9 Actors Who Almost Played Spider-Man Over The Years

So it’s no wonder that the role is in high demand in Hollywood. Over the years, there have been a number of actors who have taken on the role of Spider-Man on the big screen, and even more actors have hoped to land the role. While not everyone has had the chance to show off their web sling skills on screen, there are some actors who have come pretty close!

Find out which actors almost got cast to play Spider-Man…

1. Jake Gyllenhaal

In the early 2000s, Jake Gyllenhaal almost landed the role of Spider-Man after Tobey McGuire was injured on the set of another film. Tobey was briefly fired and Jake was in talks to take on the role in Spider-Man 2. In the end, the studio decided to rehire Tobey.

“There have been so many roles in my career where I was up against another actor or something happened that could possibly have happened but didn’t happen but might have,” Jake said YahooEntertainment. “Ultimately, I believe that when an actor plays a character, especially in a film, that character is theirs, and that’s it. But yes.” [Tobey] injured himself and there was talk. And there were plenty of actors [possibly up for the part]and I was one of them.

2. Heath Ledger

The late great Heath Ledger was seriously considered for the lead role in the Spider-Man movies of the early 2000s, but in the end he wasn’t right for the part. While Heath never spoke out on the occasion, Sony producer Amy Pascal said there was a time when she really thought he might be the one.

“Heath Ledger was someone we talked about a lot because I did a few films with Heath. I love him and I loved him then. It wasn’t because of that,” Amy said diversity.

3.James Franco

James Franco may have played Peter Parker’s best friend Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man movies of the early 2000s, but it turns out he was originally in the running for the lead role. James says he originally auditioned for the role of the superhero but was ultimately turned down.

“I auditioned for the role of Peter Parker for the first time, which went well. I then found out I didn’t get the part and I was disappointed,” he said called. “But then Sam Raimi, the director, called me and we got along so well, and he asked me [if I wanted] the role of Harry. Nobody else auditioned for the role.

4.Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio was once in the running for a Spider-Man movie that never got made. Director James Cameron reportedly submitted a script for what he later called “the best movie I’ve ever made” in the early ’90s. Leonardo says James approached him about the role and the two talked about it.

“I know at one point he was semi-serious,” Leonardo reportedly said Empire Magazine. “We’ve talked a few times. I think there was a script that I read, but I don’t remember. That was 20 years ago!”

5.Josh Hutcherson

Josh Hutcherson was once considered for the role of Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man. At the time, Josh said he was honored to be shortlisted knowing how many people had applied for the role.

“I did what any actor my age did for this role. It’s something so big that, to be honest, it’s hard to imagine. The fact that I’m on the list with some of the people who are on the list — I’m amazed they put me on that ‘shortlist,'” he said Weekly entertainment. “I think it’s really cool to be put in the same category by the media as all the other people that are being considered. It really is a privilege.”

6. Joe Jonas

Joe Jonas thought he had a good chance of landing the role of Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man considering director Marc Webb had previously worked on music videos. Although he ultimately didn’t get the part, he agrees that Andrew Garfield was right for the part.

“I remember years ago I was craving Spider-Man and so, so excited, and it was the year Andrew Garfield got it. Obviously he was the right one. I remember that was a big deal back then, back for callbacks, and the director used to be a music video director. So I was like, ‘I came in here,'” he said on the Just for a change podcast.

7.Timothee Chalamet

Timothee Chalamet was in the running to play Peter Parker in recent Spider-Man films, but he was so nervous at his first audition that he wanted to ask him to read again – but his agent convinced him to do it to foresee.

“I read it twice and left sweating in total panic. I called my agent [UTA’s] Brian Swardstrom and I said, “Brian, I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I need to go back and knock on the door and read it again,” and he told me the story of Sean Young and how he tried to be Catwoman “has all deterred when she showed up in disguise outside the studio gates,” he said The Hollywood Reporter.

8. Asa Butterfield

Asa Butterfield was also up for the role of Spider-Man in the recent reboot, but ultimately didn’t get it. Looking back, he says he really wanted the part, but later got Sex Ed and wouldn’t have been able to do either project anyway.

“Every now and then there is a part [that you really want] And it’s a script that you love and you put your whole heart and soul into it and you don’t get it. And it’s hard and it sucks, but I often find that something even better comes out of it in the end. And so in the case of Spider-Man, I did Sex Ed because I wouldn’t have been able to do both at the same time,” he shared colliders.

He added: “Tom did amazing things with Peter and he had a completely different portrayal of him and I think it worked so well in universe and in this part and I don’t think I could pull it off. So I think everything. In the end it works out.”

9. Tom Cruise

In fact, Tom Cruise has been in talks to play Spider-Man more than once. He was first cast in the role in the ’80s, but the film was eventually shelved. Then, recently, Tom considered playing Spidey in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, although the plot ultimately changed.

“So there was a whole period of time where Miles wasn’t learning what Spider-Man was like from a comic but by watching the movies. Miles’ universe featured a movie version of a movie about Spider-Man “It was a real Spider-Man, but it was a James Cameron-directed movie with Tom Cruise as Spidey. Yes. Spidey. And it was James Cameron and Spidey and Tom Cruise in the tone,” said screenwriter Rodney Rothman SlashMovie.