Marvel’s original plan for Iron Man would have included a crossover with a fan favorite superhero film: Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2. The Marvel Cinematic Universe as the world now knows it began in 2008 with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, which made way for many other characters from Marvel Comics to jump to the big screen. But before Iron Man made the MCU possible, other superheroes had already had their own films, most notably Spider-Man in Sam Raimi’s trilogy.

The Spider-Man trilogy was released between 2002 and 2007, and while Spider-Man 3 wasn’t the best, the trilogy is credited for redefining the modern superhero genre as well as the summer blockbuster. Because Sony owns the rights to Spider-Man, Peter Parker didn’t appear in the MCU until 2016 in Captain America: Civil War, and got his solo film the following year with Spider-Man: Homecoming. Tony Stark was the one in charge of welcoming and guiding Spider-Man in the MCU, but their worlds could have crossed much earlier – and in a different version.

Related: Marvel Planned Tony Stark's Parents' Death Back In Iron Man 1

Raimi’s Spider-Man films are their own universe, separate from that of the MCU, but they could have been linked years ago, as the initial plan for Iron Man included a crossover with Spider-Man 2 through a villain.

Iron Man: Tony Stark Was Almost The Creator of Dr. Octopus’ Tentacles

Doctor Octopus attacks a train in Spider-Man 2

Iron Man was a big risk for Marvel Studios, as it was its first self-financed film, it spent years in development, and the superhero genre had already had some not-so-good films. Everything turned out for the best, and thus the MCU was born, but the first ideas the studio had for Iron Man were completely different to the final product. An early draft of the script had a big reveal linked to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2: Tony Stark was the creator of Dr. Otto Octavius’ tentacles, and thus would have played an important part in Spider-Man 2. Octavius was working on a fusion power project and wore a harness of robotic tentacle arms with AI to handle hazardous materials. During a demonstration, the project went terribly wrong, and the tentacles developed sentience and became permanently attached to his body, earning the nickname “Doctor Octopus”.

Spider-Man 2 doesn’t give an origin to Doc Ock’s tentacles, so it’s implied that he created them to help him with his experiments, mainly because he does say he developed the inhibitor chip that protected his brain function. With that in mind, it would have been a bit hard to believe that Tony Stark wouldn’t have thought of that when creating the tentacles, though it also could have been a collaboration, with Octavius handling some parts and Tony the rest. This crossover wasn’t possible due to Sony holding the rights to Spider-Man 2, and the deal that now makes Spider-Man’s inclusion in the MCU possible didn’t happen until 2015. While it would have been a fun link between both worlds, it was ultimately for the best that Iron Man didn’t include a reference to Spider-Man 2, as it made it possible for the MCU to be its own thing.

Next: Why Marvel Movies Still Haven't Topped Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2

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