James Cameron is one of the biggest directors in Hollywood. He has a respectable reputation with a filmography many can only dream of achieving. Having made one of the most successful franchises in the world, the director has collected a lot of accolades throughout his career. Even with such an immense amount of fame, there can be times when even Cameron does not get what he wants.
Spider-Man is one of the most iconic superhero characters in the world. Standing next to massive superheroes such as Batman, Superman, Iron Man, and Captain America, there is also Spider-Man. Peter Parker also happens to be the superhero Cameron had his eyes set on when he wanted to make a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the Webslinger. However, it was the fact that he wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger to play Otto Octavius in the film that seemed even more interesting.
James Cameron Wanted to Make a Spider-Man Movie
Cannon Films had the rights to Spider-Man as a character for a long time, since 1985. Producer Menahem Golan and his production company were in charge of any project that was to come into being related to the Webslinger. However, the tides turned when Cannon Films went bankrupt in 1990. From then on, the rights of the character went to Carolco. James Cameron’s interest in wanting to create a movie surrounding the character seemed to excite the production company.
They have previously worked with him on projects such as Terminator 2. So to have him work with them again was not an opportunity they were willing to miss. Once wanting to make an X-Men film, as per The Reign of Marvel, the director’s attention diverted to the character of Peter Parker. In his eyes, no one was better to play the role than Catch Me If You Can star Leonardo DiCaprio. However, that was not the only big star he had in mind.
James Cameron Almost Cast Arnold Schwarzenegger
Leonardo DiCaprio was not the only actor who was rumored to be a part of James Cameron’s Spider-Man movie. It is an unfortunate reality that fans will never see the vision that Cameron had prepared for the film because it also included Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Reign of Marvel, the film had similar rights to Terminator 2, meaning that Cameron had the final word whenever it came to anything related to production credits.
Once the director had prepared a plot summary combined with a set of dialogues, better termed a scriptment, his vision had a particular villain in mind. As per the book, it stated that Schwarzenegger was actually set out to play the iconic villain of Otto Octavius, better known as his antagonistic alias, Doctor Octopus.
