Tom Cruise
Yes, Tom Cruise was also considered to portray Spider-Man, and he was in the running more recently than you might think. The screen icon was reportedly discussed as a potential hero for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, according to SlashFilm. His role would have been an educational one for the movie’s main hero Miles Morales.
“So there was a whole period of time where Miles, rather than learning about being Spider-Man from a comic book, learned it from watching the films. There was a movie version of a movie about Spider-Man in Miles’ universe about the real person Spider-Man, but it was a James Cameron-directed movie with Tom Cruise as Spidey. Yes. Spidey. And it was James Cameron and Spidey and Tom Cruise on the audio,” screenwriter Rodney Rothman explained.
Interestingly, that was the second time Tom almost played the character. He was also in talks to tackle the role in the ’80s. However, the movie got scrapped.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Before Tobey even suited up to become Spidey, famed director James Cameron was working on a movie about the hero. In 2021, he referred to the project as the one that got away, saying it was “the greatest movie I never made” (via Polygon). Who was in the running for the role? None other than Leonardo DiCaprio.
He revealed that he “had a couple of chats” about the movie with James in the ’90s. Despite missing out, Leonardo wasn’t too let down, saying that he didn’t think “anything would have changed” for him professionally with the part to his name.
Photos: Columbia Pictures/Marvel, Getty Posted to: auditions, Casting, EG, evergreen, Extended, Marvel, Movies, Slideshow, Sony, Spider Man