If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.
Tobey Maguire took off his Spider-Man mask all the time because Sony was afraid it felt like Power Rangers
Sony was concerned that Spider-Man would look like a Power Ranger if he emoted through his mask
Popverse's top stories
- Critical Role's Matt Mercer teases Campaign 4's new setting of Aramán - and how it differs from Exandria
- What to Watch October 2025: Halloween is just around the corner, and Netflix's Monster: The Ed Gein Story, Prime Video's Hazbin Hotel, and HBO's IT: Welcome to Derry are just a few ways to stream and scream
- Marvel Comics and Magic: The Gathering reveal their second collab: and its all Avengers (and more)
When you watch Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy you might notice that Tobey Maguire takes his mask off a lot. Sometimes there were reasons, like the mask being struck by fire during the train scene in Spider-Man 2. Other times were ridiculous, like the scene in Spider-Man 3 where Peter removes his mask for a split second before attending a ceremony for Spider-Man. As a result, the frequency of Tobey’s Spider-Man removing his mask has become a running joke in the fandom.
It turns out there’s a reason for this, and it came from Sony. Al Gough and Miles Millar, who worked on the story treatment for Spider-Man 2, said that Sony was worried about the movie looking like a Power Rangers episode. As a result, there was a “mask off mandate.”
“The other thing too, which is interestin,g is from the first movie, because again, this is the old days before now when you’ve got the eyes moving and stuff, is [Sony] is like, ‘We need to get his mask off more in situations.” Al Gough says during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
“Because [Toby] had done some ADR in the first movie with the Green Goblin, and they were all worried before the movie came out,” Miles Millar adds. “There’s a scene of them on the roof, it was Green Goblin talking to Spider-Man, they both had masks on, their mouths didn’t move, it was like two masked figures. It felt like Power Rangers. So, they were really worried. They were like, ‘We can’t do this again.’ So, in the second movie he’s always taking his mask off and talking.”
And here I thought people just enjoyed looking at Tobey Maguire’s face.
Marvel's most reliable superhero has proven he can do a whole lot more than just 'whatever a spider can.' Swing into Spidey's history with Popverse's...
Just watch out for that radioactive blood.
Follow Popverse for upcoming event coverage and news
Find out how we conduct our review by reading our review policy
Let Popverse be your tour guide through the wilderness of pop culture
Sign in and let us help you find your new favorite thing.
Comments
Want to join the discussion? Please activate your account first.
Visit Reedpop ID if you need to resend the confirmation email.