With all the hubbub over Tom Holland’s appearance in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and of course, next summer’s ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming‘, all eyes have been on Spider-Man’s live-action future at the box office. With all that attention focused elsewhere, many of us may have lost sight of the other Spider-Man movie that Sony has in the works, an animated feature written and produced by ‘The Lego Movie’ team of Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
Very little is publicly known about Miller and Lord’s animated endeavor at this time. With that being the case, most have so far assumed that the film will follow the standard Spider-Man template: Peter Parker gets bit, his uncle dies, and he fights crime. But will it? We’re still firmly in the territory of rumors and speculation, but a casting call recently went up on Backstage for a Sony Animations project that is being cast under the code name ‘Cabin Fever’. Officially, ‘Cabin Fever’ chronicles the adventures of two unlikely friends: Terrence and Pete,” but some believe this is actually the Miller and Lord Spider-Man project. Why? Well, the call included descriptions of the two leads, and they certainly sound a bit familiar. For the role of “Terrence”, the call specifies a male, ages 13-15 who is described thusly:
A young African-American/Puerto Rican teen from Brooklyn; he is new to this suburban school and now feeling out of place, overwhelmed, pressured with new responsibilities, and dealing with puberty; while trying to fit in he must do his best to stay out of trouble; along the way in developing his identity he’s losing old friends but now making a new one, Pete.
I don’t know about you, but if you strip out the spider powers, that sure sounds a lot like the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man to me. This isn’t the first time a rumor has suggested that the film might center on Miles rather than Peter, but until now they were the sort of thing best taken with a grain of salt (after all, fans have debated the merits of every new adaptation featuring Miles ever since his introduction in 2011). But now? This is a casting call for a character in a codenamed film who sounds an awful lot like Miles. That might be a bit thin on its own, but there’s more.
If we assume that “Terrence” is Miles, then the big question becomes “Who is Pete?” Given the name, the natural assumption is that “Pete” (similarly said to be aged 13-16) must refer to a version of Peter Parker, though the casting description casts some doubt on that:
A young, slightly geeky Asian-American teen; he’s smart, sweet, and encouraging; although very unlike any of the friends Terrence had in his old Brooklyn neighborhood, Pete proves to be a good fit for Terrence making good decisions.
While some of that description could certainly apply to Peter Parker, it also bears a notable resemblance to Ganke Lee, Miles’ best friend and confidante. His presence in the film would not be entirely out of the blue, even if the lead once again turns out to be Peter Parker, as the version of Ned Leeds introduced in the recent trailer for ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ bears a stronger resemblance to Ganke than to any version of Ned that has appeared to date.
For those unfamiliar with the character, Miles Morales was introduced in ‘Ultimate Comics Spider-Man’ in 2011 by writer Brian Michael Bendis. Miles took over the mantle of Spider-Man after that world’s version of Peter Parker was killed in battle with Norman Osborn. If it does indeed turn out to that the film follows Miles instead of Peter (and it certainly sounds like it), it would be a huge deal to say the least. Not only would it strike a major blow for representation in superhero movies, it would also be the first time that a Spider-Man movie centered on someone other than Peter Parker.
Be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com for more news on Sony’s upcoming animated Spider-Man film as it becomes available!
