When Tobey Maguire almost got fired from iconic Spider-Man trilogy after faking a set injury to get salary raise; Here's what happened

Revisiting the time when Sony had allegedly fired Tobey Maguire from Spider-Man and was going to replace him with Jake Gyllenhaal. Continue reading to know why!

By Nayanika Das

Updated on Apr 08, 2024 | 12:00 PM IST | 1.2M

Tobey Maguire(IMDb)

Sony had fired Tobey Maguire when the actor was essaying the role of Peter Parker in Spider-Man, according to a Variety report. As per the report, the producers had fired him because he was suspected of having faked an injury to negotiate a bigger salary. The success of Spider-Man quickly catapulted Maguire to becoming one of the biggest stars of his time.

Tobey Maguire

Details of the rifts between Sony and Tobey Maguire during Spider-Man filming

The actor reportedly got a paycheck of $4 million, however, the actor was not satisfied. Maguire asked for a raise instead, post which Sony had been rumored to fire him. They had also reached out to Jake Gyllenhaal to replace him in the movie. After learning of this, Toby Maguire had a meeting with his doctor, the Spider-Man director Sam Raimi, and producer Laura Ziskin.

Back then, Maguire’s publicist had released this statement stating, “After doing two physically demanding films in a row, Tobey has experienced mild discomfort in his back which is in the final stages of healing. With an April 12 start date around the corner, everyone involved wants to be certain he is able to do the intense stunts.”

According to Variety, Maguire was upset over the fact that producer Ziskin made way more than him, approximately 30 million USD. Los Angeles Times also reported that things had gone so far that Maguire had to “look these people in the face and say, ‘I’m really sorry. I’m going to do whatever it takes.’”

Jake Gyllenhaal commented on speculations that he was asked to replace Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 2

Later during Spider-Man promotions, Gyllenhaal was asked about these allegations, and he shared, “I heard the same thing. The truth of the matter is, in the end, [Tobey Maguire is] Spider-Man. There are so many roles in my career where I was up against another actor, or there was something happened that possibly could’ve happened but didn’t happen but maybe it would have.”

The actor added, “Eventually, my belief is when an actor’s played a character, particularly in a movie, the character’s theirs, and that’s that. But yeah there was talk, he hurt himself and there was talk. There was a slew of actors [possibly up for the part], and I was one of them.”

Jake Gyllenhaal made his return to Spider-Man movies playing the role of the villain Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home. On the other hand, Tobey Maguire was seen in the Spider-Man movie alongside Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield.

Tobey Maguire