Tom Cruise was initially cast in the 1980s role of Peter Parker, but Cannon Films never produced the superhero movie.

Back in the early 1980s and 1990s, superhero movies and Tom Cruise were just looming on the horizon and were on the verge of fame. With several classic movies like Superman, Batman, and more releasing worldwide, Spider-Man could have joined these movies back in the 1980s but the film was never made.

Iconic actor Tom Cruise was asked to portray the role of Peter Parker in the unmade film Spider-Man under Cannon Films but the film was never made. Talking about the unmade film, Spider-Man deviated significantly from the original lore but would have been a much darker tale!
Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man

Tom Cruise Was Supposed To Be Spider-Man

Back in 1983, Tom Cruise found fame by starring in Risky Business. Around that same time, superhero movies were on the rise with the release of Superman in 1978. Cannon Films had the rights to a Spider-Man movie and they chose Cruise for the role.
Tom Cruise was also supposed to play Iron Man
Although Cruise would have been remarkable as Peter Parker, the film was never made and Cannon Films eventually lost the rights to Spider-Man in 1990. As per the report by CBR, the script for the 1980s Spider-Man was a darker tale on the life of Peter Parker and included Dr. Otto Octavius as its’ villain.

In the original manuscript, Dr. Otto Octavius was working on his experiment when a spider entered his machine. Causing chain reactions and malfunctions to happen, the experiment bends everything inwards. This means that there would have been a scene where Octavius’ mechanical arms would have bent inwardly, latching them onto his back quite graphically!

The script also mentioned a scene where a dog would get fused with a wire cage. The image was never made. Taking photos of the incident for The Daily Bugle, Peter Parker gets bitten by that very same spider and then he becomes Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Also Wanted Tom Cruise!

Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse
After the unmade Spider-Man project, Cruise was also attached for the role of Iron Man in a pre-MCU film about Tony Stark. Due to some differences, Cruise and the MCU backed away from the project and the role of Iron Man went to Robert Downey Jr.

The Top Gun actor had one more chance to join (or at least lend his voice to) the MCU with a role in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Well, there was a reason why Tom Cruise wasn’t able to lend his voice to the 2018 animated movie. As per director Rodney Rothman, there was going to be a scene in the film where Miles Morales learns about Spider-Man through films.

One of the films that he saw was going to be a James Cameron-directed film with Tom Cruise starring as an alternate universe Spider-Man. Since the idea seemed too confusing and messy, the vision was scratched.