The late Marvel legend Stan Lee originally wanted to play a fan-favorite villain in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy.
As we all know, Lee made cameo appearances in various Marvel movies until he died in 2018. It was a tradition that fans were looking forward to whenever they watched a Marvel movie whether it was part of the MCU or not.
While it was great seeing the late Marvel leader pop up for brief appearances, there was one particular major role in the Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man trilogy that he wanted to play but did not happen.
Stan Lee Wanted to Play Spider-Man Character J. Jonah Jameson
In a recent interview, J.K. Simmons, who played J. Jonah Jameson in Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and the MCU, recalled the first time he met Lee.
He revealed that Lee wanted to play J. Jonah Jameson since the character was partly based on himself.
"I had never met Stan and didn't even know – and this is kind of obvious to anybody who's really paying attention, or smarter than I am – that, you know, JJJ was kind of based on Stan. The comic version of himself," the actor shared.
"He confessed to me at the time that, you know, he was a little jealous that they didn't ask him to play the part in the movie."
Despite not playing the role, Lee praised Simmons' take on the fan-favorite character and called his performance "fantastic."
Simmons added, "'But having seen you do it, I thought you were fantastic!’ And it was, you know, very nice things. Which, obviously coming from the man, was a great, great compliment."
While it would have been interesting to see Lee play the Daily Bugle boss, things still worked out in the end as most fans would argue that Simmons is perfect casting as the character.
It might have also been distracting if Lee actually played the character even if it was partly based on himself. While he wasn't cast in the role, he still made appearances in the entire trilogy through his various cameos.
Would you have loved to see Lee play J. Jonah Jameson? Let us know in the comments!
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