Fancast: The Spectacular Spider-Man

You may notice in the title that I put an emphasis on "man". That's because this cast focuses on an adult Spider-Man, rather than a teenager. He's been portrayed as a teenager a billion and one times and frankly, I'm sick of it. An adult Spidey would be a refreshing change.

Anyway, my choice of director would be have to be Josh Trank, who directed Chronicle, and was rumored to direct the Fantastic Four reboot or the Venom spin-off before signing on to do an adaption of the comic series Red Star. The guy is a very talented young director and I consider him to be the antithesis of Michael Bay (he focuses on plot and character development while Bay completely ignores it).



Here's my cast, I hope you enjoy it:

Heroes:

Elijah Wood (the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Everything is Illuminated) as Peter Parker/Spiderman: A socially awkward and shy teenager who was bitten by a genetically altered spider, giving him arachnaid-like abilities. At first, he used his abilities for wealth and fame, but after the death of his beloved Uncle Ben, he decided to use his abilities to fight crime. Peter's abilities include wall-crawling, enhanced strength, and a clairvoyant "Spider-Sense". He also uses a pair of web-shooters that fires artificial webbing, which he developed from his father's research on adhesives.



Reason for Casting: I wanted to go with an original pick for Spidey, and I decided on Wood. Although many of you won't be fond of it, I think my pick's a hell of a lot better than Zac Efron or Shia Labeouf (two of the worst Spiderman picks I've ever seen). Wood's a talented and versatile actor, who plays usually likable characters and brings a lot of heart to his roles. He should be given a chance to play Spidey.

Glen Close (Fatal Attraction,Damages) as May Parker: Peter's aunt, who raise him with her husband Ben after Peter's parents died. She is nurturing and supportive of her nephew, and is unaware that he is Spiderman.



Reason for Casting: I think May is best portrayed as a strong woman whose a bit fiesty. The talented Glenn Close could bring this to the table.

Michael Douglas (Wall Street, Wonder Boys) as Ben Parker: Peter's uncle and surrogate father, whom he loved very much. After Ben died at the hands of a cat-burglar, Peter, feeling morally responsible for his death, realized that with great power also comes great responsibility. From that day on, Peter devoted himself to fighting crime as Spiderman.



Reason for Casting: Douglas is a talented and very accomplished actor. Even though this is a small but important role, I think he would excel here.

Amanda Seyfried (Chloe, Letters to Juliet) as Gwen Stacy: The daughter of Police Captain George Stacy and one of Peter's first loves. Gwen was killed at the hands of the Green Goblin, and Peter blames himself for her death.



Reason for Casting: Amanda is a talented and beautiful young actress. She has a sweet and warm personality that would fit with Gwen. A lot of people have casted her as Black Cat because of her role in Chloe, but I've never really seen her in the role because she's too innocent looking and her breasts aren't large enough (something that RoadDogXXIV stresses when casting female roles).

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Passions, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) as Mary Jane Watson: Peter's second love interest after Gwen. Mary Jane was free spirited and somewhat superficial, but became more serious after gwen's death. She later dated Peter and the two got married.



Reason for Casting: MEW has always been the popular pick for Mary Jane. I think she could work out as an adult MJ. She has the looks and talent for the role.

Ian Solmerhalder (Lost, The Vampire Diaries) as Harry Osborn: The neglected son of industrialist Norman Osbourne and Peter's best friend, who he met in College.



Reason for Casting: Solmerhalder has the talent to portray Harry as both Peter's best friend and go down darker routes such as his drug addiction days,

Hugh Laurie (A Bit of Fry & Laurie, House) as J. Jonah Jameson: The publisher of The Daily Bugle, who has a hatred of vigilantes, especially Spider-Man. He uses the Bugle to discredit the wallcrawler, unaware that his employee Peter Parker is Spiderman.



Reason for Casting: I know that this is an overused pick, but I have to admit that Laurie would be awesome as Jameson. He already plays the grouchy, dislikable boss on House.

Harry Lennix (The Five Heartbeats, Dollhouse) as Joseph "Robbie" Robertson: The editor of The Daily Bugle, serves as Jonah's voice of reason. He is more supportive of the Daily Bugle staff than the brash Jameson.



Reason for Casting: I've only seen Lennix's work on Dollhouse, and from what I've seen on there, I think he'd make a good Robbie.

Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, Batman: Year One) as Felicia Hardy/Black Cat: The daughter of a world renowned cat burglar, who decided to follow in her father's footsteps but later became a hero. Black Cat is trained in various fighting styles and acrobatics, and posses a superhuman sense of smell and night vision.



Reason for Casting: I wanted to be original with my Black Cat pick, so I excluded obvious choices (e.g. Elisha Cuthbert, Yvonne Strahovski, Amber Heard). I almost went with RoadDogXVII's pick of Jamie King, but I would be a dick if I stole his pick before he was able to post it in a fan cast. I decided on Dushku because she's sexy, an awesome actress, and could easily kick your ass. Just dye her hair and she's a purr-fect fit (pardon the bad pun).

Villains:

Sean Penn (Mystic River, The Assassination of Richard Nixon) as Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin: The head of Oscorp, and the neglectful father of Harry, who took a serum that increased his physical abilities and intellect, but drove him to insanity. This led to Osborn to terrorize New York as the Green Goblin. Osborn uses a bat-shaped "Goblin Glider" and an arsenal of deadly weapons, including his "Pumpkin Bomb" grenades.



Reason for Casting: I decided to go with an original pick for Norman Osborn, because Jason isaacs has become quite overused (even though he's a great pick). Anyway, Sean's a terrific actor who has the talent to play the cold and amoral Osborn and the manic and insane Goblin. Plus, I think his voice is perfect for Norman. If you're still not convinced, check out these two clips from The Casulties of War:





Adrien Brody (The Pianist, Midnight in Paris) as Doctor Curt Connors/The Lizard: A gifted surgeon who studied the reptile's ability to regenerate limbs in an attempt to regrow his amputated arm. Connors developed a serum made from reptilian DNA. The results were successful. However, it had the side effects of turning him into a savage, humanoid lizard. As The Lizard, Connors has superhuman strength, speed, and agility, telepathic control over other reptiles, razor sharp claws, and a tail that can shatter concrete.



Reason for Casting: I wanted to have a slightly younger Connors that's more relatable to Peter. Anyway, Brody is a great actor that I can see pulling off Curt. Plus he already played a similar role in Splice.

Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Bastards, Water for Elephants) as Doctor Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus: A brilliant nuclear physicist who used four mechanic arms to help him with his work. In a freak accident, the arms were permanently fused to his spine and he could now mentally control them. The deranged and megalomaniacal scientist took up the name of Doctor Octopus and embarked on a criminal career.



Reason for Casting: I mainly chose Waltz because I was going with the 90's take on Ock, who had a German-esque accent. Besides that, he can play highly intelligent and charismatic characters with ease. If he just put on some weight, he'd be perfect for Ock.

Holt McCallany (Lights Out, The Losers) as Flint Marko/The Sandman: A petty criminal who gained the ability to turn himself into sand after stepping onto a nuclear testing site on a beach. Sandman can shapeshift his body, mold his arms into weapons, and absorb more sand into his body.



Reason for Casting: Holt's a pretty good actor that O think can do both the in-depth Sandman that Thomas Haden Church gave us and the simple thug Sandman.

David Tennant (Doctor Who, Fright Night) as Quentin Beck/Mysterio: A stage magician who used his expertise in illusions to become a Supervillain. Mysterio's suit has nozzles that release a constant stream of smoke, and is capable of projecting holograms.



Reason for Casting: RoadDogXVII says that he wants to see Tennant in a whimsical role, and I think Mysterio is just the role for him. He's done a wide range of roles, from comedy to Shakespeare, and I think he has the right screen presence for Mysterio.

Vladmir Mashkov (Behind Enemy Lines, Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol) as Dmitri Smerdyakov/The Chameleon: A master of disguise and half brother to Sergei Kravinoff (A.K.A. Kraven the Hunter). Dmitri's skin pigmentation and epidermis have been atlterd by a serum that allows him to take the appearance of any person at will. He also uses a memory cloth that allows him to change the appearance of his clothes. He is also a brilliant method actor and impressionist.



Reason for Casting: I first noticed Vladmir in Behind Enemy Lines, where he played a Serbian sniper named Sahsa. He was pretty intense and a bit scary in that, and I decided that he would make a brilliant Chameleon.

Henry Rollins (Bad Boys ll, Sons of Anarchy) as Herman Schultz/The Shocker): A former safe cracker who used his inventive genius to create a pair of sonic gauntlets. The Shocker's gauntlets fire concentrated blasts of air, and his suit protects him from the gauntlet's poweful feedback and physical attacks. Unlike most of Spiderman's rogue gallery, The SHocker is more professional and rational in his line of work.



Reason for Casting: I know what you're all thinking: WTF are you doing casting a singer/writer/spoken word artist? But Rollins is pretty good on Sons of Anarchy and is growing as an actor. He's great at playing tough guy roles and the Shocker is one of the few roles I can see him doing.

Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, The Last House on the Left) as Maxwell Dillon/Electro: An electrical repairman who was caught up in a freak lightning accident. The result made him into a living electrical capacitor. Dillon could now generate massive qualities of electricity and fire electric blasts.



Reason for casting: I've only seen Paul's work on Breaking Bad. However, judging from that, I'd think he'd make a good Electro (or the Electro seen in New Avengers). As for the look of Electro, I'd like him to have a costume similar to the one seen on The Spectacular Spiderman.

Nathan Jones (The Condemned, Conan the Barbarian) as Aleksei Sytsevich/The Rhino: A Rusian immigrant who particapted in an experiment that bonded a super strong, thick polymer hide to his skin, similar to a Rhinoceroses'
hide (hence his alias). The suit augmented his strength and speed, and had a razor sharp horn attached to its head.



Reason for Casting: The role of the Rhino doesn't require somebody with extraordinary acting skills, just somebody who's highly physical. Jone's standing at 6' 11", is tall and powerful enough to play the Rhino.

Scott Adkins (Undisputed ll: Last Man Standing, Hulby City) as Sergei Kravinoff/Kraven the Hunter: A maniacal big game gunter from Russia who wishes to hunt and defeat Spiderman to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. Kraven posses superhuman, strength, speed, agility, and durability, along with enhanced senses. He disdains guns or bows, prefering to hunt his game with his bare hands.



Reason for Casting: Before you all go off pissing on me for casting a martial artist, I have to say that Adkins is not too bad of an actor. He's gave good performances in Assassination Games and EastEnders. He's even had experience at playing Russians, playing Yuri Boyka in Undisputed ll: Last Man Standing (which was pretty good for a direct to DVD release). And his martial arts skills would make some pretty sick action sequences.

Terry O'Quinn (Lost, Hawaii Five-0) as Adrian Toomes/The Vulture: An inventor who invented a flight harness based on a pair of bird's wings. When he found out that his business partner had been embezzling funds from him, Toomes swore revenge. He donned the harness and became the criminal known as The Vulture.



Reason for Casting: O'Quinn is a pretty talented actor and was great at playing a villain in the last season of Lost. I'd pick him any day over the very obvious John Malkovich or Ben Kingsley.

Dominic Purcell (Prison Break, Blood Creek) as Mac Gargan/The Scorpion: A private investigator who become the subject of a barely tested experiment that gave him the useful characteristics of a Scorpion (the predator of a spider). The test was sucessful, but drove him insane. As the Scorpion, Gargan posses superhuman attributes and a pincer-like grip. Gargan wears a battlesuit made of steel-mesh, which possessed a cyberneticly controlled seven foot tail.



Reason for asting, A popular choice for Venom in the past, I think Purcell would be better suited as the Scorpion. He can easily play the savage and brutal side of Gargan. Also, for those wanting Purcell for Venom, he can technically play Venom since Gargan would later be host for the symbiote.

Sam Witwer (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Being Human) as Eddie Brock: A journalist who exposed the identity of a serial killer only for Spiderman to catch the real killer. His life now ruined, Brock blamed Spiderman for his misfortunes. Eddie then was bonded with the alien symbiote that was once bonded with Spiderman. Both sharing a hatred for the webslinger, Brock was granted powers equal and greater to those of Spiderman, along with his secret identity, calling himself Venom, Brock now vowed to destroy both Peter Parker and Spiderman.



Reason for Casting: To everybody saying Witwer [frick]ed up Doomsday on Smallsville, it was the idiot writers that did that, not Witwer. Anyway, Witwer's a great actor who's great at playing intense characters. It was mainly a combination of him in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Dexter that convinced me to cast him.

Elias Koteas (Let Me In, Combat Hospital) as Professor Miles Warren/The Jackal: Peter and Gwen's biology teacher at Empire State University, who was secretly in love with Gwen. Gwen's death drove Warren into insanity. Blaming Spider-Man for her death, he fashioned the alter-ego of The Jackal, began to physically train himself, and atempted to make clones of both Gwen and Peter.



Reason for Casting: Koteas is a fantastic and underrated actor who could easily make a fantastic Miles Warren, especially after seeing him in Crash.

Matthew Lillard (Scream, The Descendants) as Cletus Kassidy/ Carnage: A psychopath, sadist, and serial killer who was Eddie Brock's cell mate at Ryker's Island. When the symbiote once again found Brock and bonded with him, it produced an "offspring" that entered Kassidy's blood stream and bonded with him, becoming Carnage. Cletus posses the same abilities as Spiderman and Venom, but posses a healing factor and the ability to shapeshift his arms into axes or knives.



Reason for Casting: Even though I agree that Robert Knepper would be cool as Carange, he's getting too old for Carnage and his a bit too short for the role at 5' 9". Lillard is tall enough at 6' 3" and can play a scary psychopath as seen in Scream. Here's a clip from Scream that'll prove my point:



Anyway, please leave your thoughts and comments below. I hope you have enjoyed this cast. Also, rude or negative comments will be deleted.