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Tobey Maguire has been one of the finest castings by Sony to play a Marvel superhero, and no amount of debate can change that. Still regarded as the best actor to ever be chosen to play Spider-man, the charmingly talented celebrity is renowned for nailing every single role he has ever been assigned.
But while his firstSpider-Manmovie became a masterpiece in 2002 that called for further sequels, Maguire’s career in the franchise might’ve just ended there due to his physical health, with the movie’s director even consideringSpider-Man: No Way Homestar, Jake Gyllenhaal for the role.
The Time When Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man Career Nearly Ended
Also Read:“They’re all kind of impossible”: Andrew Garfield Throws Shades at Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire After $1.9 Billion Success With ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
This dates back to when Tobey Maguire’sSpider-Man 2was in the making. At that time, he had only just finished filming forSeabiscuitand was in excruciating back pain because of the injury he suffered on the movie sets. Due to this, his medical team was worried he might become paralyzed if he restarted swinging on wires for thesequel. Recalling the entire experience, Maguire said,
“First I was just disclosing it — you have to fill out insurance industry forms that say, ‘Do you have any back problems?’ This is something that I have to say, ‘Yeah, I have a condition.’ If something did happen — God forbid — and they investigated, they would learn that I knew I had back problems. If I didn’t disclose it I could get in trouble. I felt like I didn’t have a choice. I saw all the stunts I had to do for [Spider-Man 2]. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a lot. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do all that stuff.’”
Left with no other choice, Maguire ended up disclosing his terrible condition to his representatives. But that’s where the problem occurred because his representatives just might’ve exaggerated his physical condition.
Sam Raimi Considered Jake Gyllenhaal As Tobey Maguire’s Replacement
Also Read:“I misjudged the situation”: Marvel Director Entirely Deleted Tobey Maguire’s Scenes from $609M Movie for a Strange Reason Risking Spider-Man Star’s Explosive Outbursts
Sam Raimirecalls how Tobey Maguire’s representatives implied his condition to be more severe than it actually was. He said,
“It was implied if there was an injury on the set in one of these stunts, (Maguire) might become paralyzed permanently. I thought, ‘Well, I can’t make a movie about responsibility [and] then ask this kid to do something that might paralyze him.’ [I called Tobey to say] ‘It breaks my heart to say this … but I can’t work with you anymore.’ So it was a really weird, awful call. I think Tobey may not have known that someone suggested he might be paralyzed.”
Thus, Raimi ended up considering Tom Holland’sSpider-Man: No Way HomestarJake Gyllenhaalfor Maguire’s role. But another twist popped up here, judging how Tobey Maguire did end up bagging the award-winning role in the sequel as well.
How Did Tobey Maguire End Up Bagging The $27B Sony Franchise Sequel Anyways?
Also Read:After Spider-Man 4, Tobey Maguire’s Career Nightmare Was Losing $609M Movie That Won 4 Oscars: “I misjudged the situation”
After Sam Raimi’s call to him,Tobey Maguirehad a meeting with his doctors and was met with the revelation that he is actually fit enough to do the stunts in the sequel after all without getting paralyzed.
Of course, when the filmmaker got to know about this, he was ecstatic. And just like that Maguire ended up reprising (and nailing) his original character not only inSpider-Man 2but inSpider-Man 3andTom Holland‘sSpider-Man: No Way Homeas well.
You can stream theSpider-Mantrilogy on Disney+.
Source:Today
Mahin Sultan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2478
Mahin Sultan is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, where she brings a fresh perspective to entertainment news. Having been in the field for over 3 years now, she has already written more than 2,000 articles across a variety of niches, from entertainment to health and fashion. This diverse experience has allowed her to quickly build a solid foundation and a deep understanding of the industry.
