Summary
The Marvel Cinematic Universe may be slowing down, but there will always be room for Spider-Man. Ever since Tobey Maguire squeezed into his spider-suit in 2002’s Spider-Man, the web-slinger has been a mainstay on the big screen. With the arrival of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, we decided to rank every spider-movie that’s come out since then.
11. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Runt of the spider-litter
Of the four series of Spider-Man movies we’ve gotten this century, the pair of films starring Andrew Garfield as the web-slinger are widely considered the weakest. Garfield is winning as the nerdy Peter Parker, who fights crime as the wise-cracking Spider-Man, but the movies themselves are a cut below what fans can otherwise expect.
And The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the weaker of the pair, with too many subplots (Peter trying to solve a conspiracy involving his parents, the origin of Electro, the origin of the Green Goblin) competing for space even as the movie tries to set up other sequels that never came. Garfield has terrific chemistry with Emma Stone, who plays Gwen Stacy, but it’s not enough to save this lackluster entry.
- Release Date
- May 2, 2014
- Runtime
- 141 minutes
- Director
- Marc Webb
- Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Jazz hands!
The climax of the original Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, this movie also tries to fit in too much by giving us origin stories for the villains Venom and the Sandman, even though it doesn’t have enough time to devote to either. Also, writer-director Sam Raimi gets a little too comfortable at the wheel and steers this movie in some strange directions. At one point, Peter Parker expresses his new bad boy attitude by performing a jazz dance, which is so awkward and weird it kind of comes back around and becomes funny. At the least, Spider-Man 3 is more entertaining than The Amazing Spider-Man 2, even though it would be a stretch to call it better.
- Release Date
- May 3, 2007
- Runtime
- 139 minutes
- Director
- Sam Raimi
- The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Everybody reset
The first Amazing Spider-Man movie is better than the sequel, but that’s not saying a whole lot. This time, the problem is that the movie is rehashing Spider-Man’s origin story just a decade after Sam Raimi did it in 2002’s Spider-Man, right down to the radioactive spider bite and the death of Uncle Ben, played here by Martin Sheen. Again, Garfield is great in the lead role, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that we’ve been here before, and that we liked it more the last time.
- Release Date
- July 3, 2012
- Runtime
- 136 minutes
- Director
- Marc Webb
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Spider-Man vs Jake Gyllenhaal
From here on out, it’s nothing but quality. Far From Home is the second Spider-Man movie to star Tom Holland in the title role, and he’s terrific; nerdy and vulnerable but also steadfast and strong. Far From Home finds him squaring off against Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), who presents himself as a do-gooder from another dimension but who is actually a savvy manipulator from this world with a good grasp of cutting-edge technology. Appropriately, a bunch of scammers used the hype around this movie to try and prey on fans.
Far From Home takes place on a school trip abroad, which gives the movie its own distinct flavor. Far From Home is a good time, it’s just not as good as the rest of the movies on this list.
- Release Date
- July 2, 2019
- Runtime
- 129 Minutes
- Director
- Jon Watts
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)
Here comes a new challenger
The newest Spider-Man movie finds Tom Holland back in the saddle and living almost entirely isolated from his friends and family, instead devoting himself completely to protecting New York City. That gives him a strong arc to follow throughout the film as he learns to open himself back up to human connection. A new challenge arrives from an unexpected place, and we dare not say more lest we spoil anything.
The jokes land, the action is exciting, and Tom Holland is as charming and convincing as ever in the lead role. The movie is a little busy, bringing in plot elements from other parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and setting up new ones for the movies to come. But it’s still a brisk, enjoyable watch.
- Release Date
- July 31, 2026
- Runtime
- 145 Minutes
- Director
- Destin Daniel Cretton
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) Spotlight on Miles Morales The animated Spider-Verse movies are the only ones not to feature Peter Parker in the lead. Instead, we follow Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), who provides a fun change of pace. But the real selling point of the Spider-Verse movies is the visual imagination on display. This sequel to 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse (more on it later) finds Spider-Man hopping through dimensions and meeting all kinds of different versions of himself, including a punk rock Spider-Man and a sinister version voiced by Oscar Isaac. Across the Spider-Verse gets docked a few points because it ends on a cliffhanger — a sequel is coming — but it’s still a trip.
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
The modern era begins
Spider-Man: Homecoming introduces us to Tom Holland as Peter Parker. It doesn’t make the mistake of The Amazing Spider-Man and rehash Spider-Man’s origin story again, but instead jumps right into a battle between Spider-Man and the Vulture, a working-class villain played by Michael Keaton. We also get introduced to Peter’s classmates MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), who will be important parts of this ensemble going forward.
Homecoming is light on its feet. The pacing is good, the performances are good, the jokes are funny, and the action is exciting. It’s a great way to kick off our current era of spider-films.
- Release Date
- July 7, 2017
- Runtime
- 133 minutes
- Director
- Jon Watts
- Spider-Man (2002)
Web 1.0
Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man film remains one of the best. Tobey Maguire is adorably dorky as the titular high schooler/crime fighter, but Willem Dafoe steals the show as the Green Goblin; smirking and cackling his way through the movie, the actor looks like he’s having the time of his life.
We get the standard Spider-Man origin story here, but it hadn’t yet been done to death. Raimi and Maguire take their time with it, making sure every beat lands where it should.
- Release Date
- May 2, 2002
- Runtime
- 121 Minutes
- Director
- Sam Raimi
- Writers
- David Koepp
- Sequel(s)
- Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3
Tobey MaguireSpider-Man / Peter Parker -
Willem DafoeGreen Goblin / Norman Osborn -
Kirsten DunstMary Jane Watson -
James FrancoHarry Osborn
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Fan service at its finest
No Way Home is a celebration of the past 20 years of Spider-Man. We get Holland, Garfield, and Maguire all onscreen together, plus villains from the franchise’s past. Twenty years later, Dafoe once again threatens to steal the show as the Green Goblin.
The movie also does a clean reset on the series that leads directly into Brand New Day. This movie hits hardest if you’ve seen some of the other Spider-Man movies first, but it still works no matter what.
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
An explosion of animation imagination
Miles Morales’ first animated outing feels like a pent-up burst of ideas. As in the sequel, Miles is once again dealing with visitors from outside his dimension, but this movie keeps the story a little more grounded thanks to a lot of time spent developing the relationships between Miles and his family members. And like Across the Spider-Verse, it’s visually spectacular.
- Release Date
- December 14, 2018
- Runtime
- 117 minutes
- Director
- Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey
- Writers
- Phil Lord, Chris Miller
- Sequel(s)
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Don’t Use), Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Peak web
No spider-movie has yet to outdo Spider-Man 2, which tells a very emotional story about Peter Parker struggling with the responsibility of being a hero. Kirsten Dunst shines as his maybe-girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, and Alfred Molina is at once sympathetic and terrifying as Doctor Octopus. Sam Raimi is more comfortable than he was directing the first Spider-Man movie, and allows himself some memorable stylistic flourishes. But he’s not so comfortable that he loses control of the tone like he does in Spider-Man 3. Spider-Man 2 is the most textured, complete Spider-Man movie to date.
- Release Date
- June 30, 2004
- Runtime
- 127 minutes
- Director
- Sam Raimi Even further beyond the Spider-Verse The next spider-movie on tap is Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which will round out Miles Morales’ animated trilogy. That one is due out in theaters on June 18, 2027. And there were some older spider-movies produced way back when, including a 1977 TV movie simply called Spider-Man that was actually the pilot to the television series The Amazing Spider-Man, starring Nicholas Hammond as Peter Parker. Two semi-sequels, Spider-Man Strikes Back and Spider-Man: The Dragon’s Challenge, were released abroad in 1978 and 1981 respectively, although they’re really just multiple episodes of the TV show mashed together. Finally, in 1978, Toei Company released a Japanese Spider-Man movie based on an entirely different Spider-Man TV series. That movie is also just called Spider-Man.