“That was the character that interested him”: Michael Jackson Almost Played Spider-Man Before Tobey Maguire
Music stars have ventured into the world of lights, cameras, and action for a long time. The undisputed King Of Pop Michael Jackson was a multi-talented person. He was not only a great singer, dancer, and songwriter, but also a great philanthropist.
One of the greatest icons of the music world Michael Jackson seemed to have a soft corner for movies and especially superheroes. Despite being one of the most influential faces in the world he tried his stint in superhero projects, but unfortunately, it never came to fruition.
Michael Jackson Almost Played Spider-Man Before Tobey Maguire
Michael Jackson was introduced to the world of movies with the musical adventure drama The Wiz in 1978. Despite being a popular face in the world of music, the King Of Pop was interested in playing the character of Spider-Man long before Tobey Maguire came into the picture.
He had shown interest in playing the Spider-Man in the early 90s. He was not only planning to become the face of the web crawler franchise but also intended to buy Marvel, which was in a financial disaster and even filed for bankruptcy in 1996.
As reported by the entertainment outlet Comics Alliance in 2012 Stan Lee had spoken about Michael Jackson and the Marvel character that interested the late singer. Stan Lee had said-
“I knew Michael Jackson, and with the things he discussed with me, I felt he wanted to be Spider-Man. That was the character that interested him.”
In 1999 Michael Jackson discussed the chances of portraying the character of Professor X in the X-Men series. The role was played by the legendary actor Patrick Stewart in the superhero series.
Michael Jackson Almost Portrayed An Infamous Star Wars Character
Star Wars not only went on to redefine the sci-fi genre in Hollywood but also attracted the attention of the King Of Pop. Star Wars: Episode I – Phantom Menace was released in 1999 and went on to receive mixed reviews from the audience and was highly criticized for characters like Jar Jar Binks.
Reportedly, Michael Jackson was interested in playing one of the most disliked characters from the billion-dollar franchise Jar Jar Binks in the project, but unfortunately, the role went to Ahmed Best.
During an interview with the media outlet Vice in 2015, Ahmed Best revealed that the King Of Pop wanted to play the role of Jar Jar Binks. He mentioned
“That’s what George told me. Me, Natalie Portman, and George’s kids—we were at Wembley Arena at Michael Jackson’s concert. We were taken backstage and we met Michael. There was Michael and Lisa Marie [Presley]. George introduced me as “Jar Jar” and I was like, That’s kind of weird. Michael was like, “Oh. OK.” I thought, What is going on? After Michael had driven off, we all go back up to a big afterparty. “
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Best further added-
“I’m having a drink with George and I said, “Why did you introduce me as Jar Jar?” He said, “Well, Michael wanted to do the part but he wanted to do it in prosthetics and makeup like ‘Thriller.'” George wanted to do it in CGI. My guess is ultimately Michael Jackson would have been bigger than the movie, and I don’t think he wanted that.”
Reportedly Michael Jackson even wanted to play the character of the phantom in The Phantom of the Opera and even showed interest in the Hunchback in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
