James Cameron’s Wild R-Rated Spider-Man Would’ve Changed Marvel Forever

Oh, Spider-Man, what a tangled web you have woven throughout your film adaptation history. There have been successful projects, like Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man trilogy, the MCU films, and Sony’s award-winning animated Spider-Verse films. The odd, tangential movies like 1978’s Japanese Spider-Man film, and Sony’s largely unsuccessful Spider-Verse-sans-Spider-Man films. Then there are the films that were in various stages of development, but never saw the light of day, like Raimi’s Spider-Man 4, or James Cameron‘s Spider-Man film. Sorry, you’ve never heard about the latter? Well, the man behind The Terminator and Titanic once had his eyes set on a Spider-Man film of his own, but like the ill-fated ship he did make a film about, it too sunk, on an iceberg of movie rights and wild ideas.

The Tangled Web of ‘Spider-Man’ Rights Begins in 1985

The journey to James Cameron’s involvement with Spider-Man begins with Cannon Films, an independent studio largely known for exploitation films. In 1979, Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus took over, and their business strategy was, shall we say, unique. Cannon would plan on producing a number of titles, and get as many of Hollywood’s big names — actors, writers, and directors — that they could on board. They would then turn around and sell those titles to parties worldwide, a venture that guaranteed a profit without a shred of actual film being produced. Those that did get made were spectacular failures, most notably Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, the film that sent Christopher Reeve‘s iconic iteration of the character out on a low and ended the Superman franchise on film for years.

One title they aimed for was none other than — you guessed it — Spider-Man, so in 1985, Golan negotiated with Marvel Comics for the film rights to the character. Golan was successful in picking up a five-year option on film rights for $225,000 and a percentage of gross revenue, despite having little personal knowledge of comics or the character — perhaps not all that surprising given how poorly they botched the Man of Steel. Golan hired Leslie Stevens, the creator of Outer Limits, to write a film treatment, which resulted in a story where Dr. Zyrex, the owner of Zyrex Corporation, inundates company photographer Peter Parker with radioactive waves. Parker, unaware of Zyrex’s actions, is transformed into an eight-legged, human/tarantula hybrid, who spends the rest of the story battling other mutants. A story pitch from another source did have Parker being bitten by an irradiated spider, becoming Spider-Man, but it was connected to the same event that created Doctor Octopus.

James Cameron Enters the ‘Spider-Man’ Ring

Spider-Man was going to be Cannon Film’s Batman, a superhero epic that would change the fortunes of the company, and it was given a twenty-million dollar budget to do so. At least to start, that is. Per the previously cited Empire article, Cannon’s repeatedly poor performance at the box office and an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for overstating the value of its stock was pushing the studio to bankruptcy in 1987, until Pathe Communications, Giancarlo Parretti‘s holding company, took it over. That budget was knocked down to ten million, problematic for a film that was planning on five million on effects alone. Then, in 1988, Golan decided it best to do a cheap version for a couple of million dollars before the option on the rights ran out. Oh, and there was some ambiguity surrounding those rights as to which characters they could actually use.

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Cannon was still sinking, however, and Parretti looked to force Golan out, but a financial deal couldn’t be reached, so Golan negotiated a deal that included taking certain properties with him which, of course, included Spider-Man. Golan created

21st Century Films, and renegotiated with Marvel on the Spider-Man rights. Having bought some time, Golan now needed to raise the money to make the film, and this is where things really go sideways regarding the rights to Spider-Man. He sold the television rights to Viacom, the home video release rights to Columbia Tri-Star, and negotiated a deal with Carolco, who convinced Golan they would finance the film for fifty million dollars, with 21st Century Films receiving five million, and a cool million going to Golan himself, as well as the stipulation that he be listed as the film’s producer in the credits. As for who would direct the film, Carolco had just the guy in mind: James Cameron, who had made Terminator 2: Judgment Day for the studio, which did pretty well by them. Accepting the offer (and the three million dollars that came with it), Cameron officially entered the Spider-Man circus.

James Cameron’s ‘Spider-Man’ Was Not for Kids

Cameron’s vision for the project was laid out in a 50-page scriptment he handed in to Carolco, and it was not quite the toy-friendly, PG-rated Spider-Man we are familiar with. Peter would have been bitten by a radioactive spider, as per canon, but instead of the mechanical web-shooters, Cameron opted for his Spider-Man to have organic web-shooters, which at the time was a major departure from convention (but it was adopted by Raimi for his Spider-Man films). Cameron’s Peter would have made fake mechanical shooters, however, to hide that fact from the public. At one point, Peter would wake up having, um, sprayed his organic webs everywhere, tying into Cameron’s belief of Spider-Man as a “metaphor for puberty and all the changes to your body.”

In addition to the spider powers, Peter would also have gained the predatory bloodthirst of spiders as well, with Carlton Strand, aka Electro, telling him during their battle atop the World Trade Center, “Spiders are predators. They kill to live. They are not hampered by humanitarian ideals or impeded in their lethal efficiency by delusions of morality.” Frequent profanity and a graphic sex scene on the Brooklyn Bridge, coupled with a lengthy discussion of spider mating rituals, between Peter and MJ would have guaranteed the film an R rating.

​​​The Battle for the Rights to ‘Spider-Man’ Ends James Cameron’s Interest in Making It

Alas, it was not to be. Per the previously cited Empire article, Cameron’s contract gave him approval of every credit, and he was unwilling to let Golan’s name appear as producer. Or at all. That led to Golan filing a suit against Carolco in April of 1993. Only Carolco was also heading towards bankruptcy, and sold the Spider-Man rights to MGM. And it gets better. In early 1994, Carolco sued both Viacom and Tri-Star, looking to end their agreements regarding the television and home video rights. In turn, Viacom and Tri-Star launched a countersuit against Carolco, 21st Century Films, and Marvel. MGM was owned by the Pathe Group, who held the belief that they still had the rights that began with Cannon, so they sued Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus, 21st Century Films, Paretti, Tri-Star, Viacom, and Marvel. Maybe that’s the movie they should make.

Within the next twelve months, three of the entities involved — 21st Century Films, Marvel, and Carolco — filed for bankruptcy. But in 1999, Marvel came out the other side of bankruptcy and back into the rights dispute, citing that they alone had the exclusive right to make a Spider-Man film, and all other rights had expired. The LA Superior Court agreed, and the rights were restored to Marvel. That led to this announcement in March 1999:

“Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Marvel Enterprises have signed an agreement that sets the stage for launching the long anticipated Spider-Man filmed entertainment franchise. The agreement will enable SPE and Marvel to produce motion pictures and television series based on the Spider-Man character.”

If Sony still wanted Cameron’s involvement, well, that ship had sailed. Or, more truthfully, had sunk. Titanic‘s massive success changed everything, including Cameron’s mindset, with Cameron saying, “I made a decision after Titanic to just kind of move on and do my own things and not labor in the house of others’ IP’. So I think [Spider-Man not coming together] was probably the kick in the ass that I needed to just go make my own stuff.”

James Cameron’s Spider-Man could have been a game changer, much like how The Dark Knight legitimized the genre, and his propensity for moving film technology forward would have advanced the superhero film exponentially. It’s interesting to think about what could have been, but it’s clear that Cameron has moved past any desire to make an entry in the field. But hey, we still have Avatar Part XII to look forward to in 2054, right?

The films of the Spider-Man franchise are available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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