There was 'very extreme' pay gap between Kirsten Dunst, Tobey Maguire for 'Spider-Man'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 11/16/21

Kirsten Dunst starred as Mary Jane Watson opposite Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man/Peter Parker in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy from 2002-07.

The first Spider-Man grossed $821 million, and the 2004 sequel earned $789 million, per The Independent. Dunst shared with the publication that she didn't personally benefit from those eye-popping profits.

"The pay disparity between me and Spider-Man was very extreme," the 39-year-old actress said, referring to Maguire. "I didn’t even think about it. I was just like, 'Oh yeah, Tobey [Maguire] is playing Spider-Man.' But you know who was on the cover of the second Spider-Man poster? Spider-Man and ME."

Dunst previously discussed the disparity with Variety in May 2017, saying then, "Because I was young, I thought, ‘Oh wow, I’m getting paid a lot of money for the Spider-Man movies.' But definitely the men were getting paid more."

In the present, Dunst will star as Rose Gordon in The Power of the Dog, set to hit Netflix on Dec. 1:

Directed and written for the screen by Oscar winner Jane Campion, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons also star.

Meanwhile, the Spider-Man franchise pivoted to Andrew Garfield as the titular superhero and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy for Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).
Director Jon Watts took over to start yet another series in 2017 with Tom Holland replacing Garfield and Zendaya as MJ. Spider-Man: No Way Home is expected Dec. 17.

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