Marvel will be putting their faith in the final acts of Phase 3 on Anthony and Joe Russo. The sibling directors are returning to direct Captain America: Civil War, and are nearly confirmed to helm The Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel’s two-part of Phase 3. But in the midst of all of this is Spider-Man. Now that Sony is willing to share the character with their rival studio, Marvel can now fully integrate the character into the MCU.

Though final creative control of the webslinger will remain with Sony, Marvel will still have some input, and now it looks like they are finally making the first move to introduce an actor to replace Andrew Garfield. The first actor to audition for the role is Weeds star Mateus Ward.

The news comes from Badass Digest. Earlier press releases stated that the studios were looking to reboot the franchise and focus on the his high school origins and explore “his awkward relationships with other students while fighting crime outside the classroom.” The site says that the studios are looking at 16-year-old Mateus Ward (Weeds) as the possible actor to take the role. Now, while he may be young, he fits the role of a high schooler, and we would be able to watch how that character develops.

According to the rumors, Spider-Man is scheduled to make his MCU debut in a cameo scene during Civil War, which would then lead to his own solo film. Previous reports had Maze Runner actor Dylan O’Brien and Fury‘s Logan Lerman as the frontrunners, but it appears prior commitments and other circumstances didn’t make it so. There were also rumors that reboot could have a non-white Spider-Man.

The studio is being so secretive about the process that they wouldn’t actual reveal where the auditions took place, some speculate that it was held in a house so that no one would leak the info.

What works about this casting is that Ward actually is a teenager, who can keep the look of one well into his twenties. This kind of casting won’t have fans worrying that a 25-year-old is playing a 17-year-old, then wait another three or more years until the sequel happens where the character is still in high school, but the actor is already in his thirties. Instead we would actually see a high school kid, who will be 17 by the time Civil War hits theaters, and be 18 by the time the actual Spider-Man film comes out.

Civil War starts shooting next month, and you can expect many prying eyes trying to get a look at who may be suiting up as the new Spider-Man.

Written and directed by Drew Goddard, the tentatively titled The Spectacular Spider-Man is scheduled to open on July 28, 2017. Captain America: Civil War will be released on May 6, 2016.

[Source: Badass Digest]