As preproduction continues on Harbinger, the second installment of Sony's planned cinematic universe based off of Valiant Entertainment superheroes, the first shortlist of actors for the film has surfaced online.

Dylan O'Brien, who currently stars in The Maze Runner trilogy and voices Bumblebee in the upcoming Transformers spinoff prequel, is reportedly the studio's first choice to portray protagonist Peter Stancheck. The actor would sign a two-picture deal including Harbinger and its planned follow-up Harbinger Wars.

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Created by writer Jim Shooter and artist Dave Lapham in the pages of 1992's Harbinger #1, Stancheck is a psionic teenager that fights the Harbinger Foundation led by Toyo Harada after they orchestrate the murder of his best friend.

The studio is also considering actors to portray Pete's friends Joe Irons and Faith, with Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I've Loved Before) and Beanie Feldstein (Lady Bird) being linked to the respective roles.

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The films are part of a deal Sony finalized with Valiant Entertainment in 2015 to bring their characters to the big screen in a five-film cinematic universe starting with Bloodshot, starring Vin Diesel as the titular superhero. While development on Harbinger has been on-and-off since the announcement, the adaptation tapped a new director last month to resume preproduction.

(via ThatHashtagShow)