The rebooted Spider-Man movie planned for 2012 now has its Spider-Man. Andrew Garfield has been given the role.
Andrew Garfield will be 27 when production starts in December this year. According to IMDB his professional career started in 2005 with some TV appearances, before hitting the big-time with roles in two films, "Boy A" and "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus". Both were well received by critics resulting in Andrew winning a BAFTA for "Boy A".
Fan reaction to Garfield's selection has been mixed (to say the least). Most seem to agree that he is a fine actor, but there are many who have concerns about his age. Supposedly, one of the driving ideas behind the reboot was to get Spider-Man firmly back to high school and to set much of the movie there. Many of the comments on his IMDB message board raise doubts about Garfield's ability to convincingly play the role of a teenager.
However, for every skeptic, there seems to be another fan believing that Andrew can make the role work. I would also point out that Tobey Maguire was 25 when shooting started on Spider-Man (2002), and nobody seemed to have any problem with him playing a high school student.
For the record, Spider-Man is due to hit the 3D screens on July 3, 2012. Director is Marc Webb. Screenplay by James Vanderbilt. Producers are Laura Ziskin (for Columbia Pictures) and Avi Arad (for Marvel Studios) - both of whom were producers on the three previous Spider-Man movies.