It's been an exciting 24 hours for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Spider-Man (and, conversely, a disappointing 24 hours for fans of Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man films). Last night, Marvel officially announced that they were joining forces with Sony Pictures to introduce everyone's favorite webslinger to the MCU - possibly in Captain America: Civil War - before producing a standalone film.

We also heard tell that Andrew Garfield would NOT be returning in the role, and the previously announced Sinister Six movie would be delayed and retooled (if indeed it ever gets made).Then, earlier today, both The Hollywood Reporter and Variety reported that Marvel and Sony were looking to cast much younger than the 31-year-old Garfield for a Peter Parker of high school age. "The plan is for the character to go back to high school in the next films," says Variety, "and spend more time in the setting and explore his awkward relationship with other students while fighting crime out of the classroom."

None of this should come as a huge shock for anyone familiar with the hacked Sony emails debacle, which revealed that if Marvel did manage to make a deal with Sony, they'd recast for a high school age Spider-Man. This fits with Marvel Comics' obvious affinity for the character at that age - both in 616 and the Ultimate Universe - where the comic was more of a soap opera and at its most popular.

Dylan O'Brien as Thomas in 'The Maze Runner'
Dylan O'Brien in 'The Maze Runner'

The new bit of information here is that names for who might be cast as Peter Parker/Spider-Man are apparently already being bandied about. According to Variety, two of those names are Dylan O'Brien (Stiles on Teen Wolf) and Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson in the Percy Jackson movies).

O'Brien, of course, got his big break on Teen Wolf, where he has proven time and again that he's a genuinely good actor with a lot of star potential. He also starred in The Maze Runner, the moderately successful YA sci-fi film that already has a sequel on the way.

Meanwhile, Lerman was actually up for the role of Spider-Man once before when they were developing the first Amazing Spider-Man movie. While the Percy Jackson films are generally considered to be underwhelming or worse, Lerman received all kinds of praise for his work on David Ayer's Fury.

Logan Lerman in 'Fury'
Logan Lerman in 'Fury'

For my money, though, Dylan O'Brien is the best possible pick for Spider-Man/Peter Parker - not just of these two actors, but of the great many actors out there in this age bracket. In Teen Wolf alone, he's played appropriately funny and sarcastic, extremely smart, and deeply emotional - all traits that are absolutely essential for the character.

But what say you, Screen Ranters? Are you interested in seeing either Dylan O'Brien or Logan Lerman take on the role of Spider-Man, or do you have someone else in mind? Drop us a line in the comments.

Stay tuned for more MCU Spider-Man news as it becomes available.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter & Variety