Spider-Man film ranking

With the hotly anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home releasing in UK cinemas today; I thought that there is no better time to take a look back at the other web-slinger films so far and rank them. We’ve had three live-action Spider-Men, a multitude of animated ones, and 8 films over the course of 17 years. Each series has had a different flair and interpretation on the hero that are all beloved by audiences of all ages.

Now each of them are good in their own way with some being better than others: hence the ranking.

8. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Andrew Garfield’s second outing in the title role sees him facing off against Electro, as well as dealing with a whole load of other problems. He battles with PTSD over the events of the previous film, his girlfriend may be moving to London, his best friend is dying, leaving him with a dilemma that affects both Peter Parker and his alter-ego, and then there’s also a bloke running around in a giant, metal Rhino suit. Yeah – a lot happens in this one.

Although it has its merits, this film tries to do too much, making it feel messy. The positives include him having the best live-action Spidey costume we’ve ever seen. Andrew Garfield yet again wows in the role, bringing in wit and immense likeability which really stands out in the scenes where he talks to civilians – really proving himself to be New York’s hero.

Another highlight is the chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone (Gwen Stacey) which is the main focus of the film with it being the greatest strength of the first. Their relationship feels very believable and you root for each of them and for their relationship to thrive.

Unfortunately, the film fails when it comes to the villains. Electro suffered from weak writing, with his motivations not feeling worthy of the extremes he goes to as a villain. Green Goblin felt like an extra that we didn’t need, and then Rhino was a bit of a joke.

Andrew Garfield certainly deserved better, with a sequel to this being cancelled with Spider-Man joining the MCU with Tom Holland at the helm, meaning that this was the last film we got from Andrew.

7. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

The end of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy ended in a bit of a fizzle – rather than the bang that it should have been. Here we see an assortment of villains coming after Spider-Man, including Sandman, Venom and a new Green Goblin.

This was the first instance of Sony dooming their own film to fail. Raimi wanted to stick with classic enemies for his films, but the execs forced him to add Venom (a more modern character, straight from the 90s), making the film overstuffed, not having the time to focus on the more important character moments. Sandman was given a lot of attention and he was done quite well, becoming a very sympathetic villain. He was clearly Raimi’s intended focus, so there was more care given to him than with Venom (but who can blame him?)

There are highlights of course, namely the fight scenes, but there just wasn’t enough of what made the first two films so special; being the character relationships. The balance wasn’t right. It was messy and a poor ending to a series of films that a generation of kids grew up with.

But at least we got some great memes out of it!

6. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

After being introduced in Captain America: Civil War, Homecoming is the first Spider-Man film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This was huge for fans back when it released, after years of disconnected, Sony-made films, the partnership between them and Marvel Studios meant that he could be part of the shared universe with the Avengers. This made for a very different Spidey film than we’ve seen before with them really making use of Tom Holland’s young age and showing the teenage side of the character we’ve seen parts of before.

In this film, we see Peter get used to being a big-time hero and adjusting to being a friendly, neighbourhood Spider-Man after fighting Captain America and co, with the guidance of his mentor Tony Stark.

Now this is probably the most divisive film among fans, as it relies heavily on the connections to the outer universe and Iron Man being heavily involved. In my opinion, this is a really good film but not a good Spider-Man film. It’s a fun high school action-comedy with a great set of characters – one of which happens to be a superhero. If you watch it like that, it’s easier to find enjoyment in it. In terms of being a Spider-Man film, it skates around the iconic parts. We get brief mentions of his origin and the spider bite, but Uncle Ben is nowhere to be seen and we have no inkling as to how he came to be.

Due to Tony Stark being so heavily involved by making his suit for him, keeping an eye on him like a childminder and the fact that Peter wants to be like Tony and earn the mantle of ‘Avenger’. All these things detract from him as his own person. There’s a reason that some people have branded him ‘Iron Man Junior’ and that’s quite sad.

Michael Keaton’s Vulture is quality, and a worthy villain for this Spidey to face, he brings his signature charisma to the role – even with him being a ‘bad guy’. The humour is done well, I enjoyed the high school elements and I do like Tom Holland in the role. Certainly a fun time nonetheless!

5. Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

Tom Holland returns for the marginally better sequel, which sees Peter go on a school trip across Europe. Now this was something we’d not seen before – one of these films not mainly set in New York. It gave us a chance to see the solid set of characters that were introduced in Homecoming, in an environment where they can have fun and speak to each other which was nice.

They did make some strange choices with them, with Ned having a random relationship fling for this one film and then Peter finding a new love interest out of nowhere. Without anything more than a glance from her in the previous one – Zendaya’s Michelle (now being called MJ) is now a fully-fledged love interest with Peter jumping into the screen in his first scene declaring his big plan to woo her. I can’t blame Sony and Disney for wanting to capitalise on Zendaya’s name, being the huge star that she is, but that was handled very strangely.

The story was quite well-done though, with good pacing, giving enough time to stay with the trip and then also with the superhero shenanigans with Nick Fury setting Peter a mission. It’s a fantastic way of showing the dilemma that the character faces as he can’t have the normal teenage life that his peers have. He wants to spend time with his friends and the girl he likes on a trip, but with the world at stake – he must put his role as Spider-Man first.

Here we also see Peter move away from the shadow of Iron Man (it does help that he wasn’t around) to become a hero off his own steam. He takes the responsibility and learns to fight his own battles and protect those who matter to him.

The MCU was also introduced to one of the greatest actors working today, in the form of Jake Gylenhaal who plays Mysterio. He was a very good presence and played off Holland very well when introduced and even as the film progresses and the roles change.

Released on the 2nd of July 2019, this is a proper summer film, being an easy watch that could be enjoyed by the whole family. It has decent action scenes, a good sense of humour and everything was solidly entertaining.

4. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

After plans for a fourth film with Tobey Maguire fell through, Sony decided to reboot the franchise for the first time. Taking a different approach from the classic Raimi films, this reboot takes a slightly darker approach that franchises such as James Bond and The Dark Knight took at the time. It gave us the same beats of the origin, because, well… obviously it did, but in a different way.

This Peter Parker is, for the lack of a better word, edgier than we’ve seen him before. He has this rebellious aspect to his personality that makes him more interesting while still being likeable. Andrew Garfield really makes the role his own, living upto the “amazing” title when he dons the suit.

Out of the three live-action Spider-Men we’ve had, Andrew nails the smart-talking wit and quips the best. You can tell that the suit makes him more confident to use his genius in making fun of his foes, making jokes while also having control of the situations, letting us know that he isn’t just a joke-machine (some of the other MCU films border on this at times).

Emma Stone stars as Gwen Stacey, the new love interest for this new Spider-Man, and she is really incredible. Her character is fully-fledged and not just there for Peter to romance.

MJ was alright but she was just there to serve his character’s story so wasn’t very interesting on her own. Gwen has a nice sarcastic personality that bounces well off our protagonist, and even if she wasn’t a love interest, she’d still be a fan-favourite. That’s what you want. And then their chemistry is some of the best I’ve seen in a film – and probably the best in the superhero genre.

The Lizard is one of the poorer villains we’ve seen so that brings the film down a bit. The Raimi films nailed the villains (for the most-part) but this one just wasn’t great and although made for some nice fight scenes – didn’t offer much else. Mainly due to his plan to just, erm… turn all of New York into giant lizards?

Overall, it is a quality Spidey film that is definitely worth watching – even for the Raimi fan boys. Different doesn’t mean worse.

3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

The first animated film we’ve had in the franchise and it served as one of the best. The amount of care and detail put into this project made it feel like a comic book brought to life. Announced in 2015, the film is written and produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller who are well-renowned for directing 21 Jump Street and its sequel 22 Jump Street, as well as writing animated films such as The Lego Movie which they also directed. This put the franchise in good hands with these veterans in the writing field.

Spider-Verse introduces cinematic audiences to Miles Morales, another hero taking the Spider-Man mantle who comes to terms with his new powers. While discovering his new powers, Kingpin tests a machine and opens the multiverse – leading to a whole host of other Spider-Men falling through including a Nazi-fighting Spider-Man Noir and Peter Porker/Spider-Ham… yes, that’s how wacky it gets, and the funny thing is that it actually works well!

Everything on show here is fantastic. The action! The characters! The story! It doesn’t get much better than this.

They balance laugh-out-loud humour, an experimental yet perfect art-style, story-arcs, six heroes with their own stuff going on, and some epic moments… the anticipation to see what comes next is high.

Next year, we’re being treated to our next adventure into the spider-verse with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) being released on the 7th of October 2022 with Part Two following in 2023.

2. Spider-Man (2002)

The first is still one of the best! Such a classic-feeling film. Released in 2002, it has that timeless quality that those famous films from the 80s have where kids will watch them for generations to come and it won’t feel dated or of a different time. For most people, this is what they think of when they think of superhero films. It’s also the quintessential origin movie. Everyone knows about the radioactive spider bite and Uncle Ben’s death, Spider-Man is one of, if not the most famous superhero and this is what people know him for.

Tobey Maguire is the perfect Peter Parker, capturing the nerdy awkwardness while being a great Spider-Man in the costume as well. He pulls off exactly what the character should be; flawlessly. He feels like he could be a real person, you empathise him and want the best for him. There’s a reason that Tobey is the favourite for the majority of people – because he’s the iconic one. He’s so layered, you’re with him the whole way, and he has a great arc, learning the classic lesson that “with great power, comes great responsibility”.

And what’s a good hero without a great villain? Willem Dafoe plays the Green Goblin to perfection, making him so over-the-top so he is so memorable.

Even now, he’s the most popular, well-known foe so even nowadays where we haven’t seen Norman or Harry Osborn for a few years – they’re still at the top of the food chain.

With so many iconic scenes, lines, and moments, Spider-Man remains one of the best origin films and will remain that way for a very long time.

And now it’s time for number one, the best Spider-Man film. Drum roll please…

1. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Raise a glass to the greatest Spidey film, in fact one of the best superhero films of all-time! Spider-Man 2 is the perfect look at both the hero and more importantly, the man behind the mask. The story is much deeper and more human than every other superhero film, exploring the extreme personal toil it would have on their life. Everything that could go wrong for Peter in this film goes wrong; and I mean everything! You feel every blow as he goes through life and lots of little things catch up on him, such as failing his classes or even going to a party and missing out on getting a canapé.

This begins to affect his life as a superhero too where the balance becomes too difficult to put up with. He must choose one – be Peter Parker or be Spider-Man. He makes the choice and we get an adaptation of the “Spider-Man No More” storyline from the comics. Giving us a deeply personal story so you feel like you’re living his life.

Not forgetting Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock being the tragic villain that he is and also one of the best film scenes of all time with the train fight. Everything feels personal and the threats feel genuinely scary at times. All the characters are at their best as well with Aunt May, MJ and Harry all having fantastic scenes and speeches.

This is the best Spider-Man film, not for Spider-Man, but for Peter Parker… and that’s the most important.

Now that concludes my list of every film in the franchise. They’re all good in their own ways but the best ones are absolutely elite. This is without mentioning Venom and its sequel which are generally well-received by audiences. With No Way Home releasing today and another three confirmed to be in development: there are many more to come. And I’ll be there for them all.