Spider-Man: No Way Home brought a new wave of attention to the Spider-Man movies of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, and with Sam Raimi directing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, he has been speaking candidly about man aspects of his time working on the original big-screen outings of Marvel’s web-slinging hero. In an oral history with Variety, Raimi and writer David Koepp recalled the backlash from fans regarding Maguire’s version of Spider-Man having “organic” web-shooters.
When it comes to movie fans, none are willing to have their say on new movies and shows more than readers of Marvel and DC comics. For that reason, there will always be some complaints about changes made on the way from page to screen, and while Spider-Man received a lot of praise when it was released in 2002, one particular aspect of Spidey’s appearance was a real point of contention. As Raimi explained, the idea of Peter Parker’s web-shooters really wasn’t appreciated.
"I was aware of it, and it wasn't a good thing for me. I didn't have a great experience of the fans. I don't think that the fans thought I was the right person to direct Spider-Man in general. And then the organic web shooters – when the fans found out I was going that way, they tried to have me removed from the picture."
David Koepp added his own thoughts on the matter, acknowledging that the internet at the time was becoming a place where anyone could voice an opinion and expect it to be heard. He said, “There was an internet culture that was just starting to flex its ability to be ugly. That was probably my first experience with what we've come to deal with all the time now, which is the distraction of people telling you what they think your movie should be before, during and after you're making it, and doing it very publicly. I stand by the organic web slingers as a pretty cool idea. Wasn't even my idea."
Spider-Man’s Original Web-Shooters Came From Early James Cameron Idea
Before Sam Raimi was brought in to direct Spider-Man’s debut movie, James Cameron was the first in line to plan out the movie, but it seems that his vision for the movie contained more on adolescent sexuality than Sony wanted in a movie that was going to be pitched as a superhero movie suitable for all ages of comic book fans. However, Peter’s internal web-shooters was one of the things that did survive from Cameron’s original plans for the movie. As Koepp explained, they played a part in one of the metaphors that apparently led to Sony seeking out a different director. He noted:
"[Cameron] pushed the metaphor of adolescent sexual development really far. There's a great moment where Peter wakes up in bed with web strands all over himself. It was like, wow, I don't know if we can do the wet dream thing, but that was pretty funny.”
The inclusion of Peter’s organic web-shooters was one of the things that was touched on in Spider-Man: No Way Home when the three Parkers compared their differences to great comical effect, and it really added to the camaraderie between the trio of heroes. While it may not initially have been a welcome addition to the character in 2002, time has seen it become more accepted as one of the unique traits of Maguire’s Spider-Man variant.