All six Spider-Man movies, from best to worst
With the classic superhero now home at Marvel Studios, a look at Spidey films of past
Now that Spider-Man has swung into theatres for the sixth time, it’s time to ask where this new franchise, now under the watchful gaze of Marvel Studios in addition to Sony, ranks among the rest.
Here is the Washington Post’s ranking of all six Spider-Man movies:
1. Spider-Man 2 (2004) Taking its cue from the “Spider-Man No More” storyline of 1967s Amazing Spider-Man No. 50, Tobey Maguire plays a frustrated Peter Parker who decides he’s no longer going to allow Spider-Man to get in the way of the things most important to him, mainly his love for Mary Jane Watson. Harry Osborn discovers that his best friend Peter is secretly Spider-Man and, convinced Peter killed his father, Norman Osborn/the Green Goblin, Harry goes down the dark path of becoming a Goblin of his own. Alfred Molina gives a compelling performance as classic SpiderMan villain Doctor Octopus and composer Danny Elfman gives us one of the greatest superhero movie scores ever.
2. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) Spider-Man is finally home where he belongs: Marvel Studios. Once the cinematic road to the Avengers was created, it just never seemed right that Spider-Man’s deal with Sony made it so he couldn’t fight alongside Iron Man and company. Tom Holland’s Peter Parker leads a cast of high school supporting players who are actually young. Michael Keaton gives an all-time Spider-villain performance as the Vulture (we shouldn’t be surprised, the guy was Batman) and Spider-Man has never looked better. Homecoming takes Spider-Man out of the previous movies’ dark shadows and shows it can be fun to be Spidey.
3. Spider-Man (2002) If you have superhero movie fatigue, you can thank the first Spider-Man film, the first movie ever to debut with a $100-million opening weekend. Perhaps this movie’s only flaw was a silly Green Goblin suit; William Dafoe was much more menacing outside of it as he went to war with Maguire’s Spider-Man while slowly going insane. A classic upside-down kiss with Mary Jane might be this film’s most memorable moment and the web-swinging in New York had a Christopher Reeve/Superman flying for the first time feel to it.
4. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) Back in darker times, when we were all convinced Spider-Man would never be a part of Marvel Studios, this was the best we thought we would get from a Spider-Man film post-Sam Raimi. Andrew Garfield was a pretty good Spider-Man and an even better Peter Parker. We get a well-put-together Spider-Man suit that takes influence from the bigeyed comic-book versions of the ’90s, which makes up for how bad all the villains look. Hipster Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) works well as a friend from Peter’s past but not as the next Green Goblin. Not even the strong chemistry of Garfield and Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy can save the franchise.
5. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) Making a movie when you’ve got a great idea is one thing. Making a movie because you don’t want to lose the rights to one of the most popular superheroes ever is another. Raimi and Maguire walking away from Spider-Man 4gave birth to The Amazing Spider-Man, a good movie that exists because Sony thought it had to. Garfield shows some decent Spidey potential who’s likable but working with a not-so-great Spidey suit. 6. Spider-Man 3 (2007) The Spider-Man-movie that must not be named. Raimi got a villain and a plot line that he was rumoured to have wanted no part of, and we’re given a Spidey movie that looks like something no one wanted to make. Once Maguire starts dancing, we know this is not going to be one of the all-time great Spider-Man films. The love story of Peter and Mary Jane seems to all but disappear amid the drama. Venom, perhaps the most intense, imposing Spider-Man villain of all, is played by someone from That ’70s Show and even Aunt May looks like she realizes this was all a bad idea.