it would be catastrophic if Marvel and Sony messed this up.
No matter what happens, I’m just excited to see Peter Parker join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even if it’s just in small doses. He’s a vital part of comic book history. It’s time to see the web slinger kick some ass with The Avengers. Nerdgasm engaged.
