"The Amazing Spider-Man" series often feels like the neglected middle child of the Spider-Man film eras (of Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, respectively), but the pair of films from director Marc Webb are back in the news almost a decade later as Joe Jonas — of The Jonas Brothers, DNCE, and the recently released "Devotion" fame — told Variety that he auditioned for the role of Peter Parker in that particular reboot.
Jonas got his start as part of the Disney tween machine through his family band and subsequent appearances in Disney Channel Original Movies like "Camp Rock," but as he got older and left his teen idol roots behind, he's proven himself to be a certifiable acting talent. It was even rumored back in 2010 that he and his brother Kevin Jonas had auditioned for roles in "Captain America: The First Avenger."
In his Variety interview, Jonas mentioned Peter Parker as one of the roles he was most destroyed by not landing, but acknowledged that the right actor ended up with the job. "I remember years ago I was up for 'Spider-Man' and I was so, so excited and it was the year Andrew Garfield got it," he said. "Obviously, he was the right one. But I remember that was a big thing at the time, going back for callbacks, and the director used to be a music video director. So I was like, 'I got an in here.'" While Jonas' music career ultimately wasn't enough to carry him to the finish line, he concluded by saying, "I love the process of auditioning and putting yourself out there and having to prove yourself."
From Jo Bro To Spider-Bro
Joe Jonas may sound like an unlikely candidate for Peter Parker, but Marc Webb had auditioned a real who's-who of young Hollywood talent when preparing for "The Amazing Spider-Man." Joe Jonas told Variety that he never got far enough in the audition process to wear the Spidey suit, but it's shocking how many phenomenal actors were in the running before Andrew Garfield inevitably snagged the role. In the early stages, Reuters reported that Jamie Bell, Alden Ehrenreich, Logan Lerman, Frank Dillane, Michael Angarano, and a pre-"Hunger Games" Josh Hutcherson were on the shortlist. Fortunately, the loss of the role doesn't seem to have hurt any of their careers.
In more curious news, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Anton Yelchin were also considered for the role and had done screen tests along with Bell, Lerman, and Ehrenreich. There's no word on whether or not the other contenders had a chance to don the Spidey suit, but it's hard to put into words how badly I want to see Taylor-Johnson and Yelchin's screen tests, if only to imagine an alternate reality where Yelchin is still popping up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but Sony Pictures could have had a killer reality TV show on their hands if they had documented the process of finding their new Peter Parker, not unlike the MTV series "Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods" from only a few years prior.
Ultimately, Garfield was clearly the best choice for the role, but it's still fun to fantasy book a world where any of these inspired choices could have become Tobey Maguire's successor as Spider-Man.
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