“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” finally brought the concept of the multiverse to the big-screen Spider-Man lore, rounding up a ragtag team of Spidey variants from different universes. Naturally, fans were hopeful that the film would feature at least one of the three live-action Spider-Men played by Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, but that never came to be.
During a quarantine watch party in May 2020, “Into the Spider-Verse” co-producer Christopher Miller revealed through a post on Twitter (now X) that he and his creative team pitched to Sony executives an “ambitious tag” consisting of Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) and the three aforementioned live-action Spider-Men, but were told that it was “too soon.” This, of course, finally made sense to fans after seeing the trio united in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
The introduction of the Spider-Society in the sequel, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” allowed eagle-eyed fans to spot every iteration of the superhero that filled the Easter-egg-heavy world of the movie. While expectations of spotting the live-action Spider-Men mixing in with the other Spideys never materialized, the film does draw overt references to Maguire and Garfield’s films when Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac) demonstrates to Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) the concept of “canon events,” showing Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Men mourning the deaths of Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) and Captain Stacey (Dennis Leary), respectively.
A fun or meaningful cameo can add a lot to a movie, no matter how brief. That’s why a missed opportunity can seem so obvious that fans are left disappointed. Read More