Tobey Maguire Was Almost Cast as Peter Parker in SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

Before Jake Johnson was cast in the role of the older Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Tobey Maguire, who played Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man in Sam Raimi’s films was considered for the part!

This actually would have been pretty cool! I enjoyed Maguire’s version of Spider-Man and seeing him reprise his role for this animated film would have been a lot of fun.

During an interview with directors Bob Perischetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, Screen Crush asked them if they ever consideration Maguire for the role, and this was their response:

“There was. There were many thoughts about where we could put Tobey Maguire and others. I think after this film, those thoughts might have a little more traction. But before this movie, and introducing the idea of the “Spider-Verse” to the audience, I think everybody was afraid that it would just really confuse people. But wow, it would have been fun.”

I don’t think audiences would have been confused at all! I think they are smart enough to know that this is a completely separate Spider-Man franchise than what Raimi gave us, but the film does feature some fun elements that pay homage. I think adding Maguire would have been the ultimate homage.

I think that it’s funny that they thought this would confuse people, and not the fact that they are completely diving into the Spider-Man multiverse and introducing multiple versions of Spider-Man!

It’s ok, though, I like Jake Johnson and it seems like he is going to make a great Peter Parker!

Would you have liked to see Tobey Maguire play Peter Parker again in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse?