With Across the Universe exiting theaters, it’s time for director Julie Taymor to move to a new project. She announced earlier this week her hope to work with a beloved super-hero. One that does whatever a spider can and catches crooks just like flies. That’s right, Taymor is planning a Broadway musical version of Spider-Man’s story. She’s now talking about casting the show and her eyes are looking to her Across the Universe cast.

Slashfilm caught a quote from the director from The Daily Mail where Taymor reveals she’s hoping to cast Jim Sturgess as Peter Parker/ Spider Man and Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane Watson. It’s a good pick, after all, the duo already has proven chemistry and shown their ability as musical performers. With the holiday this week (and the writer’s strike shutting projects down), this has been a slow news day, so Slashfilm goes on to speculate about Sturgess and Wood taking over the roles in the next Spidey movie, since it’s pretty likely the current cast won’t be returning.

I’m not that familiar with Sturgess’s work, but I actually like the notion of Wood playing Mary Jane. She has the right look and feel for the part and would be a good replacement if Dunst abandons the role as expected. This is just speculation, however, since there’s not likely to be any movement forward on the fourth film anytime soon, and of course the notion that we're talking about Broadway and not Hollywood. Of course, if Raimi doesn’t want to come back to directing, Taymor could be just as likely a director as anyone else…

For now, Sturgess and Wood may be the leads in Spider-Man: the Musical if Taymor has her way. The show is currently in early development, with Taymor working with Bono and the Edge (of U2) on music and lyrics for the show. Don’t expect the musical to hit the stage until late next year at the earliest though.