10 Amazing Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN Trilogy

10 Amazing Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN Trilogy

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy introduced the world to a groundbreaking new type of superhero movie, but the story behind its rise and fall is even more peculiar and interesting than you ever realised...

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By JoshWilding - Apr 19, 2016 08:04 AM EST
Filed Under: Spider-Man
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When Spider-Man was released in 2002, it redefined what superhero movies could and should be. Featuring incredible special effects which actually allowed the wall-crawler to swing through the skies of New York City, the movie kicked off a tilogy which may have ended witha fizzle rather than a bang, but remains one of the best things to ever happen to the genre.

Released long before adaptations like this were scrutinised from day one of production until the day of release, the story behind this trilogy is even more spectacular than you could have ever imagined, and the rise and fall of the franchise makes it one of the most interesting tales in Hollywood. What you'll find here in an in-depth look at he most fascinating and amazing facts about Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies...

10. Spider-Man 2 Was Nearly One Of The Worst CBMs Ever

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Even all these years later, Spider-Man 2 is still widely considered one of the best superhero movies ever released. However, things could have panned out very differently. When the co-creators of the unsatisfactory Smallville were brought in to write the screenplay for the sequel, the draft which Sony were given - which David Koepp had also taken a crack at at that point - included Doctor Octopus, The Lizard, Black Cat, and the Harry Osborn version of Green Goblin. Michael Chabon later simplified things by dropping three of those villains, but still made some controversial changes to the source material.

Doctor Octopus would have been the same age as Peter Parker and been involved with a love triangle with Mary Jane Watson. It gets worse though, as he was also going to be revealed as the creator of the spider that bit Peter, and after the accident which fused those tentacles to him, he would decide to try and cure himself by... stealing Peter Parker's spine. Really. As you can imagine, Sam Raimi wasn't in the least bit pleased with what he was seeing and completely rewrote the script with Alvin Sargent. While the trio above earned story credits, it's pretty clear that very little of what they envisioned for Spider-Man ended up in the sequel.

9. Why Sam Raimi Left The Franchise

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Why didn't Spider-Man 4 happen? The franchise had been a huge success up until that point and all the key cast members were set to return, so the signs were pointing to the movie actually happening. Despite all of that, the film was cancelled by Sony in January 2010. The reason for that ultimately boiled down to the script. A number of different screenwriters took a crack at it (including James Vanderbilt, David Koepp, David Lindsay-Abaire, and Gary Ross) and, four drafts later, director Sam Raimi still hated it.

Unhappy with the direction the story was taking - and frazzled from being forced to add characters and story beats he didn't want to in Spider-Man 3 - the filmmaker walked away from the project in what has since been described as an amicable parting. Raimi has said that he envisioned Spider-Man 4 as being his grand finale, but unsure he could meet that 2011 release date, both he and the studio decided it was for the best to just scrap it.

Scrap it they did, and what followed was a divisive reboot in 2012. Had Raimi stuck around, the franchise would have gone in a very different direction - there was even talk at one point of Vanderbilt writing Spider-Man 5 and 6 for Raimi to shoot back-to-back!

8. A Two-Part Spider-Man 3

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Spider-Man 3 was a big movie. Over 1000 people worked on it altogether, and even that horrendous jazz bar scene took two weeks to film (now that's what I call a complete and utter waste of time). Eventually, the threequel got so out of hand that there was talk of splitting it in two.

The reason for this can be traced back to the first draft of the script which was written by Sam Raimi's brother Ivan. It featured Sandman, The Vulture, and the new Green Goblin, but Eddie Brock had only a very minor role in that and Venom was nowhere to be seen. Until producer Avi Arad forced him into the movie that is. Raimi objected but was forced into it - despite not being a fan of the character - and Alvin Sargent was brought in to rewrite. From the very start it was a very crowded movie, but as Arad continued to force Raimi to add more characters, the director decided that the best way to tell this story was to split the whole thing in two.

The only reason that didn't happen was because he couldn't find a point in the movie where a break would feel natural or satisfactory to moviegoers. As a result, we were left with the crowded and messy Spider-Man 3.

7. Spider-Man's Stolen Costume

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In one of the most iconic moments in Sam Raimi's trilogy, Peter Parker ditches his costume in a garbage can and leaves his Spider-Man identity behind (in another bit of trivia for you, the alleyway that happened in was supposed to be the same one in which he and Mary Jane shared a kiss in the first movie). That scene recreated the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #50, but the hobo who finds it and later offers it to J. Jonah Jameson was a nod to a very strange incident on set.

During the first movie's production, four of Spider-Man's costumes were mysteriously stolen. As you might imagine, they weren't cheap to make (each one was valued at $50,000) and their disappearance nearly threw the movie into chaos, so Sony went ahead and offered a $25,000 reward for their return. An 18 month investigation followed, and the suits were ultimately tracked down to New York, Los Angeles...and Japan!

The culprit was a security guard who had worked on Spider-Man for a brief spell, and after he and a friend were arrested for the theft, it was discovered that this wasn't the first time he had nabbed a superhero's costume. The thief was also responsible for stealing a Batman costume worth $150,000 while working a security job on the Warner Bros. lot. The costumes were all eventually returned to the studios they hailed from and this security guard went straight to jail.

6. Sam Raimi v Danny Elfman

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When it was revealed that Danny Elfman had contributed to the score of Avengers: Age of Ultron, many of us jumped to the conclusion that he must have been hired by Marvel to create a new theme for Spider-Man. After all, his work went a long way in establishing the tone of Sam Raimi's trilogy, so no one would have blamed Kevin Feige for turning to him to do the same again. Spider-Man of cource wasn't in that movie.

In fact, Elfman is probably still trying to forget his time working on this character as it sounds like he had a pretty hellish time during the production of the 2004 sequel. It was so bad that the composer initially refused to refused to return for the third instalment, with only Christopher Young was credited when the movie came out. Young also worked on Spider-Man 2, and it's widely believe that he was brought in to change some of Elfman's work, hence why it's generally accepted that the composer had a big falling out with Raimi.

When asked about his relationship with the director, Elfman has  been quoted as saying: "To see such a profound negative change in a human being was almost enough to make me feel like I didn’t want to make films anymore." Ouch!

5. Spider-Man And Spider-Man 2's Rushed Production Schedule

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It's rare for movies to be shot back to back, and pretty much unheard of in the superhero movie genre. However, long before Marvel had big plans of shooting an epic two parter like Avengers: Infinity War in one go, Sam Raimi beat them to it as there was literally no break in development between Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. While the actors had a small amount of time to go and do other films (Tobey Maguire did Seabiscuit and Kirsten Dunst squeezed in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Sam Raimi never stopped working.

The production team continued working in order to get the sequel out by 2004, and producer Laura Sizkin revealed that she had only a week off between the two movies, while Raimi didn't have so much as a single day's break. Spider-Man 2 was released during a time when it was rare for sequels to be good, and between this unconventional production schedule and the aforementioned script issues, it's a miracle that it avoided being an unmitigated disaster!

It was in fact so successful that Sony would later release a popular extended cut, Spider-Man 2.1. This featured eight minutes of new footage, including never before seen action beats. Spider-Man 2 in fact remains one of only a handful of superhero movies to get a Director's Cut!

4. Wolverine's Aborted Cameo

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Hugh Jackman has been playing Wolverine for more than 15 years now, but will finally retire from the role in 2017. The actor has frequently talked about his desire to see his iconic mutant team up with other characters from the Marvel Universe, but with only a year left to go before he hangs up the claws for good, the chances of that ever happening are looking very slim.

However, had things worked out, Jackman was going to make a brief appearance as Wolverine in Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man movie. The actor has revealed that it was only going to be as minor as a walk on or joke of some sort, but it ultimately didn't happen - despite the fact that both he and the production were in New York City at the same time - because no one could find his Wolverine suit!

It's infuriating to think that we were robbed of what would still now be one of the all-time great comic book movie Easter Eggs because some of the movie's producers couldn't get their sh*t together and find that damn costume. Still, it should come as no surprise to learn whose idea this was; then producer Kevin Feige, the man who has since created the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is President of Marvel Stuidos. Even back then, he was dreaming up crossovers...

3. The Crazy Plans For Spider-Man 4

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If you thought Spider-Man 3 was bad, Spider-Man 4 would have taken the awfulness factor to another level. The success of the third instalment meant that a fourth was dated for May 6th, 2011, but it failed to ever escape development hell despite the fact that Raimi was signed on to direct and both Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst would have reprised their roles. Dylan Baker was expected to finally transform into The Lizard (something fans had been dying to see since Curt Connors was first introduced), but failing to learn from the mistakes they made with part three, Sony once again wanted to cram this movie with villains.

Joining Lizard would have been The Vulture, as played by John Malkovitch. Oh, and Felicia Hardy - better known as Black Cat - was also expected to appear. Sounds pretty good, right? Well, here's where things get weird. Afraid of comparisons to Catwoman, Sony decided to turn Felicia into Vulturess, the daughter of The Vulture. That led to an uproar from fans desperate to see one of Spider-Man's best love interests accurately portrayed. Raimi claimed years later that she was always going to be Black Cat, but - regardless - this movie still would have had too many villains.

2. Sony Wasted A LOT Of Money On Spider-Man 3...

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After Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3 came as a crushing disappointment. Despite having all the right ingredients for success on the surface, the Sam Raimi who directed this third instalment of the franchise was not the same one who breathed life into Peter Parker in the two preceding movies. Much of that can be blamed on the script of course, but at the end of the day it's a movie with few redeeming qualities.

Regardless of how it turned out though, Spider-Man 3 was still a very big production. As a result, it had a budget of $258 million, a figure which at the time made it the most expensive film ever made. Thanks to the similarly bloated Pirates of Caribbean: At World’s End though (which cost $300 million), it held onto the record for only three weeks!

Spending that much did pay off for Sony, as Spider-Man 3 ultimately grossed over $890 million. Their profit might not be as much as you think though; industry experts have since calculated that the budget was more than likely closer to the $350 million range thanks to lengthy reshoots and the technology which was created to bring the Sandman to life (the official story remains that it cost $258 million). Sony later tried a similar tactic in terms of spending big in the hopes of earning big with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but that would backfire when the movie underperformed. But hey, that led to Spidey being able to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so bad news for them ended up being good news for everyone else...

1. Jake Gyllenhaal: Spider-Man

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Oh, what might have been! Despite the fact that Spider-Man 2 went into production almost immediately after Spider-Man finished shooting, Tobey Maguire still managed to squeeze in a well-received turn in Seabiscuit. However, the actor hurt his back shooting that movie, and seeing as he was also looking for a raise of $4 million for the sequel, Sony came very close to recasting him. Their top choice? Jake Gyllenhaal.

The tabloids at the time had a field day with this one because Gyllenhaal was dating Kirsten Dunst. They spun it so that it sounded like Maguire was being pushed out because the studio wanted Dunst's new boyfriend, but he recovered from that injury sooner than expected and ended up scoring a cool $17 million for returning. The sequel even referenced his injury in the scene which saw a powerless Peter fall from the sky and land on a car, complaining about his back as he limped away.

That wasn't it for Gyllenhaal though. Years later when it looked like Maguire had decided against playing Spider-Man for a fourth time, his name once again started doing the rounds. While the movie eventually never came to pass, Maguire did sign on in the end, leading to the Southpaw and Nightcrawler star missing out on the role for a second time. Perhaps that's why he's never starred in a superhero movie? Doctor Strange and Suicide Squad's Rick Flagg are among the roles he's been considered for and seemingly passed on in recent years...

Which of these Spider-Man facts is your favourite? Have we missed any big ones? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

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Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 4/19/2016, 8:37 AM
I heard about the whole Doc Ock lizard, black cat, and harry as the goblin thing. I mentioned it in my article "The Tragedy Of The Amazing Spider-Man Franchise"

#Shamelessplug

cbostont102
cbostont102 - 4/19/2016, 9:01 AM
@Mrcool210 - But no link?
cbostont102
cbostont102 - 4/19/2016, 9:17 AM
@Mrcool210 - thanks. i'll give it a read.
SuperCat
SuperCat - 4/19/2016, 8:38 AM
<<<<<<<<<<<

Next!
Shanksman
Shanksman - 4/19/2016, 8:39 AM
Goddamnit Josh, you're still using the "next" button? Do you really give no fcks to the loyal fanbase of cbm.com? I'm actually interested in what you wrote, but I ain't pressing that button!
webheaded
webheaded - 4/19/2016, 8:39 AM
I'm really excited for this new iteration of Spidey, especially since he's in the Avengers' universe. But in my mind this will always be the quintessential Spider-Man
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 4/19/2016, 8:39 AM
Just because Doc Ock, Lizard, & Black Cat in the first draft; doesn't mean Spidey 2 would have been shit.

Dark Knight had Joker, Maroni, Scarecrow, & Two-Face.
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 4/19/2016, 8:40 AM
@LEVITIKUZ - Written by the guys who wrote Smallville though....They can't even get one villain right, imagine 4.
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 4/19/2016, 8:46 AM
@Mrcool210 - Yea but Raimi was director. All the villains in the Raimi series were great except Venom who is shit anyways.
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 4/19/2016, 8:54 AM
@LEVITIKUZ - Venom sucked in Spider-Man 3 because Sam Raimi wrote that script and didn't get Venom, the character in that movie is what I refer to as Black Carnage. He pretty much acts more like Carnage then Venom, Eddie Brock Venom can be interesting, but you needed someone who actually got his character in order to do him right.
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 4/19/2016, 8:59 AM
@Mrcool210 - Venom can't be interesting be he isn't. Neither is Eddie. Eddie has never been interesting. Nor Mac when he was Venom.

What makes Venom interesting is the symobite. Not the host unless it's Flash.

It's like the opposite of the Lantern rings.
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 4/19/2016, 9:03 AM
@LEVITIKUZ - But Venom (with Eddie) Can be done in an interesting way, he wasn't very interesting at first sure, but since then they added more to him, they could really play off of Eddies [frick]ed up sense of justice, where he sees himself as a good person who wants to help and Spider-Man as the evil one, a guy who if fighting spider-man and someone innocent ended up in danger, would stop the fight to make sure they were okay. You could really delve into a character like that, but too many writers see him as just some roaring monster and write him the wrong way.
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 4/19/2016, 9:07 AM
@Mrcool210 - Eddie's motive was stupid in the comics.

>Dude finds out Sin Eater's name from shady source
>Dude publishes it
>Spidey catches real Sin Eater
>Brock fired
>Brock hates Spidey

It's stupid. Venom would be a far more interesting character of Eddie was just some good person who got caught by the symbiote & the symbiote takes control of him using his body as a host. Eddie shouldn't have any say. The symobite is far more interesting than Eddie.
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 4/19/2016, 9:12 AM
@LEVITIKUZ - Yes....that is stupid, i'm not denying that, but a lot of characters were vastly different and not as interesting when they first started.

I'm not saying you have to follow the story exactly with Eddie and Venom, but there are ways you could take the character, look at his skewed sense of justice and his feelings toward spider-man and really get a good character out of it, like maybe have him be a good person like you say, who wants to use the symbiote to do good, but his hatred for spider-man and what he did to his career only makes the symbiote stronger.

Hell you could take insipiration from later comics where eddie saw the symboite like an addiction, like cocaine.

Guess i'm just saying he's not a lost cause like some characters, he has stayed relevant for good reasons, sure one of them was flash, but if eddie didn't have interesting aspects to him he'd be long gone by now.
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 4/19/2016, 9:24 AM
@Mrcool210 - I've always found the only way to make Eddie interesting is be a bit Two-Face influenced.

My take would have Peter meet Eddie in college. They met a bit after Gwen's death. Peter doesn't talk to Harry bc everytime he sees his face, he sees the face of the man who took Gwen away. During this time, we have black suit Spidey

Eddie and Peter become close and good friends. I even had this idea where in a semester after, Eddie meets MJ (intro to MJ) and dates her. I thought of it after, and I kid you not, I saw this girl around campus who was fine who I'd talk to and found out her BF was my lab partner in a class who I'm friends with lol. If it can happen to me, it can happen to Parker luck.

Don't worry, there is no love triangle. After losing Gwen, Peter wouldn't want to seperate anyone. And when Pete is with MJ, Venom won't be a love sick puppy. So anyway somehow the symbiote goes to Eddie after Peter rejected it. The symbiote wanted to take someone from Peter and use them as a prisoner. Eddie is trapped & can't fight. He's in a coma like state since the symbiote is using his body as a host. We keep seeing Peter try to save Eddie like Bats tries with Two-Face so we can someday see the return of a character we all grew to love who under certain circumstances became bad. I wanted Venom to both be evil and sympathetic. The alien is evil while Eddie is sympathetic.

I also thought because of how long the ooze was on Peter, it grew more and more powerful. Because of this, Separating it from Eddie is near impossible.

I wanted Venom to be more of a horror figure and think I somewhat succeeded
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 4/19/2016, 9:25 AM
Also I looked at Peter's origin. My venom is really "what if the spider bite took control of Peter?"

My Venom is the answer to that question.
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 4/19/2016, 9:31 AM
@LEVITIKUZ - That actually sounds pretty good, If I was doing a Spider-Man series with Venom in it (Which would come much later, Man Spider would be the first big storyline I did) I would probably use Venom to explore their senses of morality. And what power can do to a person, someone like peter the symbiote tried to corrupt him but failed, despite its intoxicating power, however with Eddie it was successful, them finding their common ground in Spider-Man.

But if this exact story that you posted is what we got in a Spider-Man movie, I would be all for it.

Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 4/19/2016, 9:32 AM
The Whole man Spider story being done in a way to explore the whole "what if the spider bite took control of peter" like you did. Guess great minds think alike.
SpideyVenom3DS
SpideyVenom3DS - 4/19/2016, 9:37 AM
@LEVITIKUZ - the only time they did a good venom was the spectacular spiderman cartoon of the ultimate comics version
Toonstrack
Toonstrack - 4/19/2016, 10:29 AM
@LEVITIKUZ - I disagree. The 'sworn enemies' 'foils' dynamic can be done very well if written right, and that is exactly what Eddie Brock has with Peter. The Symbiote only adds another layer to it with the fact that Eddie's rivalry is combined with the symbiote's hate and knowledge of Spider-Man to make a truly threatening villain. It kind of reminds me of Joker and Batman in a way, where the villain is sworn enemies with the hero and yet knows and understand him better than anybody else possibly could.
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 4/19/2016, 8:39 AM
Oh and by the way @Joshwilding

It was so bad that the composer initially refused to refused to return


So he said no....to saying no to returning?
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 4/19/2016, 8:42 AM
@JoshWilding

Should have added Sir Ben Kingsley verbally agreed to play Vulture in Spidey 3
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 4/19/2016, 8:42 AM
Although I did know all of these facts, I love bringing up the one with all of the different villains in Spider-Man 2 to people, always freaks them out. And makes them hate Avi Arad even more since he's the one who wanted them all in there.
Termin8er
Termin8er - 4/19/2016, 11:42 AM
@Mrcool210 - That one blew my mind the most. Usually I hear about these little facts somewhere and somehow, but this one was news to me. Spiderman 2 is one of my favorite CBM's ever, and it shocked me to find out it was almost a complete disaster. Also, imagine if Arad hadn't interfered and Spiderman 3 was good? With only Sandman and New Goblin as the villains and Eddie Brock in a minor role (which probably would've meant they wouldn't force the whole symbiote storyline either), it could have been amazing, and then in Spiderman 4 we would finally get Lizard and Venom as the villains for an epic conclusion to an epic series. So sad.
DUCKBOY
DUCKBOY - 4/19/2016, 8:43 AM
unsatisfactory Smallville ???? What the poop is that! Smallville wasn't that bad at the time
DR3D
DR3D - 4/19/2016, 8:44 AM
Columbia Pictures bought the rights to Spider-man because of the success of another comic book movie, which was.......... Men in Black
DR3D
DR3D - 4/19/2016, 8:48 AM
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