Every Spider-man movie ranked [guest post]

Sabienna Bowman has been covering entertainment news since 2010. She currently writes for Bustle, Reelgood, and PopSugar.

A different kind of Spider-man movie is swinging into theaters this weekend thanks to the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Early buzz for the movie is overwhelmingly positive with some eager fans deeming the animated feature the best Spider-Man movie yet. It’s going to be a while before viewers can stream this maybe masterpiece that brings together the likes of Miles Morales, Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and even Peter Porker (an actual Spider-Pig, people). However, that doesn’t mean we can’t debate which live-action Spider-Man movie is the best in the meantime.

From finger-snapping Peter to the quippy science nerd we all know and love, here is a ranking of the six films that have been released since 2002 from total misfire to web-slinging perfection.

6. Spider-Man 3

What else could take the bottom spot? This mess of a film gave the world a “dark” and dancing Peter Parker, way too many villains to count, and prevented the otherwise great Tobey Maguire era from ending on a high note. This movie is the perfect example of what not to do in a superhero sequel.

5. The Amazing Spider-Man 2

However, if you need another example look no further than Andrew Garfield’s swan song. Once again, the movie is overstuffed with storylines and villains. The lack of coherency coupled with a dark (albeit comic book faithful) ending for Gwen Stacy just doesn’t live up to the full potential of Peter Parker or his heroic alter ego.

4. The Amazing Spider-Man

Garfield is fun in his first outing as Peter, but the world didn’t need to see Spider-Man’s origin story again. Still, the 2012 reboot shines thanks to its inclusion of Gwen Stacy, a strong performance from Garfield, and a grounded take on Spider-Man overall. It also deserves extra love for having the best romantic subplot out of any of the films so far.

3. Spider-Man

Compared to the current Marvel offerings and even to The Amazing Spider-Man, the original 2002 film seems a bit too cartoony. However, the truth is, director Sam Raimi committed to making a comic book come to life without any pretensions. The movie is bright, Peter’s wide-eyed innocence is endearing, and the story feels like watching the early Spider-Man comics come to life. The movie holds up precisely because it’s so different from the superhero movies we have today, and those qualities help it stand out in a crowd of Spidey tales.

2. Spider-Man 2

If the first film in the original trilogy is a wholesome throwback to a simpler time for hero movies, then Spider-Man 2 is a taste of what was to come for the superhero genre. The movie earns the drama brewing between Peter and his best friend, Harry, as well as his pining for Mary Jane. Add in a strong villain in Doc Oc, and you have a near-perfect Spider-Man movie.

1. Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man 2 comes close to perfection, but Spider-Man: Homecoming might just achieve it. The Sony-Marvel co-production skips the origin story bit and gets right to the good stuff by offering the world Tom Holland as the quippy, insecure, but eager, teenage Spider-Man we have been waiting for.

Spider-Man: Homecoming keeps the story small and close to home for Peter, while also allowing him to interact with the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans get to see him grow over the course of the film, while the angst is kept to a minimum. There were definitely good Spider-Man films prior to Holland’s, but none of them have quite the same amount of heart or ability to understand what makes this character one that Hollywood just can’t stop coming back to again and again.

Happy Streaming!