He may be one of the few noted contenders for Sony and Marvel’s rebooted Peter Parker, but actor Dylan O’Brien once considered the idea of playing Spider-Man as nothing more than a joke.

A while back at an unspecified panel discussion, an audience member asked O’Brien which superhero he’d love to play. The Maze Runner star answered “Spider-Man” without hesitation. But at the time, he seems to know full-well that it wouldn’t be a possibility—at least not anytime soon.

“Yeah…sorry about that,” O’Brien's panel mate joked. “It didn’t happen for you. They’re over in Hall H.” Clearly, the friend was making a reference to San Diego Comic Con’s famous Hall H, where the convention’s largest comic book movie announcements are made. And while it’s hard to say when this video was shot, it’s fair to assume that his condolences were in reference to Andrew Garfield’s casting as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the now-defunct Amazing Spider-Man reboot.

If true, this makes the next comment even more hilarious:

“They’ll just reboot it in five years, so you’ll be fine,” another panel mate joked to O’Brien.

Now, of course, it seems like the joke may be on O’Brien. Since yesterdays’ major announcement to scrap the Andrew Garfield-led Amazing Spider-Man franchise and reboot the character once again in a joint venture between Marvel and Sony, O’Brien has trickled up the rumor list as one of the first major contenders for the Peter Parker/Spider-Man role.

Check out the full discussion below at the 6:22 mark.



As O’Brien’s name is churning through the rumor mill, we hope that he remember these words.

The new Spider-Man film swings into theaters on July 28, 2017.