Today, Spider-Man represents one of the most successful film franchises in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). As fans would know, however, the character was already popular on the big screen long before the MCU came into existence.
That’s because Sony’s Columbia Pictures had released its own trilogy of Spider-Man movies in the early 2000s with Sam Raimi at the helm. The iconic character was then portrayed by Tobey Maguire and some reports indicate that the actor was rather a diva while working on the films.
Why Did Sam Raimi Cast Tobey Maguire In His Spider-Man Trilogy?
Around the time that Raimi was gearing up to direct his first Spider-Man movie, Maguire already had proven acting chops, having done movies with the likes of Michael Douglas, Frances McDormand, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Charlize Theron, Sigourney Weaver, and a younger Reese Witherspoon. This essentially helped convince The Quick and the Dead director that the actor could take on the role of the web-slinging superhero. “We’ll I think we looked at tapes of nearly every 17 to 24-year-old male. But I stopped when I saw Tobey,” Raimi remarked while speaking with Moviehole. “He was real, He was grounded and that’s what Spider-man is he is a real kid. He was perfect. I saw him in Cider House Rules, which was just so real and he was fantastic, so I cast him.”
As for Maguire, he agreed to suit up for the movie because he believed “there is a lot of serious subtext to the character.” At the same time, he and Raimi had the same idea of how Spider-Man should be portrayed on the big screen. “Spider-Man was created as a darker, more conflicted character, and that was my interest in taking the role and I think the director Sam Raimi shared that perspective,” Maguire told Cinema.com. “This is not just going to be a dumb action vehicle. There will be a lot of serious elements that audiences will be able to find in the film and in the Spider-Man character and still have fun with the concept.”
Here’s The Reason Behind Tobey’s Diva Rumors And Why Jake Gyllenhaal Nearly Took His Place
If you ask Maguire, he seemed to have had a good time on set of the movies, especially when he did his first Spider-Man film. He even said that “the atmosphere was wonderfully creative and alive.” Things appeared to be going well until Maguire injured his back while on the set of Seabiscuit. This was around the time that Raimi was getting to work on Spider-Man 2 and the director was informed of Maguire’s condition.
“So doctors checked him out, I don't want to bore you with this story they said it turns out he does have a back injury and if he does re-injury it, it would cause a tremendous amount of pain,” the director recalled while speaking with Blackfilm.com. Raimi also decided to contact Maguire right away to clear things up. “I had to call Tobey and say, ‘Tobey from what I hear I can't work with you in the movie’ and he was speechless,” Raimi recalled. “I don't think he knew what I've had heard.” Thinking it would be “irresponsible” to ask Maguire to reprise his role, the director decided to already contact Gyllenhaal. “So I called Jake and I said, ‘Jake, Tobey's back is such that I can't be as irresponsible as to ask him to play the part.’” While speaking with Yahoo! Entertainment, Gyllenhaal did acknowledge that “there was a slew of actors [possibly up for the part], and I was one of them.”
Around this time, there were also rumors that Maguire was using the back injury to negotiate for a better salary. However, the actor stated that this wasn’t the case. “We weren't renegotiating," Maguire revealed to Los Angeles Daily News. “That was settled before any of the back stuff came up.” He further clarified, “I was asking for this and they wanted to give me that, and then we finally met somewhere. Normal negotiations.” That meant negotiations were essentially done by the time Maguire got injured.
Fortunately, it soon became clear that there was no risk of Maguire becoming paralyzed if he were to suit up again and hurt his back in the process. That was certainly good enough for Raimi. “So I thought pain for actors is a good thing, as long as he’s not going to be paralyzed then it could work out.” As for rumors that Maguire was just being demanding, the director explained, “I think it was somebody trying to protect Tobey from serious injury and hearing he had a back problem and hearing it can be damaged further.”
Today, there are also rumors that Maguire would be making an appearance alongside Tom Holland and fellow former Spider-Man Andrew Garfield in the upcoming Spider-Man 3: No Way Home. At the moment, however, there are no further reports to suggest that this is happening. On the other hand, Marvel has tapped Raimi to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.