10 Hollywood A-Listers Were in the Running to Play Spider-Man Over the Years, & 2 Of Them Even Landed Different Roles in Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield & Tom Holland's Movies

James Franco

James Franco played Peter Parker’s best friend Harry Osborn alongside Tobey in the first set of movies. However, he initially wanted to play Spider-Man.

“I first auditioned for the role of Peter Parker which went well,” he said in a 2007 interview, according to Insider. “I found out I didn’t get it and I was disappointed.”

“But then Sam Raimi, the director called me, and we got along so well, and he asked me [if I wanted] the role of Harry. No one else auditioned for the role,” he continued.