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Seven Actors Who Were Nearly in a Spider-Man Film

Peter Parker’s revised backstory in The Amazing Spider-Man implies that there may have been a little bit of destiny at play when it came to Peter turning into the web-crawler. Alas, fate wasn’t so kind to the following seven actors, each of whom came this close to starring in their own installment of the lucrative Spider-Man franchise before money, creative differences, or bad judgment scuttled the casting pick. How different might things have been for the Marvel superhero films? Read on, and get ready to imagine some A-list alternate universes.

For a time, it seemed like Tobey Maguire wouldn’t reprise his role as Peter Parker in Spider-Man 2. The actor held up preproduction after complaining of back problems incurred on Seabiscuit, though his pleas were interpreted as a negotiation tactic to land a bigger payday. Eventually, Sony made an offer to Jake Gyllenhaal to replace Maguire, at which point Maguire caved (with the help of a pep talk from Universal studio chief Ron Meyer, now his father-in-law) and agreed to come back. Adding to the awkwardness? At the time, Gyllenhaal was dating Maguire’s leading lady, Kirsten Dunst. Photo: Larry Busacca/2012 Getty Images
Director Sam Raimi is said to have first approached the then-ascendant Kate Hudson to play Mary Jane in his first Spider-Man movie. She turned him down. “You know something like Spider-Man would be a huge hit and that you’re going to work with fantastic people,” Hudson said later. She further explained, “You just have to decide if it’s the right time to be doing those things, and for me it wasn’t.” Photo: Nicholas Hunt/?Patrick McMullan
One of the obsessions that would eventually cause Raimi to part ways with the franchise was the director’s hope that he could feature Spider-Man’s most geriatric villain, the Vulture. While developing Spider-Man 3, Raimi even went so far as to cast Ben Kingsley in the role, but in the middle of negotiations with the actor, producer Avi Arad nixed the idea and successfully lobbied to include Venom instead.
Still, Raimi would not be deterred: He brought the Vulture back for his aborted sequel Spider-Man 4, and this time cast John Malkovich in the part. Sony was still lukewarm on the character, and after the studio and director couldn’t come to an agreement on the script, Raimi ankled the franchise, and Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst were soon shown the door as well. Photo: Nicholas Hunt/?Patrick McMullan
If Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 had happened, it’s safe to say that Christopher Nolan’s upcoming The Dark Knight Rises wouldn’t look nearly the same. That’s because Anne Hathaway was the front-runner to play the other villainess in Spidey 4, Felicia Hardy, before talks broke down over budget issues. The ironic part: In the comics, Hardy’s alter ego is the Black Cat, but the character was so reminiscent of Catwoman that Raimi had given Hardy a brand-new screen persona, the Vulturess. Still, whatever’s feline in Hathaway won’t be denied, since Nolan eventually gave her the proper Catwoman role in Dark Knight. Photo: Frazer Harrison/2012 Getty Images
When Sony decided to reboot Spider-Man with director Marc Webb in the driver’s seat, they embarked on a search to find the perfect new Peter Parker. One of the last few finalists for the role was Josh Hutcherson, who’d later go on to snag the pivotal role of Peeta in another megafranchise, The Hunger Games. At the time, though, Hutcherson was so intent on winning the Spider-Man lead that he put together his very own stunt reel for the part. A for effort, but Andrew Garfield was cast instead. Photo: JOE KLAMAR/2012 AFP
The most praised aspect of The Amazing Spider-Man is the chemistry between its two leads, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, but Webb initially cast a wide net to find the right actress to play Gwen Stacy, and his final short list included names like Mia Wasikowska and Glee’s Dianna Agron. Fortunately, Webb chose wisely, and it looks like he spun off a real-life romance between Garfield and Stone … not that the two of them would ever confirm it. Photo: Araya Diaz/2012 Getty Images
Seven Actors Who Were Nearly in Spider-Man Films