Although the Sony hacks already revealed plans to re-introduce a high school Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War and a stand-alone film in 2017, Marvel president Kevin Feige recently told Collider the circumstances surrounding the rebooted (third time’s the charm) web-slinger. 

The next Spider-Man will indeed be Peter Parker – as opposed to a fan-speculated Miles Morales – and will not only feature him as a high school student, but as a young 15 or 16-year-old version. Feige doesn’t know if that will be the exact age of the actor cast to fill the role, but they will be looking for the believability of that age in whatever actor they eventually choose.

The reason for this sophomore-age Parker rests on the need tell untapped stories and facets to Parker’s character, as well as to set Spidey apart from the rest of the MCU’s superhero line-up. In the interview, Feige commented:

Some of my favorite Spider-Man arcs, and Spider-Man stories, he’s in high school for a lot of it. We want to explore that. That also makes him very, very different from any of our other characters in the MCU, which is something else we want to explore: how unique he is when now put against all these other characters.

This change in focus could be thought of as a direct response to what our own Gabriel Urbina called “Spider-Man fatigue.” In order to bring Spider-Man back in a fresh way for the fans, it is important to highlight the sides of the character most prevalent in the comic books – his young, awkward attempts to fit in and solve day-to-day teenage problems while simultaneously tackling bigger-than-life superhero issues. The new Spider-Man could then push into this comedic dichotomy further than a couple short of hallway and lunchroom bullying scenes before he graduates in the matter of one film.