"Kick-Ass" star Aaron Johnson and franchise fixture Anton Yelchin are the latest young actors rumored to be on Sony’s short-list to play Peter Parker in Marc Webb’s "Spider-Man" reboot, according to the L.A. Times.
The role doesn’t seeem to make much sense for Johnson, who already explored the superhero genre to tremendous effect in Matthew Vaughn’s "Kick-Ass." Not to mention that his English accent could be heard several times in "Kick-Ass," which would be even more distracting in a Spidey movie.
Yelchin, on the other hand, would be a smart choice, even if he’s threatening to appear in too many franchises these days (both "Star Trek" and "Terminator Salvation" debuted the same month last year).
Their competition, so far seems to be: Jamie Bell ("Billy Elliot"), Josh Hutcherson ("Journey to the Center of the Earth"), Andrew Garfield ("Lions for Lambs"), Alden Ehrenreich ("Tetro") and Frank Dillane ("Harry Potter").
Webb is expected to start screen-testing soon — and he certainly seems to have the right eye. He nailed the casting of his last movie, "500 Days of Summer," from stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel to supporting actors Chloe Moretz, Geoffrey Arend, Matthew Gray Gubler, Clark Gregg and Ian Reed Kesler.
Yelchin next stars in Jodie Foster’s "The Beaver," DreamWorks’ remake of "Fright Night" and a segment of the omnibus film "Untitled Comedy" with his "Beaver" co-star Jennifer Lawrence. He also voices Clumsy Smurf in the upcoming "Smurfs" movie, and will reprise his role as Chekov in J.J. Abrams’ "Star Trek" sequel.
Johnson next plays a young John Lennon in the Weinstein Co.’s "Nowhere Boy," directed by Sam Taylor Wood, who recently got engaged to her leading man. The couple are expecting a baby despite a 24-year age difference. Johnson has also been rumored to be re-teaming with Vaughn for "X-Men: First Class," which still hasn’t cast the role of young Magneto.
