Strange rumors and odd stories are continuing to surface in the wake of Michael Jackson’s death. But can any of them beat this one? According to former Marvel Comics head honcho Stan Lee, the King of Pop had some very serious aspirations to play Spider-Man in a full-length feature film.

"I'm not sure whether he just wanted to produce it or wanted to play the role,” Lee said. “Our conversation never got that far along. He thought I'd be the one who could get him the rights [to make a Spider-Man movie], and I told him I couldn't.” Asked if he thought Jackson would have played Spider-Man in the project, Lee simply said: “I suspect so.”

A new Spider-Man movie is due for completion in 2011, with director Sam Raimi and actors Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst already signed up for the project. It’s difficult to understand how Jackson thought his version would get off the ground, but logic didn’t seem to figure strongly in many of his business decisions.

[Gigwise]