Well, Spidey fans finally got the official announcement of who will be taking over the role of Peter Parker in Sony’s Spider-Man reboot – Andrew Garfield.
I, like most fans probably, had the reaction of a question mark over my head, a perplexed look and muttering, “Who?”
After a quick Google search on this guy I have to say I don’t know anything about him at all. Apparently the one film he’s appeared in that I’m most familiar with is The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and I never even saw it.
So basically he’s going to be an unknown to most moviegoers. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing though. It could help Spidey fans accept him as Peter in the film much easier than if he was better known and bringing more baggage to the part. This could be a positive thing.
Christopher Reeve was barely known when he stepped into the role of Superman and we all know how he did.
As for acting, like I said I don’t know anything about him so I don’t have any thoughts about it. I would hope the filmmakers wouldn’t have cast him if they didn’t think he could pull it off. The director Marc Webb commented, “Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor’s work understand his extraordinary talents. He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker.”
We’ll get an early glance at his acting chops this fall when Garfield appears in David Fincher’s latest film The Social Network.
The one thing that surprises me about this announcement is that I would have predicted a younger actor would have been cast. This reboot is supposed to explore Spidey’s early years, i.e. High school. Garfield is 27, the same age as Tobey Maguire was when he was cast.
Halfway through the first film Tobey had already graduated high school, so I’m wondering how long Garfield can look convincing as a teenager. These films take a long time to make, so unless he maintains a youngish look, walking the cafeteria line might get to be too big of a stretch to accept before too long. Let’s wait and see.
The Spider-Man Reboot, that will be in 3-D (no big surprise there, practically every film now uses that as an additional selling point) is set for release in 2012.
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