Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was one of the big surprises to hit last year. Coming out of the theater, it quickly rose to the top of my favorite movies of the year due to its sheer creativity. But that’s not to say it was perfect. While it had a very unique premise and visual style, I couldn’t shake the feeling that they’d missed a real opportunity to cast Tobey Maguire as Peter B. Parker — the washed-up Peter Parker ultimately played by Jake Johnson.

However, as it turns out, Maguire was actually in consideration to play that very role. And that wasn’t all. According to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse co-director and co-writer Rodney Rothman, there was actually a scene in an early screenplay draft that could very well have included all three live-action versions of the character. Here’s what he had to say while on the Q&A Podcast with Jeff Goldsmith:

“I wrote a scene that had every, that had Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire in the same scene and… I don’t want to get into it but I did write that scene, but there’s a lot of anxiety, there’s a lot of anxiety around the movie generally and there was anxiety about confusing people.”

RELATED – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Wins Best Animated Feature At Golden Globes

So the only question I have is…who the hell decided NOT to let this happen? I love Jake Johnson as much as the next guy, but why not actually give the role to Maguire. After all, there are many scenes in his flashback that are direct homages to the Sam Raimi trilogy, including the hilarious dance scene in Spider-Man 3.

And if it ultimately led to the trifecta of awesomeness…that would have been all the sweeter. There’s always next time, Sony! There’s always next time!

Don’t forget to share this post on your Facebook wall and with your Twitter followers! Just hit the buttons on the top of this page.

SOURCES: Q&A Podcast with Jeff Goldsmith (via Screen Rant)