The famous superhero created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko first appeared in a made-for-television film in 1977 with Nicholas Hammond in the main role. Ever since then, Spider-Man has been reprised, rebooted, and re-imagined across multiple different media and has even become the third highest-grossing movie franchise of all time. Among the most popular movies are Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man movies starring Andrew Garfield, and, of course, the MCU’s Spider-Man trilogy with Tom Holland.
The different movie franchises have seen not only different Spider-Man suits and actors playing Spider-Man, but also different worldwide box office results. From No Way Home to Into the Spider-Verse, here are all the ten Spider-Man movies, ranked according to their box office successes.
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9 Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse — $375,084,923
Sony Pictures Releasing
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is the first animated movie in the franchise. The movie did exceptionally well at the domestic box office, as well as at the worldwide box office with over $375M grossed against a $90M budget. It became one of the few non-Disney/Pixar movies to win the Best Animated Feature at the 91st Academy Awards. The plot follows Miles Morales as he teams up with different Spider-Men from parallel universes to fight against Kingpin. The sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which has been recently announced to have two parts, will reportedly take Miles to unimaginable places.
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8 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 — $708,996,336
Sony
The Amazing Spider-Man 2, directed by Marc Webb, didn’t do as well as Sony expected. The series was scheduled to have two more sequels and numerous spin-offs, but due to its mixed reviews from critics and low box-office performance, all the plans got halted. The movie was praised for Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone’s chemistry, as the plot revolves around Peter Parker protecting Gwen Stacy while he investigates the cause of his parents’ death and fights Electro. After Garfield appeared in No Way Home, many nostalgic memories were brought back and people are asking for the third movie.
7 The Amazing Spider-Man — $757,890,267
Sony Pictures
The first movie of The Amazing Spider-Man series did excellently, as far as the numbers were concerned, with over $757M grossed worldwide. The critics praised mostly the visual style and Andrew Garfield’s acting performance. The plot itself focuses on the aftermath of Peter Parker getting bitten by a genetically-altered spider as he tries saving the city from The Lizard. As we have already mentioned, after Garfield’s appearance in No Way Home, everyone is impatient to see whether we’ll eventually get The Amazing Spider-Man 3 — Garfield and Tom Holland included.
6 Spider-Man 2 — $794,697,557
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 received widespread critical acclaim for its emotional weight and visual effects. Although it did have the smallest worldwide box office gross out of the trilogy, with $794M earned, sometimes the numbers don’t necessarily define the quality of the movie. Similarly to Holland’s Far From Home, the movie sees Maguire struggle with maintaining his personal life and the life of the superhero, while battling his mentor-turned-villain Dr. Octavius, who would later reprise his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home along with Maguire.
5 Spider-Man — $821,706,375
It is safe to say that without Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man installment from 2002 starring Tobey Maguire, No Way Home would not have been as successful as it is. Spider-Man became the third-highest-grossing movie of 2002, with over $821M grossed at the worldwide box office. It was praised for redefining the superhero genre and was known as the summer blockbuster of that year. The plot follows an outcast Peter Parker, who gets bitten by a genetically altered spider and takes it upon himself to fight crime in NYC while facing the villain Green Goblin. As of recent, Marvel fans have been calling for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4, after he declared that “Anything is possible in the Marvel universe.”
4 Spider-Man: Homecoming — $878,346,440
Everyone was thrilled when Tom Holland was introduced as the new Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, when he got recruited by Tony Stark to join his side. A year later in 2017, the first movie of the MCU’s Spider-Man released, and it was immediately a box office success, with over $878M grossed worldwide. Spider-Man: Homecoming received praise for its lighter tone and its focus on Peter’s high school life mixed with his duties as friendly neighborhood Spider-Man as he faces The Vulture (Michael Keaton).
3 Spider-Man 3 — $894,860,230
The final installment of Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire did not disappoint with the numbers. Spider-Man 3 earned over $894M at world box office and was praised for its action sequences and visual effects. The story follows Peter Parker as he prepares for his life with Mary-Jane while fighting three new enemies: Uncle Ben’s Killer The Sandman, his best friend Harry Osborne, and Venom. Peter himself bonds with a symbiote, which increases not only his strength, but also his rage issues.
2 Spider-Man: Far From Home — $1,132,532,832
Sony / Marvel Studios
As the last movie in the Phase Three of the MCU, Spider-Man: Far From Home became the first movie in the Spider-Man franchise to gross over $1B worldwide. In the movie, Peter Parker gets recruited by Nick Fury and Mysterio to help them fight the Elementals, while trying to enjoy his school trip to Europe. It was praised especially for Holland and Gyllenhaal’s performances, the humor, and the visuals. We are given the long-awaited love story between Peter and MJ (Zendaya), which could have been done as more of a slow-burn, but was heart-warming nevertheless.
1 Spider-Man: No Way Home — $1,890,908,188
Marvel Studios / Sony
And now, onto the highest-grossing-movie of 2021: Spider-Man: No Way Home grossed over $1.89B at the worldwide box office. Directed by Jon Watts, the plot follows Peter Parker begging Doctor Strange to help him make the world forget about his identity as Spider-Man. When the spell goes wrong, it opens the multiverse, which brings iconic visitors from other alternative realities. It was highly praised for the story, direction, and the cast’s chemistry. Despite breaking an impressive home digital release record, No Way Home lost its only Oscar nomination to Dune.
