Peter Parker fans rejoice! Miles Morales fans, be slightly disappointed, but at least comforted that we are getting another ‘Spider-Man’ film regardless of the secret identity of the protagonist. While answering questions from his relatively new and popular Tumblr account, Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada was asked what he thought was most important to making a successful ‘Spider-Man’ film, to which he answered with the following:

“The trick to making any incarnation of Spider-Man great, whether comics, animation or film is Peter Parker. Get Peter’s character right and the rest falls into place.”

For everyone hoping that Marvel would be using the Miles Morales incarnation of the character, this makes it pretty clear that Marvel’s first priority is to get the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker, into their universe, though that does not mean they won’t eventually get Miles Morales in there. Perhaps when the contract of whoever they get to play Peter Parker is almost up, they’ll kill off the character (as is done in the ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ comics) and pave the way for Morales to take his place.

Photo credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

And now that Quesada has somewhat confirmed that we will be seeing Peter Parker, it lends more credence to other new rumors that have emerged stating that Marvel has been auditioning, and is looking to cast 16-year-old Mateus Ward as the new ‘Spider-Man.’ Casting is coming along quickly due to the fact that Marvel wants to include the character in the upcoming ‘Captain America 3: Civil War‘ which begins shooting in a few weeks, which gives Marvel little time to find the perfect actor for Spidey. The idea of hiring an actual teenager to play teenaged Peter Parker seems brilliant, as the character would stand in stark contrast (no pun intended) to the rest of the Avengers, as the rest are grown men (and one lady), already aware of who they are and what they want to do in the world. And here would come the wise-cracking, down on his luck, still-figuring out his life ‘Spider-Man’ to poke fun at the rest, become a protege to those he admires, and adding a whole new young and hopeful perspective to the increasingly bleak story-lines ravaging the Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes we’ve come to love. Plus, if the actor signs a 7-8 picture deal, we’ll literally see the character grow up before our eyes, much as fans of the comics have seen Parker due over the past 40 plus years.

As for the actor in question, Mateus Ward is not as well known (always a plus in the MCU) and his biggest roles include the series finale of ‘Weeds’ and others shows like ‘Hostages,’ ‘Murder in the First,’ and a brief stint on Disney’s ‘Lab Rats.’ He has a look that could definitely work for Peter Parker, with Marvel clearly looking more for a young Tobey Maguire than Andrew Garfield, which is fine by me as I enjoyed Maguire’s take on Peter Parker more than Garfield’s. (Don’t get me wrong, I think Garfield was a better ‘Spider-Man’ meaning the hero when he has the costume on, I just don’t think he felt quite right out of the costume).

What do you think of Mateus Ward as Peter Parker? Are you disappointed that we won’t be seeing Miles Morales up on the big screen just yet? Let us know in the comments below!

Sources:  The Hollywood Reporter, BadAss Digest