Spider-Man: Far From Home is currently out in theatres around the world and Marvel has another winner on their hands, with both critics and audiences alike enjoying the latest blockbuster featuring Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Zendaya. And, in true MCU fashion, the movie’s first post-credits scene has got tongues wagging. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)
At the end of Far From Home, it’s revealed that J.K. Simmons is back as J. Jonah Jameson, the head of the Daily Bugle. Simmons played the same character during Sam Raimi’s trilogy of Spider-Man movies and is now back in the picture, a whole 12 years since he last was. With that in mind, we now look at actors and actresses from previous films who we’d love to see in the MCU.
Tobey Maguire
Ah, the existence of the multi-verse really would have been cool, right? Prior to the movie, people were speculating as to whether Mysterio really was from another dimension as he had claimed. That allowed fans to imagine another world where Tobey Maguire is still Peter Parker.
Maguire played Peter in Sam Raimi’s trilogy between 2002 and 2007, and his goofy, awkward approach went down a storm with audiences. He’s not involved in acting so much these days—The Great Gatsby and Boss Baby have been just two of a handful of movies he’s been in since hanging up his mask—but it would still be awesome to have him in the MCU.
Andrew Garfield
When Sony pressed the reset button after Sam Raimi’s failure to get a script together for a fourth webhead movie, The Amazing Spider-Man was born. And it was Andrew Garfield who donned the red and blue suit for two movies, starring alongside on-screen girlfriend at the time, Emma Stone.
Garfield was never everybody’s ideal Peter, but he was a good Spidey. He was simply too cool to play the teenager, lacking the amusingly awkward charisma of his predecessor and successor, Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland. But Garfield showed in 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge that he’s a phenomenal talent and, with so many Marvel characters out there, it would be great to have him on board.
Emma Stone
As mentioned above, Stone was in the two Amazing Spider-Man movies as Gwen Stacy, with her feisty and hands-on attitude a stark contrast to Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane. The MCU has made some big casting calls for their female characters—from Gwenyth Paltrow to Brie Larson, Tessa Thompson to Elizabeth Olsen—and Stone would be another blockbuster name to get on board.
Her stock has only risen since her time starring alongside Garfield. Performances in La La Land and The Favourite have garnered critical acclaim and individual awards, while the fact she will be returning for Zombieland 2 later this year shows she’s open to different roles. With the MCU likely to introduce the Fantastic 4 at some point, she would certainly be a good call to play the Invisible Woman.
Willem Dafoe
When the first-ever Spider-Man movie dropped in 2002, it had Tobey Maguire going up against the Green Goblin, who was played by Willem Dafoe. Audiences loved Dafoe's creepy and unhinged take on the Oscorp bigwig, making him one of Spidey’s most evil villains to date.
Dafoe’s Norman Osborn was killed off in the first part of Sam Raimi’s trilogy, but he returned for cameos in both Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. He’s since switched over to DC, playing Nuidis Vulko in last year’s Aquaman, but the very fact he’s still involved in superhero movies should give Marvel reason to consider him. Especially as the MCU is still without its Goblin so far...
Alfred Molina
Despite Tom Holland currently charming everybody as Peter Parker, 2004’s Spider-Man 2 is still regarded as one of the best superhero movies ever created. And that’s in no small part to Alfred Molina, who produced the best performance of his career by playing Otto Octavius, a villain with rare emotional depth and character complexity.
Molina’s repertoire is clear for all to see. His emotions range from nerdy and happy to sad and angry as Octavius finds himself tied to his four mechanical arms and plotting revenge on Spider-Man, who he blames for the death of his wife. Again, the MCU doesn’t have its Doc Ock back and, given Marvel’s pulling power and Molina’s clear schedule, they could do a lot worse than going down that route again.
Elizabeth Banks
If you’re wondering who Elizabeth Banks played in the original Spider-Man movies, we don’t blame you. Hiding underneath a dark wig, she was Daily Bugle worker Betty Brant but spent most of her time on screen either flirting awkwardly with Peter Parker or getting a stern telling-off from J. Jonah Jameson.
Banks has had a good career since, too, and was recently in James Gunn’s Brightburn, showing she’s not quite ready to leave the genre behind yet. She’s also been in popular films like Pitch Perfect, The Hunger Games, and Love & Mercy in the years since her Spidey days. An actress of her caliber would be a welcome addition to the MCU.
James Franco
James Franco hasn’t looked back since he played Harry Osborn in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. He’s been involved in comedy movies such as This is the End, thrillers like 127 Hours, and blockbusters like The Planet of the Apes. And while he’s too old to play Harry now, the MCU bringing him into the fold would certainly get fans of the old Raimi trilogy buzzing again.
He’s clearly still in love with the superhero genre, with reports suggesting he and his brother Dave Franco will be putting a Doom TV series together. While Marvel would no doubt like to stay clear of too many nostalgic casting choices, Franco has the potential to be a good MCU recruit.
Jamie Foxx
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is almost certainly nobody’s favorite movie, and that’s probably because the poor CGI mixed with muddled writing lessened the impact of Jamie Foxx’s Electro. But, despite that, we’d certainly be on board with Foxx getting another chance to make his mark in a big superhero outing.
Electro did some cool things, including destroying Times Square and having an intimidating aura. But he was ultimately a failure because the writers had him grunting and shooting electricity out of his fingertips most of the time, and his sudden transformation was poorly explained. Foxx is a big name in Hollywood and deserves a second chance to get things right.
Dane DeHaan
As we’ve mentioned above, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was certainly a movie that had its flaws. But the character of Harry Osborn is certainly not one of those, with Dane DeHann managing to give the character a different persona than James Franco and come across as a more villainous individual as a result.
DeHann’s Harry was petulant, sure, but dangerous when he became the Green Goblin and the one responsible for the death of Gwen Stacy. The actor was good in the movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and his performance in Chronicle, released in 2012, also garnered critical acclaim. It would be good to see him back in the superhero genre with the MCU.
Bryce Dallas Howard
When the first Jurassic World movie came out in 2015, you could have been forgiven for looking at the character of Claire and thinking ‘she looks vaguely familiar.’ And that’s because she was Gwen Stacy in the original Spider-Man trilogy. But, given how marginalized her character was and how she became a pawn in games between Peter Parker and Mary Jane, it isn’t an obvious thing to think about.
Howard’s stock has risen throughout the years and she recently starred in Rocketman, while also appearing in TV series like Arrested Development and Black Mirror. Given how she’s now a big name in Hollywood, she would be a big recruit for the MCU. Dare we say it, but Dark Phoenix, anybody?