Long before she was taking lessons from big screen heroes of the ’80s on her way to becoming an excellent fighter in her own right as Tory on “Cobra Kai,” Peyton List almost had some screen time with a superhero in one of the best comic book movies ever made. During a 2019 appearance on “Livin’ Large with Mark Dohner,” the “Karate Kid” spin-off series star revealed that she played an uncredited role in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2” that, unfortunately, got cut from the finished film.
Her brief visit to the wall-crawler’s world came about after List’s mother forced the agents who had initially recruited her twin brother, Spencer, to sign her on as well. “And so my mom said, ‘You have to sign them both because she really wants to do it. If you have to get him, you have to get her.’ And she was like, ‘Or we’re walking,'” List recalled.
“And then, I ended up doing really well. And my brother and I both went out for ‘Spider-Man 2’ and we both got [to play] the kids on the stairs together. And we’re basically fighting over how to spell Spider-Man.” Unfortunately, it seems we’ll never get the chance to see the footage List described. Thankfully, though, the actor didn’t take her being dropped from the film to heart. If anything, she was just as tough as her “Cobra Kai” character when it came to handling the not-so-welcome news.
List being cut from Spider-Man 2 was ‘good’ for her
Actors are bound to hit bumps in the road over the course of their careers, even when they’re six-years-old the way Peyton List was when “Spider-Man 2” came along. Back then, though, she either took it in her stride or was too young to be worried about it when she didn’t make the final version of the movie. Like any eager star, however, she was primarily happy with the opportunity. “It’s pretty awesome. My part got cut, so yeah, it was a double whammy. ‘They didn’t want you, you got cut from your first film, welcome to Hollywood, kid!'” List recalled. Such is the nature of the business, but it’s also a career path List stuck to long enough for things to eventually pay off.
As the “Cobra Kai” star explained, she was always set on making it big and caught the acting bug very early. “I asked my mom at a really young age, like, I knew what I wanted to do, which is so odd. I feel like I was a super mature, little kid,” List noted. True to her word, she didn’t given up after her “Spider-Man”-themed dreams failed to pan out. “But, it was good for me. It was good for me at six [laughs]. It humbled me. That’s why I have super low self-esteem. No, I’m kidding,” List added.
While she might’ve not gotten to spend any time with Marvel’s iconic web-slinger, List — combined with the efforts of “Karate Kid” veterans Ralph Macchio and William Zabka — has since helped “Cobra Kai” become the rare TV show based on a movie that’s actually better than its source material. Forget hanging out with a hero on screen, List has since gotten to play one instead.