Now that “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is a decided success, Marvel is looking ahead to the introduction of its new Spider-Man. It seems that Marvel and Sony are close to locking down a director for the 2017 standalone movie.

The studio is apparently looking for someone with a background in making teen-centric comedies. In the past, the studio has put more light-hearted directors on films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and allowed them to work backwards in figuring out how to do action. It’s a method that’s worked with films like James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers” and John Favreau’s “Iron Man” – to name a few.

According to Deadline, the directors currently in the running for the job include: Jonathan Levine (“50/50” and “Warm Bodies”), Ted Melfi (“St. Vincent”), Jason Moore (“Pitch Perfect), partners John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Golstein (“Vacation” remake) and Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite).

Meanwhile, Sony and Marvel are still on the hunt for an actor to play its newest Peter Parker. It was previously reported that the race is down to just five young actors: Nat Wolff, Asa Butterfield, Tom Holland, Tomothée Chalamet and Liam James. The studio is said looking for someone to play a much younger version of Parker than Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield did during their run as the superhero in 2002 and 2009, respectively.

It’s likely that Marvel and Sony are hoping to lock down casting on a new director before they make the final call on who will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the iconic wall-crawler.

Marvel and Sony cut a deal in February that would allow Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which includes all of the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as upcoming heroes Black Panther and Captain Marvel. It’s unclear exactly how “Spider-Man” will be introduced to the franchise, but many expect he’ll show up in “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016. Meanwhile, the character will have his own movie debut in 2017, possibly titled "Spider-Man: The New Avenger" and rumors indicate that Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) will appear to act as a mentor to the young hero.

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