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

Asa Butterfield

Asa Butterfield competed with Tom for the chance to play Spider-Man in his MCU debut. ““Every so often there’s a part [that you really want] and it’s a script you love, and you kind of put your heart and soul into it, and you don’t get it. And it is tough and it is s-it, but I often find that something even better comes out of it at the end. And so in the case of Spider-Man, I did Sex Ed, because I wouldn’t have been able to do both of those at the same time,” he told Collider about the lost role.

He emphasized that he had no hard feelings about the situation, saying, ““I think as an actor and going out for roles, there’s only so much you can do and everyone’s gonna have a different take on a part and look at a character in different ways, have a different sort of performance, and you kind of have to stick with what you think. And if that isn’t necessary in line with what the director and the producers want, then it’s like, there’s nothing you can do about that. You might just not be the right person, and that’s out of your hands. And that’s something I’ve learned, something that I think is great to help me kind of get over it. Because Tom did amazing things with Peter and he had an entirely different portrayal of him and I think it’s worked so well in the universe and in that part, and I don’t think I could do it. So I think all things work out in the end.”