UPDATE: On the heels of the Martin Sheen casting, it’s being reported Sally Field is in talks to play Aunt May.
The cast of Marc Webb’s Untitled Spider-Man Reboot has added one more piece of the puzzle by casting Martin Sheen as Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben, the role played by Cliff Robertson in Sam Raimi’s original film in 2002. Here’s the description of the character courtesy of Marvel.com:
Ben Parker was a boy around the time of World War II. He was in love with May Parker, who was in love with a criminal. Ben convinced her that her lover was no good, and the two married.
When Ben’s brother Richard and his wife Mary died, Ben and May decided to raise their son Peter as their own. Peter loved his uncle and aunt more than anyone in the world. Ben was killed when a burglar was robbing their house. Ben accidentally surprised him causing the burglar to shoot him. His death sparked the transformation of Peter Parker into Spider-Man.
He once returned for five minutes as part of a birthday present from Doctor Strange for Peter Parker.
As depicted in Raimi’s film, Ben Parker is murdered, serving as just part of the inspiration for Peter Parker to fight crime as Spider-Man.
Sheen joins Andrew Garfield who will play Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans as the film’s villain, The Lizard. Ifans, in fact, recently spoke about the role with the Associated Press saying he’s “very, very excited about it… I’m constantly suppressing a very wide smile. It’s a great script, great director and the money ain’t bad.”
The film is set to begin production in December for a July 3, 2012 release.
