2021 seems to be the year of Spider-Man, with the trailer for the web-head’s latest outing No Way Home shattering records and the announcement of the sequel to 2018’s Insomniac-produced game blowing fans’ minds with the imminent arrival of series favourite (not always, as you’ll see below) Venom. With that we thought it was the perfect time to swing through the web-slinger’s filmography – Avengers appearances and Venom spin-offs notwithstanding – to come up with the definitive ranking of Spidey films.
8. Spider-Man 3
The film that tanked Sam Raimi’s otherwise perfect trilogy, Spider-Man 3 will long be remembered as one of the most unintentionally hilarious superhero films. Emo Peter Parker? Already an odd choice. Having him strut his stuff through a crowded New York street shooting finger guns at horrified women? It’s the stuff of ‘so bad it’s great’ legend. But apart from these moments of unintentional levity, Spider-Man 3 is a largely dull affair, taking the characters we loved from the first two films and finishing their arcs in haphazard, unlikeable ways across the board.
James Franco’s Harry Osborn should be the big bad that the series was building toward, stepping into his father’s legacy and forced to make monumental choices between family and friend. Instead he loses his memory like a bad episode of an 80’s soap opera and does the twist while making omelettes with Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). Enter Topher Grace’s woefully miscast Eddie Brock (AKA Venom) and an actually decent Thomas Haden Church as the Sandman to fill that villainous void. It all descends into an incomprehensible mess of a final action scene but the brief glimpses into Sandman’s sweet relationship with his daughter hint at the emotional connection Raimi excelled at in earlier instalments.
7. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
The image really speaks volumes about The Amazing Spider-Man 2, taking the solid groundwork laid in Andrew Garfield’s introduction as the character and cluttering it with villains and downright stupid creative decisions. The relationship between Garfield’s Parker and Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy continues to be the highlight of these two films, with an easy, natural chemistry between the pair and some solid obstacles thrown at them that forces Peter to confront that fundamental Spider-Man issue: balancing his wants and needs as an everyday teen (now college student) and the larger responsibilities of Spider-Man.
Gwen’s death (spoiler alert) might just be the most heart-wrenching moment out of all these films but for every step it takes in the right direction, Amazing 2 counters with scene after scene of Jamie Foxx’s Electro muttering about his birthday through weirdly blue teeth, Dane DeHaan’s painfully annoying Harry Osborn and so much forced setup for a Sinister Six film that never came that Peter Parker gets buried in his own film.
6. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Andrew Garfield’s first outing as skater-boy Peter Parker announced him as a far superior version of Spider-Man whilst under the mask, firing quip after quip alongside the webs as he took on the villainous Lizard (Rhys Ifans). His Parker might have been a little too good-looking and charming for the usually reserved and awkward nerd audiences knew from the Raimi trilogy and comics but made up for it with great chemistry with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Far more than the constant damsel-in-distress Kirsten Dunst’s MJ found herself as, Gwen gets a lot more to do in the fight against the Lizard and endears herself to the audience in a much bigger way because of it.
Martin Sheen and Sally Field shine as Uncle Ben and Aunt May but the film stumbles in its over examination of Peter’s parents, tying his origin as the web-slinger to a scientific conspiracy further expounded on in the sequel. It never quite clicks together in expanding Peter’s character; positing his desire for a father figure as the basis for a friendship with Ifans’ cold-blooded scientist is a clunky way to bring the pair together. Ifans, for his part, isn’t given a whole lot to do other than whine about his missing limb and provide a physical opponent for Spidey; a wasted opportunity for one of the all-time greats from Spider-Man’s rogues gallery.
5. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
The burden of carrying the first post-Endgame MCU film falls on Spidey’s shoulders in Far From Home and it largely works despite the drastic shift in scale from the world-ending threat of Thanos. The film takes a while to get going, walking us through Peter’s (Tom Holland) desire for a break from web-slinging and a chance to declare his affection for MJ (Zendaya) on an upcoming European school trip. Things pick up with the arrival of Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio, a worthy foil who plays upon the teenagers naivety to gain access to Stark-level weaponry and present himself as Earth’s new defender.
Gyllenhaal and Holland’s bro-ish chemistry is fun to watch, with Peter leaning heavily on another potential mentor after Tony Stark’s recent passing, and the big reveal of Mysterio’s evil intentions provides a big moment to drive his character forward. By the end of it all there’s lessons learned, tears shed and the fully confident Spider-Man we all knew Holland could be taking centre stage as he defeats his greatest enemy to date. Still it’s hard to ignore the significant chunk of what feels like filler as we move through what is largely a stopgap on the way to the more MCU significant crossover in the upcoming No Way Home.
4. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Fans waited a long time to see Ultimate comics’ Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) take up the mantle of Spider-Man and it turned out to be worth the wait, with Sony Animation delivering a visually stunning film that looks as though it as been pulled straight out of the pages of a comic. Miles’ origin story on its face isn’t hugely different from that of Peter Parker, but the way in which the film fundamentally understands Spider-Man on a character level ensures that this origin story is anything but unoriginal, delivering the message that anyone could be under the mask; that it is the fundamental goodness he brings to life that enables Miles to succeed as the web-slinger – a universal lesson for audiences young and old.
With strange new takes on iconic characters and a phenomenal voice cast all around – Jake Johnson’s schlubby Peter B. Parker and John Mulaney’s hilarious Spider-Ham are particular highlights – this is Spider-Man for a new generation: a bold new direction that we can’t wait to see where it heads.
3. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Having won audiences over with his unexpected debut in Captain America: Civil War, Tom Holland cemented himself as the next great Spider-Man for the MCU generation with solo film follow-up Homecoming. Being the first Peter Parker to actually look like they belong in school turns out to be one of Holland’s greatest assets, as the film is able to believably tackle the homework vs. hero angle, whilst still leaving plenty of room for MCU-sized action. Downey Jr.’s supporting turn as Iron Man is able to further Peter’s developmental arc, strengthen that father-son bond on the way to the devastating “I don’t feel too well Mr. Stark” payoff and provides some real stakes to Peter’s antics other than the always present threat of death.
Michael Keaton’s Vulture joins the pantheon of great on-screen Spider-Man villains along with the next two to be named, gleefully turning a profit cashing in on the fallout from Avengers level incidents before a certain Spider proves a thorn in his side. That pivotal twist – that the Vulture is actually the father of Peter’s crush – is a perfect Spider-Man story beat, seemingly insignificant in the larger scheme of things but completely shattering Parker’s world. But the defining moment? Peter psyching himself up to shift a pile of rubble; the kid from Queens and the audience joining together in chants of “Come on, Spider-Man” as he steps into the responsibility thrust upon him and becomes the hero we know and love.
2. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
A somewhat controversial placement, Sam Raimi’s beloved middle film in the trilogy takes all that he built in the first film and doubles down, adding another iconic villain in Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, more complications to Peter’s (Tobey Maguire) relationships with Harry (Franco) and MJ (Dunst) and the quintessential representation of the struggle between Spider-Man duties and the yearning for a normal life. Maguire builds upon his iconic performance to include layers of exhaustion and jealousy as Peter must watch the woman he loves marry someone else all the while knowing he could never give her the life he feels she deserves.
The “I am Spider-Man no more” line hits like a ton of bricks as you actually feel like this could be the end, that Peter has finally had enough, and while this may all sound like a dour, overly serious Spidey adventure, Raimi is able maintain that balance of heavy, real stakes with camp and humour, whether that be Bruce Campbell’s hilarious cameo or the memed-to-death ‘pizza boy’ scene. Dock Ock is the perfect mix of over-the-top maniacal villainy and affecting backstory, his turn to evil borne out of tremendous grief and suffering. He might even be the best of Spidey’s foes, if it weren’t for…
1. Spider-Man (2002)
The Green Goblin. We’ll get to the webhead himself in a minute but let’s take the time to recognise one of the best superhero villain performances of all time in Willem Dafoe’s gleefully unhinged performance as Norman Osborn, AKA Green Goblin. It’s a performance that simply couldn’t exist in today’s film landscape, so whacky and hilarious whilst being downright terrifying at the same time. Raimi presenting Norman’s development into the big bad in tandem with Peter’s only adds to the audience investment; making his turn into Spider-Man all the more courageous when you can see the dark path that sudden increase in power could have sent him.
But as for Spider-Man, this is the definitive telling of his origin story, filled with iconic scenes that have stood the test of time within the superhero genre. That first wall-crawl. The upside-down kiss. The first glorious swing through the buildings of New York. Tobey Maguire became a superstar off the back of his performance as the dorky teen living out every dorky teen’s fantasy and even if his Spider-Man didn’t have the most personality, his Peter Parker has yet to be beaten, hopelessly pining over the girl next door and coming into his own through sheer determination. This is the reason that superhero films exploded into the mainstream culture and for good reason: Spider-Man is spectacular.
