While DC’s most famous character has arguably been Batman, Marvel (on the other hand ) has had Spider-Man in the same pantheon of public popularity. With three live-action Spider-Men appearing in a whopping eleven live-action appearances, Spider-Man’s cinematic journey has continued unabated for the last two decades. So, who is the best Spider-Man of all time, and why is this so? Let’s find out who's the best Spider-Man below.
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Efforts to develop the first Spider-Man film were not without issues. James Cameron famously delivered a script at one time, and a few other well-known names, such as David Fincher and Tim Burton, were considered for the project as well. However, it would be Evil Dead director Sam Raimi who would finally manage to crack the code. Raimi settled on a young Tobey Maguire to headline his Spider-Man film.
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Raimi’s approach worked. The film was a sprawling success as Tobey Maguire managed to capture lightning in a bottle with his Spider-Man performance. Nailing the nerdy side of Peter Parker to a hilt, Maguire’s elevated performance was made even better by the villains, most of whom were played by Academy Award nominees. From Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock to William Dafoe’s Green Goblin, Maguire managed to hold his own and even outshine these veterans. Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man outings were serious dramas, anchored by subtle humor and high personal stakes along with real consequences. Two more sequels followed, with each film managing to outgross the last.
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After Sony managed to damage any chance of a fourth Spider-Man film with the Raimi Maguire duo, a reboot was hurriedly put together under the stewardship of indie director Marc Webb. Fresh off his film 500 Days of Summer, Webb skewed towards a more comic-accurate Spider-Man. Andrew Garfield was selected to be the new web slinger, and his Peter Parker was a wisecracking, fast-moving smartass. Garfield brought a new dimension to the character as some fans stipulated that his version was the more comic-accurate Spider-Man due to his suit, his outward wit, and his underdog charm.
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However, it is clear that Garfield’s two movies dropped the ball when it came to actually fleshing out justice to the character. This is mostly Sony’s fault, which fast tracked a new shared universe based on their Spider-Man characters, forcing Garfield’s second film to buckle under its own weight. With awesome web-slinging scenes, some very funny quips, and some very underwhelming villains, Andrew Garfield said goodbye to his unique Spidey portrayal when Sony rebooted the character once again for inclusion into the MCU and its sprawling pantheon of heroes.
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British actor Tom Holland was then selected to be the new Spidey. Making his debut in Captain America: Civil War, Holland’s portrayal of the wallcrawler put a new spin on the character due to the fact that his Spider-Man was still a young teen. With three solo films and three more MCU portrayals, Holland’s outing as the webslinger has had its fans and detractors. Disney’s decision to spin off the iconic Mary Jane into Michele Jones has raised quite a ruckus, and the fact that Holland’s Spidey has always worked under an Avenger has meant that his personal journey has not been fleshed out. The result has been a character who has had no high-stakes personal drama and no iconic scenes, with the character only seemingly there to add Spider-Man to the Avengers.
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While on the surface, this feels like a bad thing, it has added a new dimension to the character, regardless. We have seen Spider-Man interact effortlessly with big Marvel characters like Iron Man and Captain America. Successfully holding his own against some of the biggest names in the MCU, Holland has effortlessly brought the character into the modern age, mixing a unique blend of earnestness and optimism. Although Holland’s MCU outings have not yet been meaty when it comes to serious drama and tragedy, maybe it is exactly what the character needed in today’s day and age of shared universes.
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Spider-Man, like DC’s Batman, is such an integral part of the cultural zeitgeist that each new actor draws intense scrutiny whenever he is passed the baton to the character. The amount of care taken to introduce a new Spider-Man actor is akin to the mammoth search for the next James Bond, as Sony makes a really grandiose show to convince us that they have the character’s best interests at heart.
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Therefore, it is really really hard to ascertain who is the best Spider-Man of all time. Every Spider-Man brought something unique to the table and has been a product of a specific time in culture and cinema. From the serious drama of Sam Raimi to the rapid franchise building of Mark Webb and the MCU, each Spider-Man iteration has worked for a time until it hasn't. However, if I were forced to select the best Spider-Man of all time, I would definitely go with Tobey Maguire.
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Garfield and Holland are great, but they were working with quite a bit of wind already in their sales when they first got started. Maguire donned the suit when comic book films had started to falter after a disastrous run in the 90s. Raimi and Maguire had the odds against them when they first started filming; the budget ballooned, and they were even forced to tweak the film in the wake of 9/11. But they delivered what was essentially a quintessential summer blockbuster, which blew everyone away. The sequel, Spider-Man 2, was even better and is widely considered to be the best comic book movie ever made, with stunning action sequences and high-stakes drama that puts the superhero fare of today to shame. So, for the risk and the creative prowess, I believe Maguire takes the cake when it comes to the best Spider-Man.
