Spider-Man is among the audience’s favorite superheroes, hugely popular among children and teenagers. And while this character, originally created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, has been featured in many movies and franchises over the years, the most well-known have probably been the separate series starring Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland. The first trilogy was helmed by Sam Raimi, with the first film premiering in 2002. Maguire was entrusted with bringing Spider-Man to life, and was supported by Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, James Franco, Cliff Roberson, and Rosemary Harris. Due to the great success of this production, two sequels were released, in 2004 and 2007, respectively.
Five years after Spider-Man 3 was released, Marc Webb stepped in to helm the first reboot of Raimi’s films and released The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012. This time, Peter Parker was portrayed by Andrew Garfield, and the cast was made up of Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, and Sally Field. This film was also a box office hit, and was followed by a sequel in 2014. Lastly, 2017 saw the release of the latest Spider-Man reboot film series so far, starring Tom Holland. This trilogy was directed by Jon Watts, and besides Holland, the cast featured actors such as Zendaya, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., and Gwyneth Paltrow, among many others. This film series had a special twist that made fans go wild: in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Garfield and Maguire reprised their roles as superheroes on-screen, as well as several characters from previous films. Here’s a list of fun facts from the Spider-Man movies.
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9 Chris Columbus Could Have Directed Spider-Man
Sony Pictures Releasing
The Spider-Man trilogy directed by Sam Raimi could have gone in a very different direction, as it was initially offered to Chris Columbus, director of films such as Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire. Yet, as eager as the filmmaker was to headline that movie, he got another offer simultaneously that he couldn’t turn down: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (via Screen Rant). This production certainly propelled Columbus’ career even further, and while he had a hard time turning down Spider-Man as he had been waiting his whole life for such a movie, he doesn’t regret choosing Harry Potter.
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8 Andrew Garfield Studied Spiders to Prepare for His Role
Andrew Garfield has always been a big Spider-Man fan, so when he was offered the job, he took it very seriously. On a physical level, he worked for six months with a personal trainer, following a customized routine, as well as with a stunt coordinator, to perfect his skills. Furthermore, the actor studied the movements of different athletes and, most notably, of spiders (via NME). Thanks to this, Garfield was able to incorporate some of the arachnids’ characteristics, such as their stillness and lightness, into his character’s movements.
7 J.K. Simmons Went Down in History with His Character
In Sam Raimi’s trilogy, J.K. Simmons played J. Jonah Jameson, editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle Newspaper. Over time, this character became one of the public’s favorites, which is why fans went wild upon seeing him reprise his role in Spider-Man: Far from Home. By making this appearance, Simmons became the first Marvel actor from a non-MCU movie to reprise his role in the MCU. In order to achieve the wow factor in theaters, his addition to the cast was top secret — not even the actors themselves were informed of it.
6 No CGI Was Involved in the Iconic Cafeteria Scene
One of the most memorable scenes from the Spider-Man movie is Peter Parker catching Mary Jane and her entire lunch tray after she slipped. And contrary to popular belief, that scene was not done digitally: it took more than 100 takes, but eventually, with the aid of a special glue, Maguire managed to catch the tray and every single item on it. By doing so, he saved a great deal of money that the production was able to spend on other aspects of the film.
5 Emma Stone Wrote Gwen Stacy’s Graduation Speech Herself
In The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel, Emma Stone played Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker’s love interest. In the second film, this character was in charge of delivering the graduation speech, and she touched the audience with her inspirational message of inviting the students to live to the fullest. A lesser known fact about this moving speech is that it was written by none other than Stone herself, which proves that, in addition to being a brilliant actress, she is also a very good writer.
4 Several Spiders Auditioned for Sam Raimi’s Film
Actors weren’t the only ones who had to audition for Sam Raimi’s trilogy: spiders did too. Spider-Man features a crucial moment in the superhero’s story, the one in which he gets bitten by a spider. For Raimi, it was essential that the spider depicted in that scene lived up to his imagination, and his original idea was to feature a black widow. However, as it was too dangerous, he was forced to analyze other options, so an entomologist brought him several spiders for the filmmaker to choose from. In the end, he settled on one, but in order to fit his vision perfectly, he painted blue and red veins on it.
3 Tom Holland Attended High School to Prepare for His Role
Sony Pictures Releasing / Marvel Studios
Of all the actors who played Spider-Man in each of the film series, the one who came closest to the character’s real age is Tom Holland, who was 19 years old when he was cast for the role. Not only that: Holland’s films were also the ones that delved most deeply into the high school student experience. In order to prepare the British actor for this experience, Jon Watts invited him to attend the Bronx High School of Science under an alias and impersonating another student. Thus, for a few days, Holland was able to accomplish the same as Peter Parker: to go unnoticed at school without anyone discovering his secret identity.
2 Jake Gyllenhaal Could Have Been Spider-Man
Maguire, Garfield, and Holland were the actors chosen to portray Spider-Man in the movies. However, there were many, many other famous actors who came very close to playing the superhero, among them, Jake Gyllenhaal. After Raimi’s Spider-Man, Gyllenhaal almost replaced Maguire in the second installment. This replacement was due to the fact that the original actor had a back injury and, at the same time, was not happy with the money he was offered to reprise his role. Eventually, they reached an agreement and Gyllennhaal never got to be Spider-Man. Still, several years later, he finally managed to join the world of Spider-Man, as in 2019, he played the villainous Quentin Beck in Spider-Man: Far from Home.
1 All of Spider-Man’s Star Couples Dated in Real Life
This is a very curious detail that spanned the three film series, and it involves the romantic relationships between the main characters. While filming each of the productions, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, and Tom Holland and Zendaya fell in love with one another. The latter are still together to this day. As a matter of fact, producer Amy Pascal, who worked on both The Amazing Spider-Man and Holland’s Spider-Man, advised everyone to try not to date each other, an instruction that was clearly ignored.
