Reality Check: Charlie Sheen Was Almost The First Spider-Man
When you think of Spider-Man, the two names that come to mind will now always be Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. But could you have seen the one and only Charlie Sheen in the role?!
Speaking on the podcast ‘Mohr Stories’ with Jay Mohr, Sheen reveals that during the mid-80s, he wanted to don the red and blue spandex, even when everyone else was telling him comic book movies would never catch on:
“I had an office at Orion at the time, and I brought them Spider-Man…I said, ‘Look, in a couple of years, I’ll be too old to play Peter Parker.’ And they said, ‘Yeah, we’re just thinking that cartoons are not the future, comic books are not the future.’ And I said, ‘But it’s Spider-Man, I’m perfect.’ And they were like, ‘Nah, we’re gonna wait.'”
That was just one of many bad choices Orion made, considering their bankruptcy…But what about the rights to the characters? In a way only Sheen can, he says he had it all under control:
“I had a guy in my pocket who was going to get them for me.”
That sounds like the Charlie I know!
The real question is could you have seen Sheen in the role?
Charlie was definitely spot on physically for Peter Parker! He closely resembled most of the comicbook depictions of the character, down to the 2 tassled bangs of hair dangling from his widows peak hairstyle! Back in the day, friends and I would often discuss why hadn’t Charlie been cast as Spidey already! No biggie now, as Charlie’s one of the world’s most in-demand and biggest stars! But just imagine it! Oh, what might have been…