There Are a Lot of Spider-Man Movies. We Ranked Them All.

Another movie that is really not good, but at least it has its merits. The majority of this is overstuffed and makes very little sense, but Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are good as usual, and perhaps I'm in the minority, but I mostly enjoyed Dane Dehaan's weird version of Harry Osborn. Plus, a beat from this movie (we won't say specifically which in case you haven't watched) specifically sets up what might be the best character moment in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home. That said, Jamie Foxx's whole Electro storyline is weird and his character motivation is not substantial. Most of this movie is not substantial. It also just looks bad. We do not blame Sony for stopping this series here and starting fresh elsewhere.

Stream It Here

I saw this movie when it came out, and despite the fact that it—once again!—features a herculean effort from Tom Hardy in the lead titular role, I do not remember a single other thing about it. Not vital.

Stream It Here

The Venom movies "work" for one reason and one reason only: Tom Hardy's absolutely committed and utterly unhinged performance as Eddie Brock/Venom. The Venom movies are high camp: don't go in expecting a cinematic masterpiece, but they are fun as what they are. Entertaining time at the movies (or on your couch)!

Stream It Here

Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Rhys Ifans (as Curt Conners/The Lizard) try their darndest, but the Amazing Spider-Man movies just don't have the juice. They don't! I'm sorry. These movies try really hard to zig a little bit from what the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire movies did a decade earlier, and it's just dry, looks dark, and not particularly good. Garfield is kind of exceptional in the suit as Spider-Man, and he's a good Peter Parker (if not a little too cool). But if you're looking for a Spider-Man Movie... there are better options than this series. Still worth watching for any big fan, though.

Stream It Here

This movie is a colossal mess that does not work at all, in a way that it comes all the way back around to being awesome. Filled with clunky dialogue, nonsensical characters and story beats, and general absurdities, Madame Web is an absolute joy of a terrible movie to watch. We do recommend watching this, but make sure you have your nonsense glasses on.

Stream It Here

The original Venom gets the upper hand for the lobster tank scene—which Tom Hardy improvised on the spot—alone. This movie is incredibly fun camp.

Stream It Here

Spider-Man 3 is a flawed movie for sure, but it's neither the disaster that some made it out to be nor is it the reclaimed good movie that others have pushed for. It's got some fun parts that lean into the Sam Raimi-est stuff in the original trilogy. The main three—Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and James Franco—all do a good job, and while the depiction of Topher Grace as Venom is disastrous, his Eddie Brock is actually a quite good character foil for Maguire's Peter Parker. No disrespect to Thomas Haden Church, but Sandman is a wildly boring villain in this movie. Does not work.

And then there's the Peter Parker Emo/Dancing scene, which we are going to go down, on the record, as fans of. Good stuff.

Stream It Here

The second Tom Holland/MCU Spider-Man film, Far From Home is not a bad movie, but is probably the closest thing to being MCU-house style of any movie on the list. The Jon Watts/Holland Spider-Man films do a decent job of reinventing the series into less of a genre story and more of a teen/high school/coming-of-age thing, but the post-Endgame placement here really revolves around a lot of aftermath storytelling and setting up for the future of the overarching franchise. The cast delivers for sure, though, particularly Jake Gyllenhaal, who makes a super compelling villain—albeit one whose beef is mostly with a character who is not even in this film.

Stream It Here

Spider-Man: No Way Home was a true moment in the Marvel world. The story is executed strongly, hitting its emotional beats as it needs to, and leaning into some exciting cameos in a way that quite literally had audiences around the world hooting and hollering. This one has the detriment of largely leaning into the past and nostalgia, however, which makes it pretty clearly worse than movies like Homecoming and Brand New Day which are going to far greater lengths to do their own thing. The movie is fun in a junk food kind of way—what you’re getting is good, and enjoyable, but you kind of know it’s not coming from the purest of places.

Stream It Here

Director Destin Daniel Cretton’s first outing as director of a Spidey movie is a good one, as Brand New Day allows him to tell a fairly standlone tale of a Spider-Man living more or less on his own in a tough Manhattan life. Holland brings his A-game here, joined by the likes of Jon Bernthal (as The Punisher), Mark Ruffalo (as The Hulk), and returning pals Zendaya and Jacob Batalon as MJ and Ned respectively. Sadie Sink enters the fold as a “mystery character,” and she really brings the movie a bit of energy and something really fun for Spidey to react to. It’s a dynamic, exciting, and invigorating chapter in Spider-Man’s MCU story, and one that makes us eager to see where they can take things from here.

Buy Tickets Here

After being briefly introduced in Captain America: Civil War, the MCU's Peter Parker (played to comic-accurate near-perfection by Tom Holland) gets his turn to go front-and-center in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which delightfully leans into what's almost a John Hughes-esque coming-of-age take on the Spider-Man story (that brightly skips the origin story that we've all seen several times before). Homecoming leans heavily on the power of its actors: Holland, Jacob Batalon as his best friend Ned, and Michael Keaton as the villainous Vulture are major standouts—and Robert Downey Jr. helps anchor everything with his usual Tony Stark charm.

Stream It Here

2002's Spider-Man is one of the most important movies in modern culture, setting many of the first steps for the superhero genre to become the behemoth its become today. But first, it was this movie of passion for director Sam Raimi, who got to make the comic book movie he always wanted to make with his hand-picked Peter Parker, Tobey Maguire. The movie frequently uses practical effects and for all of its fantastical superhero elements, has characters, moments, and situations that really feel lived-in and great. Willem Dafoe is one of the greatest villains in the history of the genre as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, and the movie serves as pretty much the benchmark for great superhero origin stories.

Stream It Here

If you didn't at least get teary a few times during 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, you may have to get checked to see if there's even a heart in your chest at all. The movie, which centers on Brooklyn native Miles Morales (perfectly voiced by Shameik Moore), marks the perfect balance between self-aware, earnest, and exciting, making for what ultimately became one of the biggest and most important breaths of fresh air in both mainstream animation and superhero filmmaking in years. The vocal performances are all exceptional, really (Nicolas Cage! Brian Tyree Henry! Liev Schreiber!), but special shoutout for Mahershala Ali's Uncle Aaron, who brings on the waterworks every single time with a performance that even through limited scenes and only voiceover, feels so human and warm. This movie is a stunning visual and audio work.

Stream It Here

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is an absolute work of art. Everything we came to love about 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (more on that one in a moment) is amplified in Across the Spider-Verse: the visual and audio experience is unbelievable, the characters are great (Oscar Isaac and Daniel Kaluuya are two of the standout newcomers, as Spider-Man 2099 and Spider-Punk, and Jason Schwartzman's villainous Spot goes from a joke to terrifying in a stunningly effective organic manner), and it's a movie that we could have watched for another 2-3 hours if it were to go on so long. It is is a work of art.

Stream It Here

For all the wild, exciting, and unexpected places that all the Spider-Man films on this list goes, it's hard to go away from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, which takes an approach that worked at the time and, really, will always work: tell a Spider-Man story, and tell it well. Spider-Man 2 follows Peter Parker's (Tobey Maguire) relationship with the mentor-turned-villain Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) and how that eventually intertwines with his own relationships with love interests (Kirsten Dunst), friends (James Franco), and family (Rosemary Parker). Everything that Spider-Man did, Spider-Man 2 does even better. The train sequence? The train sequence. There is not a single thing wrong with Spider-Man 2. It also ends with "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional, which is up there for the most inspired choice ever made in any movie, ever. Bravo.

Stream It Here