In the '90s, Marvel went through some financial issues (even declaring bankruptcy at one point), and Michael Jackson emerged as a potential buyer. Stan Lee has revealed that the troubled singer wanted to play Spider-Man in a movie, but Jackson would later lobby for a role in Bryan Singer's X-Men as Professor X. Franchise producer Ralph Winter revealed this interesting fact back in 2011, and mentioned that basketball player Shaquille O'Neal had also pushed hard to be included in the adaptation. It's lucky that neither of these ultimately panned out as it's hard to imagine the franchise finding success with these two.
