TV’s First Spider-Man Wasn’t Asked to Be In ‘No Way Home’

Depending on who you believe and what people you follow on social media, it sure looks like there might be more than one Spider-Man in the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home. For sure, there are multiple villains from multiple Spider-Man universes, including Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, Electro, and Sandman. Since that’s the case, it only stands to reason that the previous movie Spider-Men might pop in for a cameo, although Marvel has not confirmed that fact, and the actors who would be involved like Andrew Garfield have all publicly denied it.

If the old Spider-Men do appear in the movie, the nostalgic cameos will only go back so far. For example, don’t expect an appearance by Nicholas Hammond, who was the very first live-action Spider-Man from the 1970s, Hammond played Peter Parker for one season of CBS’ The Amazing Spider-Man television series, along with several made-for-TV movies. The show drew decent ratings, but it ended after one year — and for decades, that left Hammond as the only actor to ever portray Spider-Man in non-animated form, at least until Sam Raimi’s movie and Tobey Maguire came along.

While Hammond is still around — he recently had a fun supporting role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — he told The Hollywood Reporter he is not involved with No Way Home. That wasn’t his choice, either. He was never asked to appear. As he put it...

I think it would have been huge fun. It would have been a kick in the pants to have the old guy there. I was really hoping I would be approached but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Oh well. There’s always a chance he could show up in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2. Hammond might be a better fit for that movie anyway; then you could have him do the voice for his Peter Parker and not have to explain why there’s a 71-year-old guy wandering around in red and blue Spandex. Spider-Man: No Way Home opens in theaters on December 17, 2021.