Spider-Man is arguably the single greatest character Stan-Lee ever created. With an influence that reaches across the entire globe, it was always a matter of time before everyone’s favorite wall-crawler made the leap from comic books to movie theaters. Between the original three Sam Raimi films, two underrated Andrew Garfield movies, and the current MCU incarnation of the character, pretty much everyone has seen a Spider-Man movie at some point in their life. For some Spidey fans, though, just watching the movies isn’t enough. They have to know every geeky little detail about any film featuring the Ol’ Webhead.
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In honor of that kind of fanatical devotion to Marvel’s arachnid avenger, here’s a list of little-known Spider-Man movie facts only hard-core Spider-Nerds know about. You might recognize one or two entries on the list, but only the most spectacular fans will know all these amazing movie secrets…
Toby Maguire Really Caught All That Food
If you’ve ever seen Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man (2002), then you’re most likely familiar with the cafeteria scene where Peter Parker catches a flying lunch tray and all of its contents without dropping a single item. It’s a great scene that does a good job of showing the audience how Peter’s new spider-powers work. It was also done practically with no CGI.
According to everyone involved with the shooting of the scene, it took Tobey Maguire 156 takes over the course of 16 hours to catch everything on the tray perfectly. That seems like an awful lot of effort for a five-second shot, but it just shows how devoted Maguire is to his craft.
Spider-Man Broke an Opening Weekend Record at the Box Office
Spider-Man’s journey from page to screen wasn’t easy. James Cameron and the now defunct Carolco Pictures were developing a big-budget, live-action Spider-Man movie as early as 1991, but for too many reasons to list here, the film never got past the planning stages. It did, however, get far enough to require litigation that spanned several years until Sony got the Spider-Man film rights in 1999. From there, they sunk somewhere around $139 million into their first Spider-Man film at a time when superheroes were hardly the proven moneymakers they are today.
That gamble paid off, though, when Spider-Man became the first movie in history to make over $100 million in its opening weekend, breaking the previous opening record of $90.3 million set the previous year by Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone.
Sam Raimi Was Forced to Switch out the Vulture for Venom in Spider-Man 3
The Vulture is one of Spider-Man’s oldest foes, debuting all the way back in Amazing Spider-Man #2 (May 1963) – so it’s kind of surprising that the winged menace didn’t make it into a movie until Spider-Man: Homecoming kicked off the third live-action Spider-Man franchise in 2017. The blame for that goes to Venom — or rather, producer Avi Arad’s insistence on shoehorning Venom into Sam Raimi’s third Spider-Man movie.
Being a fan of the ’60/’70s era of Spider-Man comics that he grew up with, Sam Raimi was all set to bring none other than Sir Ben Kingsley on board as the Vulture in Spider-Man 3, when Arad demanded he also include Venom in the movie somewhere. Raimi, not wanting the movie to be too overcrowded, was forced to jettison the Vulture altogether in order to fit Venom into the story, a move Arad now agrees was the wrong call.
Mary Jane Was Cut From Amazing Spider-Man 2
When Sony decided to reboot their Spider-Man franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012, they made an effort to distance themselves from the previous movies by making Gwen Stacy Peter Parker’s love interest instead of Mary Jane. When it came time to develop The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Sony wanted to include a Mary Jane cameo in order to set up a potential love triangle for the series’ inevitable third installment. Scenes featuring actress Shailene Woodley as MJ were filmed but ultimately cut from the final film.
According to director Marc Webb, having Mary Jane in the already crowded ASM2 was just too much, and her part was cut out in order to streamline the movie and focus more on Peter and Gwen. Speaking of crowded…
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Was Supposed to Set Up Several Spinoffs
Even without the addition of Mary Jane, most fans would argue that there is entirely too much going on in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. That’s because, much like Warner Bros., Sony saw what the MCU accomplished with The Avengers and wanted to replicate that success as quickly as possible. That meant cramming several dangling threads into ASM2 in hopes of planting the seeds for an eventual Spider-Man Cinematic Universe.
The spinoffs Sony hoped to get from the movie include a Sinister Six movie, a Black Cat solo movie, and a Venom film, among others. After The Amazing Spider-Man 2 underperformed at the box office, Sony pulled the plug on any future movies connected to the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man universe.
The MCU’s Ned Leeds is Based on a Completely Different Comic Book Character
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is the first to have a BFF who doesn’t end up trying to kill him — at least not yet. That’s an honest possibility in the future, given that comic book Ned Leeds ends up being one of several people to adopt the mantle of the Hobgoblin, a Spider-Man villain introduced in the 1980s. Lucky for Holland’s Spidey, his Ned Leeds isn’t actually based on the comic book Ned, but another Spider-Man character: Ganke Lee.
Both Ned and Ganke are Asian Americans with similar body types and an affinity for computers and Legos. The biggest difference is that Ganke is Miles Morales’ best bud — possibly one of the reasons he was given a different character’s name for the MCU.
All the Spider-Man Couples Dated in Real Life
Starting with a year-long fling between Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst during the filming of the first Spider-Man movie, every live-action Spider-pairing has ended in real-life romance. The next couple — Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone — faired better, managing to stretch their on-set romance into a four-year relationship. Unlike the romantic leads in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker and Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy had a believable onscreen chemistry bolstered by the real-life sparks flying behind the scenes. But while Garfield and Stone may have seemed like a couple’s goals, their relationship has nothing on Tom Holland and Zendaya.
While the couple have been notoriously private when it comes to their relationship, word got out earlier this year that Holland and Zendaya are officially engaged, proving that as far as Spider-Man movie relationships are concerned, the third time really is the charm.
Got any Spider-facts you think we missed? Let us know in the comments!
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Image Credit: Warner Bros.
