Spider-Man Reboot Movie Casting and Educated Guesses at Plot Points

Beware of a few spoilers that may or may not be featured in the 2012 Spider-Man reboot.

As casting reports continue to be made about Marc Webb’s new Spider-Man film, you get the sense of departure from what has come before it. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Campbell Scott (above, The Spanish Prisoner) has been signed to play Peter Parker’s father Richard, while Julianne Nicholson (Kinsey) is said to be in talks to play Peter’s mother Mary. While the two enjoyed a ridiculous storyline during the 90’s (we learned they we’re S.H.I.E.L.D. agents), I would guess their parts will remain fairly dramatic in the reboot.

Here’s my worthless guess at a plot point. Richard Parker was a scientist in the Ultimate Spider-Man universe and I suspect that he will be the inventor of the formula that Peter uses for his web-shooters. I have my doubts that Webb is going to re-use the idea of organic web-shooters (from the Sam Raimi films) and it’s a bit difficult to buy that a teenager (no matter how brilliant) is going to invent them on his own.

The Hollywood Reporter also announced that Irrfan Khan (left, Slumdog Millionaire) would be playing a villain whose proper name is Van Atter. Splash Page ran a story about a very rare character from the 90’s named Van Adder who was one of the initial test subjects for the serum that turns Norman Osborn into the Green Goblin. The serum turnes Van Adder into a monster.

A second worthless guess at a plot point, and this one is somewhere in the realm of implausible. What if there is no character named Van Atter in the film and Khan is actually going to play Norman Osborn. The basis of this unlikely ruse is that Norman turns into a more monstrous Green Goblin in the first arc of Ultimate Spider-Man and doesn’t strike until the second arc of the book. Webb has previously mentioned inspiration for his take on Spider-Man has come from the Brian Michael Bendis-penned series.

Lastly, Emma Stone (below) is looking quite a lot like her on-screen persona Gwen Stacy these days. MTV snapped a picture of her at The Trevor Project's "Trevor LIVE" show.