Sally Field and Martin Sheen are Aunt May and Uncle Ben

As the 2012 Spider-Man reboot gears up for filming early next year, the cast is beginning to round out. Although director Marc Webb went for a relatively unknown Peter Parker in Andrew Garfield, it looks like Aunt May and Uncle Ben are to be some very familiar faces. Sally Field and Martin Sheen are in negotiations to star as Parker’s only family in the roles originated by Rosemary Harris and Cliff Robertson in the Sam Raimi films.

According to The Hollywood Reporter’s HeatVision Blog, Sheen is in final negotiations to play the brief but vital role in the film while Field has begun to work out a deal with Sony/Columbia to be Aunt May, which would be her first film role since 2006 as she’s spent most of her energy on ABC’s drama “Brothers & Sisters.”

Sheen is of course most remembered nowadays for playing the president on the political drama “The West Wing.” How James Vanderbilt’s script twists or tweaks the typical Uncle Ben plot line is of course well under wraps, but you can expect for that story to be integral to the film now if you didn’t already. Hard to give Parker motivation to become Spider-Man without that, but it’s to be expected now with Uncle Ben cast.

With the original “Spider-Man” only 10 years old by the time the new film comes out, it will be interested to see how audiences react to a total reboot of a familiar franchise. Sheen and Field, however, will definitely help make the reboot a more inclusive “family affair” that draws in an older audience.

With these roles set, we have our Aunt May and Uncle Ben, Peter Parker (Garfield), Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and villain (Rhys Ifans). What else is left? Mostly supporting roles to fill in the gaps, I would imagine.