Spider-Man, the beloved web-swinging character, came scarily close to going down a completely different trajectory at one point in time. As reported by Digital Spy, the superhero almost was turned into a villain of sorts in the 1980s by Tobe Hooper, who is known as the filmmaker behind "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre."

Hooper was slated to direct the horror movie and Leslie Stevens, the creator of "The Outer Limits," was set to pen the script. The story morphed Peter Parker's origin story into something considerably different. Parker was set to be "deliberately bombarded with radiation by a corporate scientist," which would transform the character into a giant spider-hybrid. The monstrosity of this new creature would eventually cause him to become suicidal. This is quite a different story from the radioactive spider bite fans have come to know.

This version of Spider-Man would "lead the scientist’s race of mutants" before deciding to fight them off instead. According to the Digital Spy report, Stan Lee was unhappy with the changes and therefore the project died a swift death.

When a new version of the film was in development, the company behind the production, Cannon Films, reportedly wanted Tom Cruise to play Parker with Lauren Bacall or Katharine Hepburn portraying Aunt May.

Since then, several movies and video games have been created around the superhero. The latest incarnation, "Spider-Man: Far From Home," is slated to hit theaters on July 2 and is already currently tracking to make $154 million at the box office in its six-day opening weekend.

At this point, fans are only left to speculate what could have been in terms of the villainous, ill-fated man-spider whose 1980s debut never came and how that version would have fit into what we now know to be the MCU.

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