[Edaily Starin Reporter YUN GI BACK ] What if Tom Holland’s legs had been covered in thick, spider-like hair? The story of how the movie “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” nearly became a “body horror” film rather than a superhero movie has been revealed and is making headlines.

Screenwriters Chris McKenna and Eric Sommers recently revealed in an interview that they had conceived a plot where Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” would mutate into an actual spider. The idea went beyond simply gaining superpowers; it involved the human Peter Parker gradually transforming into something closer to a “Man-Spider.”
The most bizarre element was the “spider hairs” sprouting from his legs. This was inspired by the fact that real spiders detect odors and chemical signals from their surroundings through minute sensory hairs on their legs. The concept involved similar hairs growing on Peter’s legs, allowing him to track human scents.
The problem wasn’t so much the ability itself as it was the visual aspect. The script even included a scene where Peter, upon suddenly discovering spider-like hairs sprouting from his legs, finds them horrifying and shaves them off himself. It’s reported that the creators had even envisioned a specific scene where he pulls out a women’s razor to shave the “spider hairs” off his legs.
The film the production team had in mind as a reference was also quite unusual: it was David Cronenberg’s iconic body horror film *The Fly*. *The Fly* depicts the process by which scientist Seth Brundle, after genetically fusing with a fly, gradually transforms into an insect. “Brand New Day” also sought to subvert the familiar Spider-Man premise of a human with superpowers, pushing the concept to the extreme: “What if a human bitten by a spider actually transformed into a spider?”

There was also discussion about transforming Peter into a creature that looked almost like a monster. In Marvel Comics, there is a storyline where Peter Parker transforms into “Manspider,” a grotesque being that is a hybrid of human and spider. During the screenplay development process, various ideas were exchanged regarding the extent to which this transformation should be portrayed in the film.
However, there was significant concern about making Tom Holland’s Spider-Man appear too grotesque. Ultimately, the decision was made not to push Peter’s transformation to the level of “Manspider,” so elements such as spider hair sprouting from his legs or a monstrous transformation were omitted. The final film retained only more restrained changes, such as his eyes turning black.
Thanks to this, audiences got to see Tom Holland swinging through New York while shooting webs, but they were spared the sight of Peter Parker shaving off his “spider hair” with a women’s razor in the bathroom. The traces of how *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* nearly became a body horror film on par with *The Fly* were left only in the discarded script.