5 Surprising Cinematic Universes (And 5 Which Never Got Off The Ground)

Within the past two decades, Spider-Man has appeared in three different film franchises, and the character has been played by three different actors: Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland.

Following Maguire's three-part portrayal of Spider-Man, and prior to Holland's performances within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony rebooted the franchise with Garfield as the bespectacled teenage superhero.

While The Amazing Spider-Man did well both critically and commercially, and Garfield did receive considerable praise for his performance, the consequent sequel underperformed at the box-office.

Initially, Garfield's Spider-Man had been set to star in four films in total, and spin-offs focused on Venom and Sinister Six were meant to be released alongside the proposed sequels. Even a prequel centered on Aunt May was briefly considered. However, as an unfortunate consequence of the sequel's financial underperformance, this slew of planned sequels, spin-offs, and prequels were dropped.

Ultimately, the character was re-imagined, and a new version of Spider-Man entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Maguire and Garfield's performances were well-received upon release, Holland's Spider-Man is now deservedly considered the greatest cinematic iteration of the character thus far.