C. Thomas Howell to Appear in “Spider-Man” Reboot

C. Thomas Howell to Appear in “Spider-Man” Reboot

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Joe Oliveto

Although there’s always reason to be skeptical when a major studio decides to reboot a successful franchise as quickly as Sony is with “Spider-Man,” we must admit that there is also good reason to be hopeful for this latest stab at the character. The director, Marc Webb, has only made one feature, “500 Days of Summer,” but that was a dynamic and emotional film, and it indicates that the studio isn’t just trying to make this into a cheap action picture.

James Vanderbilt has written the screenplay, and with a credit like “Zodiac” to his name, we’re happy that the studio seems to have found someone with talent for the job.

Then, there’s the cast. The immensely talented Andrew Garfield may actually be too old to play a teenage Peter Parker, but he really doesn’t look that old, and that’s all that matters. Emma Stone, who comes across as a smart young woman who doesn’t need to rely on her beauty to get a movie role, has been cast as Gwen Stacy, and we hear that Sally Field and Martin Sheen will be stepping into the roles of Aunt May and Uncle Ben, respectively.

Well, according to Entertainment Weekly, we can add yet another name to that impressive cast. C. Thomas Howell, who hasn’t been very active in the motion picture arena lately but is still remembered for his roles in such films as “The Outsiders” and “Red Dawn,” has been signed on to play a character named Ray. It’s not yet clear exactly how this character fits into the story—is he a hero, villain, friend?—but either way, we’ll be happy to see Howell returning to the screen.

The reboot has been filming for a few weeks now and although the kind of post-production that goes into a film like this will keep it from getting released any time in the immediate future, we have to say, this is looking ok by our standards.