Ever since Sony announced that the next entry in the Spider-Man franchise would be a reboot rather than a sequel to the Sam Raimi films, speculation has been rampant as to what young actor might fill Tobey Macguire's boots as a teenage Peter Parker.  Alvin Sargent (Spider-Man 3) is currently in the middle of re-writing James Vanderbilt's (Zodiac) script, which is said to be "a more gritty, contemporary redo of the series" with a high school setting.  Meanwhile, director Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer) has reportedly been meeting with potential candidates for months now.

Hit the jump for details on the potential spider-men, including Jamie Bell, Alden Ehrenrich, Frank Dillane, Andrew Garfield, and Josh Hutcherson.

Here's the shortlist according to Heat Vision:

Jamie Bell, 24

Bell got his start in the inspirational dance flick Billy Elliott.  Recent appearances include King Kong and Jumper.  He'll soon be seen in the high-profile The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson.

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Alden Ehrenreich, 20

A relative newcomer to the scene.  Steven Spielberg discovered the actor when a funny video Ehrenreich taped aired at a bat mitzvah the renowned director attended (so cool).  His most notable role is in Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro.

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Frank Dillane, 19

Another newbie.  He was the kid who creepily (but forcefully) portrayed a young Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Recall that Summit cherrypicked Robert Pattinson from the Harry Potter franchise for Twilight, though admittedly he was playing the charming Cedric Diggory rather than a pint-sized He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Andrew Garfield, 27

Garfield paid his dues on British television.  Last year, he had a role in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.  Garfield also has the David Fincher stamp of approval, as the director cast him as a co-founder of Facebook in this fall's The Social Network

Josh Hutcherson, 18

Hutcherson made the Hollywood rounds as a child actor over the last eight years, with roles in fantasy/sci-fi fare like Zathura, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant.  And hey, he's the only one on the list actually young enough to theoretically attend high school.