12 Actors You Won't Believe Almost Played Iconic Comic Book Characters

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy was hugely important in ushering in the current era of superhero flicks, but it nearly had someone very different at the heart of it.

Not only was James Cameron primed to make a Spider-Man movie a few years before Raimi, Leo DiCaprio was ready to star. Talks apparently didn’t get too far, although there was a screenplay floating around.

Tobey Maguire was given the role eventually when Cameron’s project fell through and Raimi’s version came to pass. Maguire is one of DiCaprio’s closest friends in real life and went on the make the role his own.

Maguire’s performance as Spidey is still many peoples’ favourite, with prescreening reviews of Far From Home praising Tom Holland for capturing some of the Maguire magic.

Maguire and DiCaprio later teamed up for The Great Gatsby, proving to be a dynamic duo and that there were no hard feelings. Given how DiCaprio’s career went following the Spider-Man snub, he probably hasn’t held a grudge over it.

With Raimi’s trilogy doing so well at the box office and retaining a cult popularity to this day, it’s difficult to think DiCaprio could have improved it, despite his obvious talent.