From Spectacular To Not So Amazing - The 6 SPIDER-MAN Movies Ranked From Worst To Best
With Spider-Man: Homecoming still making an impact at the box office, we take a look at the wall-crawler's six solo outing to decide which of them was amazing and which were simply abysmal...
Since 2002, there have been six Spider-Man movies (not counting the wall-crawler's cameo in Captain America: Civil War). During that 15 year period, babies have been born who are now just entering their teens and kids who went to see the wall-crawler's big screen debuts are now grown adults. The lates effort, Spider-Man: Homecoming, has been a hit with fans and critics alike but how does it compare?
For that matter, how do these movies match up to each other? We have Sam Raimi's trilogy, Marc Webb's aborted trilogy, and Jon Watts' reboot which finally brings the iconic Marvel superhero into the world of The Avengers. They're all very different and all have good and bad points, so what you'll find here is a definitive ranking of Spidey's six movies and how they stack up from worst to best.
6. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
The designs for the two villains mentioned above and Harry Osborn's Green Goblin looked abysmal on posters and the fact the sequel failed to elaborate on the "Untold Story" promised by the first instalment was a major issue, as was the Batman and Robin style of dialogue, packed out plot, and terrible story and acting. The death of Gwen Stacy was butchered and even Spidey's fight with the Rhino was spoiled in trailers beforehand! A total mess, it's no wonder this movie forced Sony to team up with Marvel Studios to reboot the wall-crawler.
5. Spider-Man 3
Venom, however, was probably the threequel's biggest casualty as the fan-favourite bad guy was shoehorned in at the last minute by pushy studio execs and that resulted in an unsatisfying and rushed story arc for Eddie Brock which left us with a version of the villain who paled in comparison to his comic book counterpart. Even now it's hard to say who should be blamed for this mess but Avi Arad's name springs to mind.
4. The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man promised to tell the "Untold Story" of Peter Parker's origin but extensive reshoots removed almost all of that and the result was a reboot which felt like a complete retread of what Sam Raimi had done a decade earlier. On the surface, Marc Webb seemed like a solid choice to deliver a Peter Parker for a new era but Andrew Garfield's hipster douche didn't connect with fans or moviegoers and changes made to the suit were a problem from the start.
The movie did get some things right, including mechanical web-shooters and the decision to explore what happened to Peter's parents but leaving out elements like Uncle Ben's line about "Great Power" and a pretty horrible take on The Lizard proved to be too problematic for many fans to fall in love with this new franchise. Ahead of its release, The Amazing Spider-Man promised innovative POV scenes and failed to deliver on those but Webb did at least get the hero's attitude right by making him a wise-cracker at last.
3. Spider-Man
Sadly, there are some elements which do not. The Green Goblin's costume remains this movie's biggest letdown, while the transition from CGI Spider-Man to the live-action version look even more awkward now than they did at the time. Raimi was also clearly finding his feet in terms of directing action but when it comes to spectacle, there's no getting around the fact that there was plenty on offer here.
2. Spider-Man: Homecoming
The Vulture was an interesting choice of villain who Marvel managed to make particularly memorable thanks to some cool twists while grounding Spidey as a Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man helped give this movie a fresh feel while also leaving the door open to him ultimately swinging past those New York City skyscrapers. It wasn't perfect and took a few too many liberties with the comic books in some respects but that was almost necessary at this point in the character's big screen history so it's hard to get too mad about that. Seeing Spidey in the MCU was a joy and this movie was a triumph!
1. Spider-Man 2
The sequel also contained countless standout moments as Harry Osborn unmasked Spider-Man to find his best friend and the wall-crawler battled Doc Ock atop a train before being saved by the New Yorkers who he thought had turned against him. J.K. Simmons was on fire again here before his J. Jonah Jameson took a cringe-worthy turn in the third movie and it's honestly hard to find fault with this one. It's just a shame it all ended up going so wrong, eh?
Which Spider-Man movie is your favourite? Do you think we've got this ranking right? As always, share your thoughts in the comments section below.