By Erin Free
What Happened? “To all those cab drivers in New York,” Jake Gyllenhaal laughed to the UK’s Daily Telegraph in 2009, “I am not Spider-Man.” The actor did, however, come very close to donning the blue-and-red spandex in 2004. Since his breakthrough role in the 2001 cult hit, Donnie Darko, Gyllenhaal had been compared to his contemporary, Tobey Maguire, in both appearance, and their habit of picking interesting film roles. So when it looked like Maguire may have been unable to reprise his role of angst-ridden young photographer, Peter Parker – alias masked crime fighter, Spider-Man – in director Sam Raimi’s sequel to his 2002 smash hit, studio Sony made moves to have him replaced by Gyllenhaal. Though Raimi was desperate to keep Maguire in the role, the actor had damaged his back during his physically demanding role as jockey, Red Pollard, in the real life drama, Seabiscuit, and it was doubtful that he could recover in time for Spider-Man 2’s set-in-stone start date. Gyllenhaal – who was then in a romantic relationship with Spider-Man co-star, Kirsten Dunst – was controversially announced as Maguire’s replacement, but at the eleventh hour, Maguire’s doctors pronounced him fit to start web-slinging again. In a tasty slice of irony, Gyllenhaal and Maguire ended up playing warring siblings in Jim Sheridan’s bruising 2009 drama, Brothers. “It was great working with Jake,” Maguire replied to FilmInk when asked about his interesting history with his co-star. “I loved the idea of us playing brothers. He’s a talented actor.” Jake Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, was far more forthright. “Our relationship definitely was awkward but respectful,” he said. “Being used in one way or another on either side made it awkward.”
Would It Have Worked? Jake Gyllenhaal is a fine actor, but there’s always something a little unpalatable about an actor being replaced in the middle of a franchise. While his casting is unlikely to have derailed the critical and commercial success of the Spider-Man films, it certainly would’ve diminished the warmth and good will that surrounded Sam Raimi’s terrific comic book adaptations. There also wouldn’t have been an inspiration for the hilarious Aquaman debacle story arc in the in-the-know Hollywood based TV series, Entourage…
