Veteran actor Martin Sheen is in final negotiations to play Uncle Ben in Columbia Pictures' Spider-Man reboot, Heat Vision reports.

First appearing, if only briefly, in August 1962's Amazing Fantasy #15, Ben Parker helped to raise Peter Parker, and instilled his nephew with a sense of responsibility. His death at the hands of a burglar put Spider-Man on the path of heroism. The role was played in the first three Spider-Man movies by Cliff Robertson.

The 70-year-old Sheen, star of Apocalypse Now, Gettysburg and The West Wing, will join Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans as an unnamed villain.

Directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac), the untitled Spider-Man movie is expected to begin shooting in December for a planned July 3, 2012, release.