A Very Necessary Ranking Of All The Spider-Man Movies

Well before we had Iron Man or Captain America, or even the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it, we had Spider-Man. Though it certainly doesn’t seem it, the web-slinger has been on our screens for almost two decades. But in saying that, he’s also been played by three different actors across three completely separate Spider-Man franchises, and that’s not including any animated Spider-Men. Between eight different movies, if you’ve only got time to watch one of them, which Spider-Man is the best Spider-Man movie?

That probably depends a lot on when you grew up (let’s be real, ‘90s kids have a soft spot for Tobey Maguire), and just how much you think smol, soft Tom Holland should be protected (answer: a lot). While the following Spider-Man ranking is merely for fun and by no way scientific, it should be taken as the truth because come on, some Spider-Man movies are good and some are, well, not good. Let us always remember that Andrew Garfield tried his hardest and certainly looked the part!

Without further ado, here’s a very good official Spider-Man movie ranking, please enjoy:

In the comics, Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone) dies. She dies in the movie, too, and in just about the same way. Honestly, it’s very hard to watch (she’s thrown off a building and while Spider-Man is able to stop her from crashing to the ground, the web he shoots pulls her into a strong whiplash and she snaps her neck), making it the darkest Spider-Man movie by a mile. Aside from this heartbreaking death do you remember anything else about this movie — like Jamie Foxx playing a forgettable Electro? The movie was supposed to have a third and fourth movie (They even had dates! June 10, 2016 and May 4, 2018) and spinoffs (about Felicity Jones’ potential Black Cat!), and those Spider-verse movies were all canceled since the movie underperformed at the box office and wasn’t as well received as others. The Amazing-Spider Man 2 is the worst Spider-Man because it literally killed this Spider-Man franchise.

Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man franchise started off so strong but completely fizzled out by the third movie. This last installment of this trilogy introduced us to Emo Dancing Peter, Emo Nightclub Dancing Peter, Twisting Mary Jane and Harry, and Sad Singing Mary Jane.

Uh, yeah no. The movie is more meme than actual movie by the end of it, and it’s a shame this is how this franchise concluded.

Hoping to restart the Spider-Man franchise with a fresh new face and take, The Amazing Spider-Man certainly tried but there are just so many times we can watch Uncle Ben die before we get it. However, it’s still a fun movie and you can’t deny that there’s chemistry between Garfield and Stone (which later led to their off-screen romance).

Doc Ock (played here by Alfred Molina), is one of the best on-screen Marvel villains to date, period. Spider-Man 2 also saw Peter graduate from high school and try to make it as a college student by day, superhero by night, all while juggling a job at The Daily Bugle taking pictures of Spider-Man (a.k.a. himself). We felt for Peter as he stumbled through all of this, and especially when it seemed like he was going to lose his true love, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), to someone else. A decade later, Spider-Man 2 still holds up as a decent superhero movie and one that you actually want to rewatch when you find it on TV or streaming.

Not to go too spoiler-heavy since the movie just opened, but Spider-Man: Far From Home once again proves that Holland is the perfect choice to play this brand new Peter. He’s young, he’s still learning the ropes of what it means to be a hero, and he just wants to have fun sometimes. Maguire and Garfield’s Peters both seem so old (even though they’re supposed to be teenagers), but Holland is allowed tap into his younger side with everything he does. And coming off of Avengers: Endgame, Far From Home is a much-needed breath of fresh air that shows Marvel can still make self-contained movies while setting up the future of the MCU. Also four words: Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio.

Superhero movies were very different back in 2002, and our first outing with Spider-Man certainly kicked things into high gear. The OG Spider-Man movie is actually just plain good. It also gave us the Spider-Man mantra that will never die, “with great power comes great responsibility.” Watching it now, there are certainly parts that are a little outdated and campy, but when it comes to Peter Parker as a hero and a person, it withstands the test of time.

Did you ever think a Spider-Man movie would win an Oscar? Because Into the Spider-Verse did in 2019. Instead of focusing on Peter, this movie spends two hours with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a mixed-race teenager finally bringing some much-needed diversity to the character. But in addition, we got multiple different Spider-Men (and women), including John Mulaney playing Spider-Pig and New Girl's Jake Johnson as a tired, older, apathetic Spider-Man! We also got a female Doc Ock (Kathryn Hahn)! What more could you want from a movie, honestly? Spider-Verse is also the most comic book-like movie possibly ever made, with an animation style that makes you feel like you’re actually watching the pages of an issue pass before your eyes. Sequels and spin-offs are already in the works, natch.

Knowing what we know now about Holland’s performance as Peter, it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Spider-Man. He just is Spider-Man. Homecoming is by far the best movie to date featuring the character, and not just because we completely skip over Uncle Ben’s death (seriously, enough with that). Peter is able to be vulnerable, scared, confused, and, at times, completely joyous. Holland shows us a range in the character that we haven’t seen before. When Peter fumbles, we all fumble; when Peter succeeds, we all succeed; when Peter cries, we all cry. There’s a reason Tony Stark chose this Peter to help the Avengers charge forward, wherever they go next.