Spider-Man is perhaps the most successful superhero of today’s generation. You name it, Spider-Man’s done it. The Spider-Man franchise is deemed one of the most successful franchises of all time, with four feature films to it’s name, with another three films set to come out before 2020, the franchise has also grossed over three billion dollars worldwide over the course of its four films. But, believe it or not, there was a time when Spider-Man was impossible to bring to the film screen. The likes of James Cameron and David Fincher couldn’t bring the character to life, so without further ado, I invite you to take a seat, and sit back and enjoy ‘Ten things you may not know about the Spider-Man franchise’.
1 1. James Cameron Tried To Bring The Wall Crawler To Life… Twice
 |
Who would ever think that a film by James Cameron, the guy behind fricking Titanic would never get made? Well, thank God this Spider-Man movie didn’t get made. James Cameron was a fan of Spider-Man and attempted to bring a realistic, gritty version of the character to the big screen in the early 90s. Cameron’s film was set to feature Doctor… Or should I say, Professor Otto Octavius as the bad guy. Octavius would have been portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger and would have featured Leonardo DiCaprio as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. After the studio declined Cameron’s original script, he sent in an updated 47 page screenplay, instead of Professor Octavius as the bad guy, it featured Electro and Sandman as the film’s main villains. The film was heavy in profanity, featured a climatic battle atop The World Trade Center, and featured Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker having sex… How touching. When Sony announced the rebooted Spider-Man, Cameron was offered the director’s chair but declined saying he didn’t want “sloppy seconds.”
2 2. The Joker Almost Played Spider-Man
When Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man film entered pre-production, Sony Pictures went looking for some of the hottest actors of the time. On the shortlist to play the wall crawler was none other than Leonardo DiCaprio, Freddie Prinze, Jnr, Chris Klein, Wes Bentley and believe it or not, The Joker himself, Heath Ledger. Ledger read for the part, but nothing else was ever revealed, and Harry Osborn actor, James Franco screen tested for the role, despite not getting it, Franco impressed Raimi so much that he cast him as Harry Osborn instead. Despite the list of A-list actors, unknown Tobey Maguire was cast and the rest is history.
3. Add Green Goblin To The List Of Roles Nicolas Cage Almost Played
When Sam Raimi was looking for his perfect Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, he went to the best, so why did he offer Nic Cage the role? I am of course joking, but Nicolas Cage was offered the role but turned it down. No word on why he turned it down, but eventually Willem Dafoe was cast, and now whenever I hear Willem Dafoe, I always scream, “avenge me.” Dafoe has since slammed the rebooted Spider-Man film, The Amazing Spider-Man, calling it "unoriginal." Harsh words from a guy who starred in John Carter.
4. Spider-Man 2’s original pitch and title were ‘Amazing’
Just after Spider-Man swung into theatres in May of 2002, Sony hired Michael Chabon to rewrite the Spider-Man 2 screenplay and to shake things up a bit, shake things, he did. The film’s title was originally going to be ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ named after the character’s long time comic series. The film’s storyline was also significantly different, with Dr. Octopus actually being a love interest for Mary Jane and resembled more of the Ultimate Doc Ock than the 616. Harry Osborn also teamed up with The Daily Bugle, with putting a $10 million price on Spidey’s head. Producer Avi Arad turned down the idea, but tweaked the Osborn idea a little. The film was then rewritten a third time, and was based on the ‘Spider-Man: No More’ storyline and Superman 2.
5. Trevor Slattery Was Almost In Spider-Man 3
Ghandi himself! Sir Ben Kinglsey was in negotiations to star as Adrian Toomes/The Vulture in Sam Raimi’s original draft for Spider-Man 3. Kinglsey was a fan of the previous films and was looking forward to playing the role, before the part was cut due to the studio wanting Raimi to add Venom instead of Vulture, thanks Sony! Kinglsey later starred in Iron Man 3 as Trevor Slattery/The Mandarin. Venom’s alter ego, Eddie Brock, did however have a small part in the original screenplay, and it was said that Topher Grace was always Raimi’s ideal Eddie Brock.
6. Sony Hired James Vanderbilt To Write Two Separate Spider-Man Films
James Vanderbilt, the man behind 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, was hired by Sony Pictures in May of 2008 to rewrite the Spider-Man 4 script and to write a reboot of the film series if worse comes to worse. Of course, Spider-Man 4 was scrapped and the studio went for a new, fresh take on the Spider-Man character, simply using Vanderbilt’s screenplay. Vanderbilt’sSpider-Man 4 screenplay featured such iconic characters as The Vulture, Mysterio, The Lizard and Felicia Hardy. While his reboot, featured Green Goblin as the main villain, resembling the first six issues of the successful comic book series, Ultimate Spider-Man.
7. David Fincher Was In Early Negotiations To Direct The Reboot
When it was announced that Sam Raimi had left Spider-Man 4, the Internet exploded, people were confused and sadden. And then out of nowhere, a new man arrives, Marc Webb. Webb who was most famous for his indie rom-com, (500) Days Of Summer, was not however the first man to pitch something for Sony. The Social Network director, David Fincher pitched an idea to Sony that would have been based on the graphic novel, Spider-Man: Blue and would tell the story of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy’s love, from the moment they first lay eyes on each other to Gwen’s horrible death. As much as I love Webb’s film, it would have been bloody brilliant to see what David Fincher would have done.
. 8. Mary Jane Was Originally In The Amazing Spider-Man
Before Marc Webb was announced to direct, Sony were pretty keen on keeping Mary Jane Watson as Peter Parker’s main love interest. The studio even looked at some actresses for the part including Ophelia Lovibond, Diana Agron and Emma Stone, the latter of course went on to play Peter Parker’s other love interest, Gwen Stacy in the film. Mary Jane’s part in the film was cut and was left on the shelf for the sequel, which again, the part was cut, this time having Shailene Woodley miss out. Maybe third time lucky?
9. Ang Lee’s The Amazing Spider-Man?
Ever since The Amazing Spider-Man hit theatres in 2012, fans have been coming up with multiple theories and explanations for the origin of Spider-Man. While at the film’s surface it may just seem like another ‘boy gets bit by spider’ story, there is apparently a lot more there. The whole storyline with Peter’s parents was actually expanded on in the original test screening for Sony executives in February of 2012. Marc Webb held a screening of his cut, at his home in February, his cut of the film explained how Peter Parker got his powers in what has since been described as “Ang Lee Hulkish.” According to many sites, Sony hated Webb’s cut because it simply gave away a storyline that they felt could be a mystery throughout the entire franchise. The film was taken back to the editing room.
110. Jamie Foxx Is (Apparently) Writing A Song For The Amazing Spider-Man 2
A very recent entry in this list is arguably one of the coolest ones. Grammy winning Jaime Foxx revealed in an interview a few months ago that he is planning to write a song for the anticipated Spider-Man sequel, which he will star in as Electro. Foxx has revealed a few details about the song saying “"When it (music) really ramps up, when the orchestra comes in, that's when you see the big fight. Imagine the orchestra playing and then, in slow motion, breaking their instruments and running from everything." Honestly, I’m super keen.
Well that brings this ’10 Things You May Not Know’ to a close, hopefully you guys enjoyed it and maybe we can do this again? If you like what you see here, you can always bookmark us, and even follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook!
