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by Marc Halperin

After a comprehensive worldwide casting search Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios have their new Spiderman, Andrew Garfield has been chosen to portray Peter Parker. Spider-Man returns to the big screen in 3D on July 3, 2012.  The new film directed by Marc Webb, will begin production in early December  from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt.  

Bloggers, pop culture commentators, and everyday fans have spent countless hours analyzing every conceivable online rumor about which actor would be chosen to play Peter Parker.

Spiderman made his first brief appearance in the August 1962 issue of Amazing Fantasy a science fiction anthology book the new character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The next month the book was renamed as The Amazing Spidermanand became a major hit for Marvel Comics joining The Fantastic Four created by Lee and artist Jack Kirby. IN a few years Marvel went from being a small competitor to DC Comics to the dominant comic book brand.

The new movies will take their inspiration from these early books where Peter Parker was a brainy high school student before being bitten by a radioactive spider. The book was a major departure from all of the comic books that had gone before.

Director Marc Webb came to prominence with the independent film (500) Days of Summer. Spiderman gives him a much larger pallet to work with, but it is the sensitivity that he demonstrated in the previous film that convinced Columbia Pictures to entrust him with this project. I look forward to seeing what he can do as I have been a fan since reading the very first issue upon its publication.

The Spider-Man franchise is one of the most successful in film history and the three previous motion pictures have collectively grossed more than $2.5 billion in worldwide box office. Tobey Maguire has been the star of the last three films but the producers decided to reboot the series to control costs and reset the story back to Parker's teenage years where it was originally set in the early books. In those days Parker needed to balance his heroics with his high school classes and supplementing the family income by selling photos mostly of Spiderman to the Daily Bugle. This was one of  Marvel's two books aimed squarely at teenager's the other being X-Men set at an Academy for "gifted (mutant) students". All of their other books were centered on grown-up heroes.

Director Marc Webb said, “Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor’s work understand his extraordinary talents. He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit, and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker.”

Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Matt Tolmach, President of Columbia Pictures said, “Spider-Man is a classic superhero. The role demands an extraordinary actor. You need someone who can magically transform himself from Peter Parker into Spider-Man. An actor who will  depict the vulnerability of youth and the strength and confidence of a legendary figure at the same moment. We have found that actor in Andrew Garfield.”

Producer Avi Arad added, “I’m incredibly excited about Andrew Garfield. In the Spider-Man tradition, we were looking for a smart, sensitive, and cool new Peter Parker who can inspire us and make us laugh, cry, and cheer. We believe we have found the perfect choice to take on this role and lead us into the future.”

Garfield most recently worked with director David Fincher on the upcoming film The Social Network, and plays the lead male opposite Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan in Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, which will be released later this year.

He also starred in Spike Jonze's I’m Here, which premiered at Sundance this year, and appeared in Sony Picture Classic's release of Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus.  Andrew received the BAFTA award for best actor in 2008 for his performance of a young ex-con in John Crowley’s “Boy A”. Garfield’s career began in theatre where he won numerous awards.