Big news in the world of Spider-Man movies today. Martin Sheen will be back for round two. Yes, you heard that right. Director Marc Webb is resurrecting Uncle Ben for a second go around as the actor who plays him broke the news via RTE’s Late Late Show say, “I’m going to be Uncle Ben in Spider-Man once again next year. We shoot it in February.” Judging from how nonchalant he divulged this pretty critical detail, audiences should not expect much beyond a minor flashback sequence similar to those within The Amazing Spider-Man. Perhaps we will see an aged down Uncle Ben interacting with Peter Parker’s father as his whereabouts have and will continue to be a huge subject of Webb’s series.
Martin Sheen joins a cast list that already has a number of reprisals with exception to Denis Leary’s Captain Stacy. On screen for the sequel outing will be Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Sally Field with new arrivals in the form of Jamie Foxx (Electro,) Dane DeHaan (Harry Osborne,) and Shailene Woodley (Mary Jane.) Those three have been cast into the project during the past few months as release is looming less than 17 months from today. Foxx will play the villain most likely foreshadowed during the mid-credits teaser for this feature and the old classics get some really fresh blood with the hirings of Chronicle’s DeHaan and The Descendants’ Woodley.
All of this news is beginning to point to what could amount to a sizable sequel bump for the property’s second take since the turn of the century. Audiences surprised even Sony this summer by flocking to theaters for what some have brutally called a clear rip-off of prior works in the genre. Many fans cited the emotion brought to the franchise from (500) Days of Summer helmer Marc Webb for warranting the redo, and that turned into over $750 million at the global box office on a budget of just $250 million–a clear profit for a nervous studio that was preparing to accept that maybe the end of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man era came prematurely.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 lands in theaters on May 2, 2014.