RANKING OF THE
NOW that Spider-Man is swinging into cinemas 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.
You don’t have this current era of superhero movies without Spider-Man leading the way at the box office, but that doesn’t mean those films got it right every time.
Here is our ranking of all six Spider-Man movies:
Spider-Man 2 (2004) Spider-Man 2 may not be able to hold the top spot for long with more movies from this promising new franchise on the way, but for now it’s still our top Spidey-flick. 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 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 Spider-Man villain Doctor Octopus. Composer Danny Elfman, with assistance from superstar comic artist Alex Ross in the opening credits and some fun-to-watch skyscraper web-swinging at movie’s end, gives us one of the greatest superhero movie scores.
Spider-Man 2, despite now having a lot more competition, can still be considered one of the best needed the Marvel Studios touch. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Making a movie when you have a great idea is one thing, but making a movie because you don’t want to lose the rights to one of the most popular superheroes is another. Raimi and Maguire walking away from Spider-Man 4 gave birth to The Amazing Spider-Man, a good movie that exists because Sony thought it had to, not because fans were clamouring for it. Garfield shows some decent Spidey-potential, as a New York-accented, joke-cracking version who’s likeable but working with a not-so-great Spidey suit (it got better in the sequel, see above) and perhaps the least thrilling Spider-Man movie villain, Rhys Ifan’s Lizard.
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 (Venom and his black, alien suit that takes over Spider-Man for a bit) 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 Spidey-films.
The love story of Peter and Mary Jane seems to all but disappear amid 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 realises this was all a bad idea. They couldn’t even get black-suit Spider-Man right, giving him a regular Spidey-suit painted black instead of the classic all-black, no webbing version in the comics.