How Michael Jackson Was Nearly Cast As Spider-Man
Michael Jackson as Spider-Man
Image Source: Cultureslate
Before Toby Maguire appeared as Spider-Man, a very famous star went to great lengths to get his hands on the webbed suit. The smooth criminal wanted to play Peter Parker so badly he attempted to buy Marvel. Yes, it was the ‘man in the mirror’, Michael Jackon.
In the late 80s- 90s, Marvel was in crisis. George Lucas’ Howard the Duck, an over-saturated comic book market had sent Marvel into huge debt. In 1996, the share price hit rock bottom and the company filed for bankruptcy. It left it ripe for a cheap purchase.
This is where Michael Jackson moonwalks into Marvel’s story.
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MJ’s career in the 90s was stratospheric. He was one of the most famous men in the world, Dangerous and HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I dominated the charts. He had plenty of spare cash for vanity projects, and the moonwalker had dappled in movies before. In 1978 he’d bought the rights to The Wiz so he could star in the movie adaption. He’d also worked under George Lucas at Disney on Captain EO, a big budget short for Disney Theme Parks.
But Jackson also really really wanted to play Spider-Man.
MJ & Marvel
Michael Jackson & Stan Lee
Image Source: X
Stan Lee confirmed in interviews that he met with Michael Jackson on more than one occasion about the Spider-Man IP. He said that Jackson wanted to buy it so he could have the lead role. Just like when he’d purchased The Wiz twenty years earlier.
When Lee eventually told Jackson that he did not think that Marvel would part from Spider-Man, Jackson apparently came back with an offer to buy the whole company. MJ was obviously serious, as his nephew has confirmed that he discussed this with the rest of the family.
“It was Marvel, and I remember that. I remember being with my brothers and him talking about purchasing Marvel. “ – Taj Jackson
Despite Stan Lee’s protestations that Marvel would never part from Spider-Man, they sold the IP to Sony in 1999 as part of their post-insolvency restructure.
Besides Spider-Man, he was a huge Marvel fan. He knew all the characters. So, it was not only Spider-Man. But yeah, he probably wanted to be Spider-Man.” – Taj Jackon
His nephew infers that Michael Jackson loved Marvel so much that he would have bought it, even with the Sony deal making Spider-Man impossible. He was seen touring Marvel Studios and meeting with Stan Lee and executives as late as 2000, so it’s possible the sale was still live then.
“They were shut down from doing that. I don't know the reasons why, but they were adamantly in the process of doing that." – Taj Jackson
But, apparently Michael Eisner, Disney CEO at the time was also making calls to Marvel in the late 90s early 2000s. Although nothing materialized until Bob Iger took over in 2005, it’s possible Marvel CEO Ronald Perelman decided to wait for a bigger fish.
What Would Have Spider-Man Have Been Like Under Michael Jackson?
Spider-Man in Marvel Super Hero Adventures
Image Source IMDb
Sony spent a huge wedge of cash on Spider-man, but Michael Jackson would have too. Moonwalker (1988) and The Wiz (1978) had budgets in excess of 22 million. To put this in perspective with other movies of the time, Star Wars: Episode V: A New Hope (1979) was made for 11 million.
It would have probably been kid friendly (a G rating rather than a PG-13). Let’s not forget that MJ was also in his mid-thirties, so a high school/college origin story would have been difficult without a substantial rewrite of the lore or some really awkward looking footage.
Due to Michael Jackson’s general poor health (by the 90s he had collapsed on tour several times and was suffering from Lupus) he would have struggled with any action scenes. So, either the CGI would have had to work a lot harder, or the script would have had Peter Parker a lot more static. With MJ’s famous love of cartoons (See the Jackson 5ive cartoon series), it could have even been solely animated.
But most important of all, Michael Jackson had a very distinctive persona. It would have been nearly impossible to see Spider-Man as anything but the singer in a red suit. Thankfully, it never came to fruition.
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