Tobey Maguire was very nearly replaced in Spider-Man once before when he balked at making the second film, forcing Sony to line up Jake Gyllenhaal as insurance. Still, we can't recommend that Gyllenhaal get excited by today's news that Sony will be recasting Peter Parker in the next installment, as the studio's intended high school reboot will almost certainly limit its potential casting pool to actors 18-25. Who's got the inside track, then? Movieline's gone ahead and picked out nine young thespians whose spider-sense should be tingling right now.
Johnny Simmons
Age: 23
Why It Could Work: As he showed in Jennifer's Body, Simmons has the kind of bashful, croaky charisma that evokes Maguire himself. Give him a haircut and he could almost be a dead ringer.
Why It Might Not: Hasn't yet proven himself in a lead role.
Logan Lerman
Age: 17
Why It Could Work: The Percy Jackson star turns 18 in a little over a week and certainly is the most convincing high-schooler on this list.
Why It Might Not: If Percy becomes a big hit, 20th Century Fox will want to rush Lerman into a sequel as soon as possible (which will limit his availability).
Aaron Johnson
Age: 19
Why It Could Work: Johnson is the right age and has the right look, and he's got the nerdy superhero thing working for him in the upcoming Kick-Ass...
Why It Might Not: ...but it also works against him. How can Johnson have two separate superhero franchises where one practically parodies the idea of the other?
Zac Efron
Age: 22
Why It Could Work: Aside from the unavailable Twilight duo of Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, Efron possibly has the most marquee value of any male actor in his age group. After leaving High School Musical, he's ready for his next franchise and certainly athletic enough to convince as Spider-Man.
Why It Might Not: Is Efron too big a star for the franchise? Sony might want a relative unknown that the studio can pay peanuts, not an actor who'd command an eight-figure paycheck right off the bat.
Andrew Garfield
Age: 26
Why It Could Work: This British up-and-comer is ready to pop, and David Fincher's The Social Network might be the thing that finally does it for him.
Why It Might Not: At 26, might be just out of the age range Sony is looking for, especially if it hopes to keep the franchise in high school for the reboot's sequel (at which point Garfield would almost certainly be pushing 30).
Daniel Radcliffe
Age: 20
Why It Could Work: Radcliffe's about to finish up one mega franchise -- why not take on another?
Why It Might Not: He might be burned out on regularly scheduled tentpoles for a while, and he's almost too British for this all-American superhero. Plus, we'll have watched Radcliffe grow up and graduate from Hogwarts, so it doesn't feel quite fair to send him back to high school.
Penn Badgley
Age: 23
Why It Could Work: The Gossip Girl star just toplined Sony's The Stepfather, and he could further Spider-Man's appeal in the teen girl demographic.
Why It Might Not: Badgley's a little too deep-voiced and studly to convince as the nerdy Peter Parker.
Anton Yelchin
Age: 20
Why It Could Work: Yelchin is no stranger to a reboot-done-right, as Star Trek shows.
Why It Might Not: Unfortunately, he was also in a reboot-gone-wrong, Terminator Salvation. McG is threatening to make more Terminator sequels, so besides that and the Star Trek franchise, Yelchin might not have time to pick up another property.
Michael Cera
Age: 21
Why It Could Work: Look, you guys all complain that Michael Cera does the same thing in every movie. Isn't it time for him to expand his dweeby persona by taking on a superhero? (Or, after Cera brandishes a flaming sword in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, will that seem like more of the same?)
Why It Might Not: Good luck getting Cera into a gym.