In November 1999, Fincher was shortlisted by [[Columbia Pictures]], as one of the potential directors to helmof ''[[Spider-Man (2002 film)|Spider-Man]]'', a live-action adaptation of the [[Marvel Comics]] character.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/david-finchers-spider-man-that-never-was/|title=David Fincher's Spider-Man That Never Was|date=February 5, 2009|website=/Film|language=en-US|access-date=January 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122062232/http://www.slashfilm.com/david-finchers-spider-man-that-never-was/|archive-date=January 22, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Fincher's pitch featured an older, experienced version of the titular character in his adult years and the post-adolescent portion of his life as a photographer and his crime-fighting double life as a vigilante, with a more grounded, character-driven and drama-oriented tone and direction. He also wanted the film to feature a ten minute title sequence tackling Peter Parker's backstory and featuring [[Green Goblin (Norman Osborn)|Green Goblin]] killing [[Gwen Stacy]]. Fincher later said of his pitch, "I went in and told them what I might be interested in doing, and they hated it". [[Sam Raimi]] was chosen as director instead.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collider.com/david-fincher-spider-man/|title=David Fincher Reveals What He Had Planned for His Take on SPIDER-MAN|last=Chitwood|first=Adam|date=December 19, 2011|website=Collider|language=en-US|access-date=January 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728133946/http://collider.com/david-fincher-spider-man/|archive-date=July 28, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/feb/03/david-fincher-interview-transcript|title=Transcript of the Guardian interview with David Fincher at BFI Southbank|date=January 18, 2009|work=The Guardian|access-date=January 7, 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160922204519/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/feb/03/david-fincher-interview-transcript|archive-date=September 22, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://io9.gizmodo.com/david-fincher-reveals-the-operatic-title-sequence-for-h-5869055 David Fincher reveals the operatic title sequence for his Spider-Man movie that never was]</ref>
