Well this is a story that's come up before but it never gets any less fascinating. Over at Moviefone, there's a new interview with Stan Lee about the "King of Pop" Michel Jackson himself airing his desires to be Spider-Man as well as another Marvel hero that is even more baffling.

Moviefone: The most interesting bit of almost-casting that I've ever heard came from a Producers Guild conference last summer: the "X-Men" producers revealed that Michael Jackson seriously lobbied for the part of Professor X.Stan Lee: I wasn't aware that Michael Jackson wanted to be Professor X. I knew Michael Jackson. And with the things he discussed with me, I felt he wanted to be Spider-Man. That was the character that interested him. He never discussed the X-Men with me. Moviefone: I'm fascinated by the fact that Jackson worked with Stan Lee Media and attempted to buy Marvel, in the 90s. Stan Lee: Yes, he wanted to. He felt that would be the only way that he could play Spider-Man. Moviefone: What do you think the company would have looked like now if that partnership came to fruition? Stan Lee: I can't imagine it would have been totally different of course, but maybe not as successful. Michael was not a great businessman.

So we knew Michael Jackson was a contender for Jar Jar Binks but now we know he wanted to play Xavier or Spider-Man as well? Of course this could have happened in a world gone mad and if a set of suits accepted the money MJ could have thrown at them but imagine the possibilities?

Would anyone outside of the die hard Jacko fanbase accepted this one? I mean Moonwalker is good and all and Michael Jackson loved the hell out of comic books but this story never ceases to amaze. Just imagine what comic books we would have had from Marvel with Michael Jackson at the helm? The Fantastic Four could have become The Fantasic (Jackson) Five, Silver Surfer could have learnt the moonwalk and the Elephant Man's bones might have got his own ongoing comics. Do you guys have any other suggestions for MJ Marvel Comics titles?