Andrew Garfield Reportedly Out As Spider-Man With Marvel Looking To Go Younger In 2017 Reboot

Amid rampant speculation about who will play Spider-Man now that the character has been green-lit to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU, many forget the latest Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield, might still have ties to the role. Unfortunately, new reports suggest it may finally be time to wave goodbye to the 31-year-old actor as the wall crawler.

The Daily Beast reportedly has a source that can confirm Garfield is not in the running to bring Spider-Man into the MCU. This was almost a given since news broke that Sony Pictures would not be moving forward with “The Amazing Spider-Man 3” after the poor reception of its predecessor. However, this decision was apparently not reached lightly.

It looks like Garfield, who did a great job portraying the web-slinger in “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” reportedly had discussions about continuing the role in the MCU, which includes “The Avengers” and the “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Ultimately, it didn’t make sense to include Garfield, whose film canon already clashes with the reality of the MCU, which includes an alien invasion of Spidey’s city of New York. However, the interweaving plots aren’t the main factor keeping Garfield from reprising the role.

Although Garfield played Peter Parker as the awkward high-school student he is in the comic books, the actor has since aged out of the role. “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” saw the character graduate high school and begin his life as a college-age superhero. If the recent rumors surrounding Dylan O’Brien and Logan Lerman are any indication, it looks like Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is hoping to bring the character back to his roots by casting younger for the reboot.

Marvel will need to hit the throttle on casting soon, given that the new Spider-Man is set to premiere in one of Marvel’s Phase 3 films before getting a stand-alone movie in 2017. Although its report hasn’t been confirmed, the Wall Street Journal said Peter Parker will make his MCU debut in Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016. That may leave the studio with about a year or so to get its choice down and locked into a contract.