20 Easter Eggs In Spider-Man Films You Didn't Notice

14. Bill Paxton's Dad Cameos As Norman Osborne's Groundskeeper (Spider-Man 1, 2 & 3)

Bill Paxton was originally one of the shortlisted actors to play Norman Osborne, and is widely believed to be the actor who Willem Dafoe managed to wrangle the role away from at the last minute. While Bill himself didn't make the cut, his father, the late John Paxton, snagged the part of Osborne's elderly groundskeeper, appearing in all three of the Raimi Spider-Man movies in small roles. Paxton is no stranger to the director, though, having appeared prior in his 1998 thriller A Simple Plan, and subsequently having small parts in both Drag Me to Hell and Oz the Great and Powerful. This is particularly interesting because John Paxton was not a career actor: he worked for five decades in the lumber trade before turning his attentions to the film industry at the age of 70. He never had more than a small number of brief roles, though clearly disarmed Raimi enough to be placed in so many of his movies.