Webhead, wall-crawler, menace: Spider-Man has as many nicknames as he does feature films over the extent of nearly two decades. Over the years, audiences have been thrilled with the adventures of Spider-Man and his web-slinging adventures, seeing the hero leap from the comic book to the silver screen. Multiple actors have taken on the mantle of Spider-Man, and while the heroes might be described as amazing the same cannot be said for all of his films.
Updated September 24, 2022: If you love Spider-Man, you’ll be happy to know we’ve updated this article with additional entries and content surrounding the franchise.
Spider-Man is easily one of the most recognized superheroes from Marvel Comics and the comic book genre as a collective whole, and though great power may come with great responsibility, his movies don’t always fare well over time. Since the emergence of Spider-Man in cinematic form, the discussion of the quality of each iteration was quickly set ablaze. The debate over the “best” and “worst” of Spider-Man is bound to be infinite as more movies are released. While no official word has been made about another live-action Spider-Man movie, following the box office records broken by Spider-Man: No Way Home it is only a matter of time. Meanwhile, audiences can look forward to two sequels to the Academy Award-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse set for release in 2023 followed by Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse in 2024. These are the Spider-Man movies, ranked.
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9 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Sony Pictures
After New York City suffers under the siege of Oscorp, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is asked to step up and be the hero that the city both deserves and needs. Preoccupied with his infatuation with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), Parker struggles with the responsibility of being Spider-Man while protecting those whom he cares about the most.
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8 Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Unlike the other two films in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, it’s hard to dig on Spider-Man 3. For the final leg of a series, there’s far too much going on for it to be a distinguished finale to Tobey Maguire’s inaugural run. A Spider-Man movie is said to be as strong as its villain, though Spider-Man 3 has a villain problem. There was a clear-cut opportunity for the plot of the film to strictly focus on Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), Harry Osborn (James Franco), and the generational transfer of the Green Goblin mantle from father to son. This would have allowed the franchise to conclude with Parker being forced to face off against his closest friend. Unfortunately, the studio had other plans.
Instead of following a singular, narrowed plotline, two other villains are brought into the picture. Raimi wanted to adapt Sandman as he was a fan of what the character’s powers could look like on screen. Meanwhile, Sony and Spider-Man producer Avi Arad forced the filmmaker to include Venom as he was a popular Spider-Man villain even though Raimi was not a fan of the character. In an attempt to show Peter Parker’s life becoming more complicated, Spider-Man 3 begins to crumble under the weight of its various plotlines. The threequel falls out of touch with the rest of Maguire’s time as Parker and isolates itself from what the character of Spider-Man is meant to represent. While the reaction to Spider-Man 3 has softened over time, it certainly feels like a step down from Raimi’s two previous entries.
7 Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Far before Spider-Man: No Way Home designated itself to be the most anticipated film of 2021, Tom Holland needed to establish himself as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man past his first canonical appearance in Captain America: Civil War (2016). Holland may be Marvel’s most accurate version of Parker yet: a wide-eyed, baby-faced, and over-eager high schooler whose double-life disguises him as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. The actor may have the boyish look and the bubbly personality down, but Spider-Man: Homecoming still tells the same story that has been told for decades, just with a father figure and a new villain at play. Spider-Man: Homecoming is flashy and contemporary enough for the modern-day audience, but isn’t original enough to be considered a step forward for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Holland’s version of Peter Parker satisfies those who can either relate to the character’s personality through their own life experience or have been torn over how Maguire and Garfield didn’t quite lock down the “socially awkward high-schooler” personality. Aside from the targeted niche, those who may have been hoping for an elaboration on Parker’s personality may struggle to take a liking to him. Spider-Man: Homecoming kicks off a current-day Spider-Man for a current-day audience, though the introduction to the new age can be overshadowed by its sequels.
6 The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Garfield’s short-lived two-parter still remains controversial as his legacy continues to divide fans. His first film rings true to Parker’s transition into Spider-Man, though Garfield takes a more mature approach to the role. He feels like he’s shed that boyish spirit that is found in Holland’s soon-to-be-three-parter, and his effortless coolness takes the position of a character loosely based on the idea of Parker.
The Amazing Spider-Manproves that Garfield is better suited for Spider-Man than he is a young Peter Parker. The film also chooses to play it fairly safe; an age-old origin story, a familiar cast of characters, and a plot that doesn’t overstimulate itself. The Amazing Spider-Man is easy enough for newcomers to the superhero genre to digest, but might be too simple when looking back at the potential that it once had.
5 Spider-Man (2002)
Prior to the development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Spider-Man, Sam Raimi set forth a simplistic origin story that streamlined a singular objective. It laid out the bare bones of a hero’s journey through a more narrative-driven story and held true to Parker’s comic book character. The result was the film sensation of 2002, and at the time set the record for the biggest opening weekend of all time which helped launch a new age of superhero movie adaptations.
Maguire is deemed to be stronger as Parker than he is Spider-Man and captures the legitimacy of a street-level hero. There is an emphasis on Maguire honing in on aspects of Parker’s life while not donning the Spider-Suit, which adds to the authenticity of Spider-Man. Being able to view Parker through the everyday lens while he keeps his alter-ego at bay contributes tremendously human tone of Maguire’s defining role. Combined with Willem Dafoe giving an incredible turn as Norman Osborn aka The Green Goblin, even twenty years later Spider-Man stands as a high mark in terms of superhero movies and set the template for how audiences would imagine Spider-Man for generations to come.
4 Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
A direct pipeline into Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Far From Home breathes a little life into Holland’s Homecoming trilogy as it becomes more comfortable with itself. It feels less stiff than Spider-Man: Homecoming, and gives way for more of Holland to elaborate on Parker’s character aside from being the anxious teen whose been given superhero-level responsibilities. Spider-Man: Far From Home challenges Holland to push past the self-doubt that he previously shrouds himself in as Parker and embraces the spirit of Spider-Man with more vigor.
Spider-Man: Far From Home offers an exciting new villain with the debut of Mysterio who is reimagined in a fresh unique way that also is a semi-meta take on the nature of superhero films. Taking the classic sequel set-up laid out with films like The Great Muppet Caper and National Lampoon European Vacation, Spider-Man: Far From Home uses a classic international film trip to also stay true to the classic teen-centric storylines of the early Stan Lee/Steve Ditko Spider-Man comics. Instead of stifling itself, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming gives Holland’s secondary solo film the jolt that it needs to push the franchise, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, forward.
3 Spider-Man 2 (2004)
This is Maguire’s best feature film as Spider-Man, and he knows it. Spider-Man 2 transitions cleanly from its predecessor, and undoubtedly keeps in stride with everything Raimi did right with the Spider-Man franchise. It pushes the story and themes of the first one forward, while also working as a standalone film that does not require the first film to be enjoyed. This could be the story of any Spider-Man comic a reader could pick up.
The film is utterly charming, in the most early-2000s sense imaginable; Raimi and Maguire created an incredibly quintessential comic book movie to the best of their ability. Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock is often regarded as one of the greatest comic book movie villains of all time and loomed so large that Kevin Feige decided just to bring him into the MCU than recast him.
There is the possibility to extend the sentiment and make the bold claim that Spider-Man 2 may still be one of the best Marvel movies ever made. The sequel not only paved the way for the phenomenon of comic book genres in the cinematic arts but re-established what makes Spider-Man a character audiences connect with: his ability to do the right thing even when it is hard.
2 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a surprise, but a welcome one to be sure. Teeming with creativity, this animated delight decides to set Parker in the background, and diversify the narrative. Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is given his silver-screen debut without beating around the redundancies of live-action films. Though Morales’ radioactive spider bite and coping with the loss of his uncle are two beats found in other Spider-Man material, the filmmakers lean into that familiarity to show that connects Miles to the larger legacy of Spider-Man’s past.
Sony Pictures pioneered a new animation style to perfectly execute Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and established new technology to bring pop art to the big screen. Stacked with a talented voice cast and an even more vibrant array of characters, including fresh faces from other Spider-Verses, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a fascinating, entertaining, and wholeheartedly uplifting alternative to the trio of Spider-Men that have been met already. The movie became a sensation when it came out, and became a favorite of those who might not even traditionally like superhero movies; in fact, some believe it to be the best superhero movie, and the film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. This has elevated the anticipation for the sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, set to hit the theaters on June 2, 2023, with the sequel set for release the following year.
1 Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
The anticipation for Spider-Man: No Way Home was unlike anything for any Spider-Man movie before it. In a movie that almost didn’t happen because Sony and Marvel Studios almost ended their contract with one another, for over a year audiences anticipated the movie as the casting of prior Spider-Man villains like Jamie Foxx’s Electro and Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock hinted at an event film. Showing that the rumors had been true all along, Maguire and Andrew Garfield both appeared in the 2021 film as their own respective Peter Parkers to team up with the MCU’s Tom Holland. Those who had the privilege of seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters can surely attest to audiences erupting in celebration upon seeing the surprise-guests stars appear is an understatement.
The film became an instant smash and became the success story of the COVID-19 box office showing that there was potential for audiences to return to pre-pandemic levels of attendance. The box office continued to grow and grow and has become the sixth highest grossing film at the worldwide box office with $1.9 billion.
Yet Spider-Man: No Way Home is far more than a fan service movie. It uses the appearance of the prior two Spider-Man movie actors to make a love letter to Spider-Man as a cinematic icon, showing how far he has come in twenty years. All while still managing to tell a classic Peter Parker Spider-Man story for the MCU version, where he learns the important lesson that with great power must also come great responsibility.
