Spiderman, the ever-so-popular comic book character, was first brought to the large screen as a live-action film in the early 21st century by director Sam Raimi. But it was only after another huge director came extremely close to making a Spiderman film. James Cameron, of Titanic and Terminator fame, wanted to make a Spiderman film with his collaborators Leonardo di Caprio and Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it never saw the light of day. Schwarzenegger, however, fell into a similar agonizing situation when another director wanted to make a sequel to his 1990 sci-fi film. That too never got made.

Jonathan Frakes, or as most people remember him as ‘Commander William Riker’ from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’, wanted to make a sequel to Schwarzenegger’s film ‘Total Recall’. The bodybuilding star played the role of Douglas Quaid in the sci-fi thriller and would’ve reprised his role sometime in the late 1990s. But, alas, it never got made.

Total Recall 2 could’ve just been what the fans were looking for

Only Film Media shared a Twitter thread recently that read, “#OnlyFilmTopics. 5 Facts About Unmade The #TotalRecall Sequel: 4. In the late 90s, #JonathanFrakes almost directed #TotalRecall. 2. Frakes stated, ‘If it all works out and Mr. Schwarzenegger is available, we’ll get going with pre-production of it at the end of #StarTrekInsurrection'”. Besides being well-known as Commander William Riker, Frakes also helmed the director’s chair on numerous episodes of TV shows.

From The Orville to NCIS: Los Angeles to Marvel’s Agents of Shield, Frakes directed many an episode on television. Although there are no explicit clips of Frakes admitting to that, the Twitter page with a staggering 60,000 users, claims that he was slated to direct Total Recall 2 at some point of time in the late 1990s. However, the production went into developmental hell and Frakes got busy in wrapping up production on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’. Weary of the delay, Schwarzenegger moved on to sign another film in 2000 called ‘The 6th Day’.

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The trivia was shared as part of a larger discussion on Twitter on the movie Total Recall, which was completed 33 years now. The sci-fi film also starred Michael Ironside and Sharon Stone in it and did exceptionally well at the Box Office. It was a game-changer for Schwarzenegger as he was paid $11 million for the film at the time, his then-highest paid acting salary. But soon, he would star in a James Cameron film that changed things even further for him.

Spiderman to Total Recall 2: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s close attempts

While the Total Recall sequel didn’t happen, one sequel that did happen in Schwarzenegger’s life was Terminator 2: The Judgement Day. And what a mighty sequel it was. The movie shattered Box Office records and put Schwarzenegger legitimately on the map as an action superstar. The movie also built a strong bond between Schwarzenegger and Cameron, which carried forward to True Lies and then they were supposed to do Spiderman together.

James Cameron wanted to cast Schwarzenegger in the role of Doctor Octopus, and Leonardo di Caprio, with whom he had worked in Titanic, as the titular role of Spiderman. Unfortunately, that never culminated into anything since the studio, Carolco went bankrupt. The film rights remained with Sony, which later blossomed into the Sam Raimi Spiderman trilogy.

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With both Spiderman and Total Recall 2 not making the cut, Schwarzenegger fans will now never know what he would’ve looked like with 8 tentacles wreaking havoc on common citizens as Spiderman tries to control him. Or without Total Recall 2, whatever is brewing in the distant future beyond the year 2084 as Earthen oligarchs still look to colonize Mars, might also never come to light.