Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Cut Tom Cruise & James Cameron Cameos

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse almost had Tom Cruise and James Cameron cameos. The superhero sleeper hit of last year, the movie centered on Miles Morales' (Shameik Moore) iteration of the iconic Marvel hero meeting other versions of himself from several alternate realities such as Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), Spider-Noir (Nicolas Cage), Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), and Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn).

Produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Into the Spider-Verse was directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman. Nabbing more than $350 million all over the globe against a $90 million production budget, the film was an instant hit with both critics and audiences - most of them easily hailing it as one of the best superhero films of the year. So it came as no surprise when it nabbed Best Animated Feature during the 91st Academy Awards. Fresh off their Oscar win, the directors are now busy doing the press for the recent release of the movie in digital form and soon on Blu-ray.

Speaking with Slash Film, Persichetti, Ramsey, and Rothman revealed some of the ideas that didn't make it into the final cut of Into the Spider-Verse, including planned cameos for Cruise and Cameron. Instead of a throwaway appearance just for the sake of it, the directors explained that it was supposed to be a more complex scene with Cruise playing a real person Spider-Man in a Cameron film. The whole plan got too complex, which is why they eventually decided to nix it as explained by Rothman, but Perischetti added that it was so much fun to do considering that both industry veterans were going to lend their voices to their roles.

Rothman: Is the Tom Cruise stuff in the alternate universe version? So there was a whole period of time where Miles rather than learning about being Spider-Man from a comic book learned it from watching the films. There was a movie version of a movie about Spiderman in Miles universe about the real person Spiderman, but it was a James Cameron directed movie with Tom Cruise as Spidey. Yes. Spidey. And it was James Cameron and Spidey and Tom Cruise on the audio.

Peter, Gwen, and Miles getting their Spidey senses in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse.

Aside from the cut Cruise/Cameron cameo, Into the Spider-verse almost also united all three live-action versions of Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland almost appearing in the film. Rothman, however, didn't reveal much of the planned sequence, nor did he confirm if all three actors were also going to lend their voices to the animated film like Cruise and Cameron. Perhaps, with the development of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2, this could finally come to fruition.

Considering that Cruise and Cameron have made a name for themselves in the action/blockbuster genre, it's not that difficult to imagine the two teaming up. At one point, the two were even discussing a movie in outer space, which obviously didn't ultimately happen. But it's interesting that they would agree to do Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse considering their busy schedules. It's a testament to how exciting the project's premise was, and how well it was pulled off. Not only are fans hoping that these cut scenes might make their way to the big screen in the sequel - or in the Blu-Ray's longer Alt-Universe Cut - it's also exciting to think about other top-notch Hollywood personalities that could contribute to the follow-up and maybe even its spin-offs.