Webb's Spidey candidates (HV)

By Nancy Tartaglione

The Heat Vision blog reports that "Spider-Man" director Marc Webb has been quietly meeting and reading actors to play the title role in Columbia's reboot for several months with the list narrowing in the past week or so. The candidates include Jamie Bell, Alden Ehrenreich, Frank Dillane, Andrew Garfield and Josh Hutcherson.

Bell, who made his film debut as the eponymous "Billy Elliot," has already stepped into the comics world by portraying Tintin in Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" which hits screens in December 2011.

Ehrenreich was discovered by Spielberg, who saw a comedy video of him at a bat mitzvah of his daughter's friend. A couple of TV appearances followed and was cast by Francis Ford Coppola in 2009's "Tetro."

Dillane, a Brit, had a role in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," where he won notices playing a young Tom Riddle.

Garfield gained notices for playing a young reporter in the UK TV movie trilogy "Red Riding." He will also be seen in David Fincher's "The Social Network."

Finally, Hutcherson, who is the youngest of the candidates at 18, also has the most experience. He's scored key roles in Jon Favreau's "Bridge to Terabithia" and the upcoming "Red Dawn" remake. He also appears in the Sundance hit "The Kids Are All Right" and starred with Brendan Fraser in "Journey to the Center of the Earth." The "Journey" sequel will see his character leap to the forefront as Fraser is likely to drop out.

The group of actors seems to fall in line with what Webb has been looking to do with his take on "Spider-Man," which is to cast relative unknowns in a story that roots Parker back in high school, HV notes.