Spider-Man Reboot Will Likely Include a New Origin Story

Big things are coming up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe very soon! Avengers: The Age of Ultron is coming out in a few weeks, and although he won’t be appearing with the Avengers this time around, the word is out that Spider-Man will be teaming up to take out some baddies in the third movie. Unlike what was promised, though, this Spider-Man will definitely be a teenage Peter Parker again. But who will play him?

We do not know exactly who the folks behind this movie are looking for, but many fans will be upset to know that it is not Donald Glover, as previously rumored once again. Word around town is that British actor Freddie Highmore, known for his ultra creepy but brilliant mama’s boy role as Norman Bates on “Bates Motel”, is in the running, so it’ll probably be somebody like him. I say "somebody like" because the casting notice is apparently calling for a younger actor, around the ages of 14-16. (Highmore is 23.)

What that means by making Peter Parker so young again is that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is disavowing the rumor that the reboot will not include another Spider-Man origin story. Considering we’ve seen it twice already, it is kind of a bummer. We all know his and Batman’s origin story at this point, and Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice is looking like it’ll jetison Batman’s origin story since the new Bruce Wayne is played by a 42-year-old Ben Affleck.

Maybe the whole reason they’re backtracking to the beginning is because they have something else planned. Recently, Ironman himself, Robert Downey Jr., spoke out about the new Spider-Man and had this to say: "However we spin it, we're going to try and defy the expectation of what it would mean. That's been the directive from jump. But I think that a great job has been done with Spider-Man so far. And I think that the direction that Spider-Man is going to take is exactly what the fans would be delighted to see." What’s this big thing that they have set up for Spider-Man? Well, assuming that Spider-Man will get himself another reboot movie, this time around called The Spectacular Spider-Man, then the real surprise could be for the long awaited Marvel: Civil War movie, based on the popular Marvel comic book arc.

In Civil War, all of the Marvel superheroes are required to register their identities with the U.S. Government. This act causes a rift between the superheroes, with some happy to expose their identities and others that are not at all cool with it. On one side you have Captain America leading the charge against this act, and on the other side is Iron Man, who is all for it, which, as far as the movies go, was set up perfectly at the end of Iron Man way back in 2008. Spider-Man plays a pivotal role in this arc by first siding with Iron Man and then realizing Captain America was right all along. Where are all the supervillains through out all of this? Some are hired by the government to hunt down the superheroes looking to skip out on their registration.

This sounds like some pretty intense stuff, and if it’s done with a teenage Peter Parker at the center of it all, then it could prove to be very interesting to see the youngest person having possibly the biggest impact.

What do YOU guys think of a Spider-Man origin story reboot?

(Photo via Patrick Hoffmann/WENN)

- Kevin Donaldson, YH Staff