Tobey Maguire has been one of the finest castings by Sony to play a Marvel superhero, and no amount of debate can change that. Still regarded as the best actor to ever be chosen to play Spider-man, the charmingly talented celebrity is renowned for nailing every single role he has ever been assigned.
But while his first Spider-Man movie became a masterpiece in 2002 that called for further sequels, Maguire’s career in the franchise might’ve just ended there due to his physical health, with the movie’s director even considering Spider-Man: No Way Home star, Jake Gyllenhaal for the role.
The Time When Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man Career Nearly Ended
This dates back to when Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 2 was in the making. At that time, he had only just finished filming for Seabiscuit and was in excruciating back pain because of the injury he suffered on the movie sets. Due to this, his medical team was worried he might become paralyzed if he restarted swinging on wires for the sequel. Recalling the entire experience, Maguire said,
“First I was just disclosing it — you have to fill out insurance industry forms that say, ‘Do you have any back problems?’ This is something that I have to say, ‘Yeah, I have a condition.’ If something did happen — God forbid — and they investigated, they would learn that I knew I had back problems. If I didn’t disclose it I could get in trouble. I felt like I didn’t have a choice. I saw all the stunts I had to do for [Spider-Man 2]. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a lot. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do all that stuff.’”
Left with no other choice, Maguire ended up disclosing his terrible condition to his representatives. But that’s where the problem occurred because his representatives just might’ve exaggerated his physical condition.
Sam Raimi Considered Jake Gyllenhaal As Tobey Maguire’s Replacement
Sam Raimi recalls how Tobey Maguire’s representatives implied his condition to be more severe than it actually was. He said,
“It was implied if there was an injury on the set in one of these stunts, (Maguire) might become paralyzed permanently. I thought, ‘Well, I can’t make a movie about responsibility [and] then ask this kid to do something that might paralyze him.’ [I called Tobey to say] ‘It breaks my heart to say this … but I can’t work with you anymore.’ So it was a really weird, awful call. I think Tobey may not have known that someone suggested he might be paralyzed.”
Thus, Raimi ended up considering Tom Holland’s Spider-Man: No Way Home star Jake Gyllenhaal for Maguire’s role. But another twist popped up here, judging how Tobey Maguire did end up bagging the award-winning role in the sequel as well.
How Did Tobey Maguire End Up Bagging The $27B Sony Franchise Sequel Anyways?
After Sam Raimi’s call to him, Tobey Maguire had a meeting with his doctors and was met with the revelation that he is actually fit enough to do the stunts in the sequel after all without getting paralyzed.
Of course, when the filmmaker got to know about this, he was ecstatic. And just like that Maguire ended up reprising (and nailing) his original character not only in Spider-Man 2 but in Spider-Man 3 and Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man: No Way Home as well.
You can stream the Spider-Man trilogy on Disney+.
Source: Today
