Tobey Maguire ’s Spider - Man was plan to enter the MCU over a decade beforeSpider - Man : No Way nursing home , through 2008’sThe Incredible Hulk . As Marvel ’s flagship superhero , Spider - Man was understandably a highly sought - after character by MCU filmmaker for their shared Marvel film world , but effectual roadblock prevent the web - slinger from unite the enfranchisement until 2016’sCaptain America : Civil War . What separatesThe unbelievable Hulk’snear - inclusion of   Peter Parker   is how direct it would have been in melding theSam Raimi trilogy with Marvel Studios’franchise .

In the nineties , Marvel combatted bankruptcy by deal film right to many of their most famed superhero properties . While Daredevil and the ten - Men go to 20thCentury Fox , Spider - Man was sold to Sony Pictures , who helped establish the innovative - Clarence Day superhero blockbuster pic with Sam Raimi ’s literary genre - definingSpider - Mantrilogy . Naturally , when Marvel Studios initiated their ambitious MCU moving picture enfranchisement , there were multiple endeavour to incorporate Spider - Man into it , ranging from connecting Robert Downey Jr. ’s Tony Stark to Alfred Molina ’s Doctor Octopus inIron Manand coming exceedingly close to placingThe Amazing Spider - Man’sOscorp Tower in the New York skyline inThe Avengers .

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As revealed in a2008 MTV News interview , Louis Leterrier intended to have Tobey Maguire ’s Peter Parker cameo inThe Incredible Hulk . The cameo would have had Maguire ’s iteration of Parker appear on the campus of Columbia University , where Bruce Banner would adjoin Samuel Sterns at the end of the film , but Sony Pictures turn away to allow any Spider - Man mental object to come along   inThe Incredible Hulk . While the Doctor Octopus connection inIron Manand Oscorp Tower ’s mien inThe Avengerswould have been simple-minded easter eggs to acknowledge Spider - Man ’s world , The Incredible Hulk’splanned Tobey Maguire coming into court inarguably confirms that the RaimiSpider - Manfilms were almost set in the MCU .

Fe Man’sDoctor Octopus computer address was most likely jettisoned before take began , and it probably would n’t have included Alfred Molina , assuming that Sony allow the reference , so its connection to the Raimi films could have been equivocal . Oscorp Tower ’s near - inclusion inThe Avengerswould foldtheAmazing Spider - Manfilms into the MCUas well , but it was created as more of an easter eggs than a signifier of crossing plan . Leterrier ’s planned Tobey Maguire cameo was specifically intended to place the Raimi trilogy in the MCU persistence , and Sony ’s veto was the only thing that foreclose it from happening .

Leterrier endeavor to work the cameo into the film , even without Tobey Maguire . When Sony refused to share the right to their iteration of Peter Parker , his next petition was to apply the fictitious Empire State University ( Peter Parker ’s alma mater in the comics , as opposed to Columbia University in the film ) , which they also refused . Ultimately , The Incredible Hulkused a Modern fictional school , Grayburn College , perhaps making it the MCU ’s counterpart to ESU from the comics .

A collage image of Luke Skywalker in A New Hope

WhileMarvel Studios ended up collaborating with Sonyto make a third version of Spider - Man for the MCU , all three appeared together in 2021’sSpider - adult male : No Way Home , much to the delight of viewers and critic . The attempts by the MCU to integrateSpider - Maninto their continuity show how crucial the web - slinger is to Marvel ’s mythos . It was this precise understanding and appreciation of Marvel ’s comics that direct Louis Leterrier to near let in Tobey Maguire ’s Spider - Man inThe Incredible Hulk , almost give him an MCU appearance 13 years beforeSpider - Man : No Way Home .

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MCU Wanted A Tobey Maguire Spider Man Cameo in Incredible Hulk

Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker with Camera

Movies

Iron Man