Ranking The Live Action Spider-Man Movies From Worst To Best
- Take Two India
- May 16, 2020
- 6 min read
By Parshva Shah
Parshva Shah takes a look at the movies of his favourite web-slinging superhero.
Marvel, as we all know, is the home to some of our favourite superheroes. Spider-Man is one of the most popular comic book characters of all time, and that has helped its films rack up some huge box-office numbers.
I grew up watching Spider-Man movies. There have been seven of them so far, and ranking them was an arduous task because I love all the movies. Without further ado, let’s dive right into the Spider-Man Movie Rankings!
(SPOILER ALERT – If you haven’t watched any of these movies and intend to do so in the future without getting it spoiled, now is the right time for you to stop reading further.)
#7. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Back in 2014, as a 12-year old, I didn’t have access to the Internet. Hence, I didn’t know anything about the movie until the trailer came out.
The movie starts with a Spider symbol with a black background, that slowly transitions to the scene where Spider-Man is flying downwards, with the classic symbol in red at the back connecting the initial symbol scene and the scene where Spider-Man is in the air. That opening scene got me really excited for what was to follow.
However, it all went downhill. Sony decided to do something similar to what they did with Spider-Man 3: have multiple villains. Re-introducing Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin was a big blunder, and the portrayal of Max Dillon A.K.A Electro left the audiences dissatisfied.
Sony could have just gone ahead with one villain, i.e Electro, as he is one of the fiercest nemeses of Spider-Man in the comics. Having such a big villain like Electro would have more than sufficed with a good script because Jamie Foxx was the right choice to play the character and he did justice to the role, regardless of the flaws in the storyline.
However, the end of the movie surely teased and set up the Sinister Six for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, a movie that never happened.
The movie could have been much better without the Green Goblin.
#6. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
When Spider-Man was rebooted after Spider-Man 4 was cancelled, the general consensus was that director Marc Webb would bring a unique dimension to the character, and the moviegoers would get to watch a film that would top the Sam Raimi movies.
However, they revisited the entire Ben-Parker-dies-and-Peter-becomes-Spider-Man origin, albeit a bit differently this time. It did make some sense since this movie was not a part of a bigger shared universe, but it really wasted the first quarter of the film in showing how Peter gains his abilities and what is the motivation behind him to use his powers for the right purpose.
The movie also drew parallels with Spider-Man 2 for having a scientist turn into Peter Parker’s mentor first and then turn into an antagonist as a result of a failed experiment. There was no originality at all. It was like re-watching a different iteration of Spider-Man 2 with Dr.Curtis Connors (Lizard) being the villain instead of Dr.Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus).
The movie is nowhere close to Spider-Man (2002) in terms of an origin story, but Andrew Garfield did a pretty decent job, and the action sequences were worth watching.
#5. Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Spider-Man 3 would’ve been much higher on this list had it not been for Sony interfering with the ideas Sam Raimi had for this movie. Sam Raimi is easily the best director out of all the three directors (the other two being Marc Webb and Jon Watts).
The third instalment in the series was the worst in the entire trilogy. A character like Venom had hardly 15-20 minutes of role in a 156-minute film, although Venom’s alter-ego Eddie Brock was around for pretty much the entire duration of the film.
Having three villains backfired for Sony as the film received negative reviews from the critics, although it did pretty well at the box office.
The action sequences and the change in tone when Spider-Man inherits the symbiote suit are a few elements of the movie that I could go on to watch, again and again, especially the final act where Spider-Man returns to his original red-and-blue suit and teams up with Harry Osborn to take down a behemoth in Sandman.
Wondering what the film could’ve been had Sam Raimi been given the creative control makes me sad because it could’ve probably been the best Spider-Man film ever.
#4. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
What I really liked about this movie is that they skipped the entire origin story of how Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gets his powers.
The story kicks off right after the events of Captain America: Civil War and the movie does a really good job at portraying Peter Parker’s chemistry with Ned, his best friend.
Michael Keaton was fantastic playing Adrian Toomes A.K.A Vulture. He wasn’t killed off and he is probably going to feature in a future Spider-Man film as a member/leader of the Sinister Six.
Tom Holland’s age helped Peter Parker seem as realistic and young as he could, alluding to the comic books.
The script was good. The movie didn’t seem like it was being dragged for too long, and a jovial and nonchalant tone worked wonders for the film.
“If you are nothing without the suit, then you probably shouldn’t have it.”, a line by Tony Stark in the movie, was the MCU equivalent of the iconic “With great power comes great responsibility” phrase from the comics.
#3. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Spider-Man: Far From Home absolutely blew everyone away at the box office. It became the first-ever Spider-Man film to gross over a billion dollars worldwide, making it the most profitable Spider-Man film ever.
The movie is filled with a lot of twists that keep the audience engaged. It deals with how Spider-Man grows as a character in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, where he lost his father figure in Tony Stark.
Far From Home is hands down the best movie when it comes to VFX. The illusion scene in the second half of the movie is insane. Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio makes up for a pretty good villain.
The movie also shows Spider-Man in four different suits, and one which he designs on his own – a good callback to how Tony Stark designed his own suits and how Peter Parker is shouldered with carrying forward his legacy and becoming a better Avenger than Tony Stark ever was.
The movie ends on a superb note, as Spider-Man’s identity is revealed and sets up the third standalone Spider-Man movie in the MCU slated for a release on November 5, 2021.
The film also saw the return of everyone’s beloved J.K. Simmons, reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson in the post-credit scene.
#2. Spider-Man (2002)
Spider-Man set a benchmark for future superhero movies. Sam Raimi is one of those very few directors to have redefined the comic book film adaptations. He is the best director a Spider-Man film could ever get.
It shows in the movie that the director has taken the source material (the comics) very seriously. Tobey Maguire nails Peter Parker’s role to perfection. Right from Peter Parker’s complicated on-screen chemistry with Mary Jane, to his friendship with Harry Osborn, to the iconic phrase “With great power comes great responsibility”, the movie hits the bullseye.
The fighting scenes between Spider-Man and Green Goblin, which Willem Defoe was born to play, were exceptionally choreographed. The character development is phenomenal. Peter is shown to be an irresponsible boy who, over the course of the movie, learns what he must do in order to protect his identity and more importantly his loved ones from danger.
#1. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Spider-Man 2 is arguably one of the greatest superhero movies of all time. You might disagree with me, and that’s okay.
Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus stems from a tragic incident where he loses his wife and witnesses a big failure in an experiment he had been working on for a long time. He might probably be the best silver screen supervillain of all time. The film gives us a chance to connect emotionally with the villain.
Spider-Man 2 perfectly shows how Peter Parker is struggling to balance his friendship, love life, academics, and being Spider-Man all at once. The movie touches the hearts with the relatable being-everywhere-at-once notion.
Peter Parker is at his lowest mentally, and that sees his powers as Spider-Man waning away, forcing him to put aside his superhero life.
The fighting sequence between Alfred Molina and Tobey Maguire on a running train is the nucleus of the movie. The scene will go down as one of the best action sequences ever, and not even Marvel Studios has come close to delivering a scene as compelling as that.
I could go on and on talking about how great this movie is. This definitely and deservingly is the best Spider-Man movie ever, and it will take quite a feat to produce something better than this movie did.
Let me know how you would rank the Spider-Man movies in the comments below!
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