Whether he got fired or not from "Spider-Man 2" has been the talk of the town over recent months. But Tobey Maguire, who will reprise his role in the web-slinging sequel told Sci-Fi Wire that the holdup in him coming to the set had more to do with wanting to make sure he could do the stunts, and not the drama that has been reported off the set.

"It's not true that I was fired," Maguire said of reports that had been appearing in the Los Angeles Times, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. "Basically, I had some concerns, as did the studio, because the level of stunts are so much greater on the second picture than the first, and we both wanted ot make sure I could do it. So we went through some tests in terms of me getting into harnesses and performing some of the stunts. We were pretty close to production. So I think things got blown out of proportion. We were three weeks out, and we were making sure -- or you could say questioning -- whether I was able to do it. After I did the tests, we all felt good about it, and off we went."

Maguire's happy film "Seabiscuit" is on its way to theaters soon, and reporters had that Maguire had suffered a back injury while filming. However, Maguire denied that, saying that he has had a lower-back problem for years.

"It was pre-existing," he said. "And it's just been something that has come and gone over a few years. Nothing I did on ('Seabiscuit') really hurt my back, and since (then), it's gotten a lot better."

"Spider-Man 2" is scheduled to be released July 2, 2004.

Talk about this story on the Airlock Alpha message boards. Click here!.