The Ultimate Spider-Man Showdown: Which Web-Slinger Movie Swings to the Top?

Every few years, humanity finds itself asking one of life’s most pressing questions: which Spider-Man is actually the best? Is it the upside-down-kissing, web-slinging nostalgia of Tobey Maguire? The skateboarding, quip-wielding angst of Andrew Garfield? Or maybe—just maybe—the awkward, wide-eyed charm of Tom Holland, who somehow managed to pull off “teenager with superpowers” for four solo outings and still looks like he gets carded for Red Bull . And honestly, has anyone ever truly recovered from that Spider-Verse scene where multiple Spider-People pointed at each other in existential confusion? I certainly haven’t .

With Spider-Man: Brand New Day swinging its way to box office glory, this age-old (fine, 22-year-old) debate is blowing up all over again . I mean, we’ve got eleven films (preposterous!)—not counting Holland’s MCU crossovers or whatever, ahem, “direction” Sony took with Venom, Morbius, and Kraven . Plus, let’s not forget the secondary argument about the best Spider-love-interest (Zendaya vs Emma Stone vs Kirsten Dunst)—someone write that dissertation, if they haven’t already .

Rankings are never simple when every Spidey has his own flavor, style, and meme-worthy moments . And that’s before Miles Morales swings onscreen and blows our multiversal minds . So, which outing truly soars above the skyscrapers, and which plummets faster than a poorly timed leap off the Brooklyn Bridge? Let’s climb up, unmask the nostalgia, and settle it—at least until the next reboot . LEARN MORE

With the release of Spider-Man Brand New Day taking the box office by storm the newest instalment of Tom Holland’s has renewed an age-old debate amongst film fans: which Spider-Man film is best.

Since Tobey Maguire’s first film as the character in 2002 there have been a whopping 11 Spider-Man movies released, and that’s not even including Tom Hollands appearance in three other MCU films (or whatever Sony had going on with Venom, Morbius, Kraven, and Madame Web).

Tom Holland is now the Spider-Man to have had the most solo films with four, but the debate rages on of whether him, Tobey Maguire, or Andrew Garfield were the best in the role. Add to that the debate around who’s the best female co-lead between Zendaya, Emma Stone, and Kirsten Dunst, and that’s before you even factor in the animated Miles Morales films, the debate has been raging in nerd circles online for years.

Brand New Day has been a hit with critics, debuting to a score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, but where does it rank amongst the best Spider-Man films ever made? Let’s find out.

11^th place – The Amazing Spider-Man 2

TASM 2 is a tough, tough watch, and easily the worst film (Sony)

Listen, we all love Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man and this film has the undeniable best suit in the history – but the movie itself is an absolute dog’s dinner.

Between the bizarre ‘Goblin-disease’ storyline, Jamie Foxx’s bizarre turn as Electro, and Peter’s dead parent montage set to Home – ASM2 has some of the lowest points in Spider-Man’s live action history.

Garfield’s return in No Way Home was a fantastic full circle moment because it allowed the actor, who does a great job in Peter with pretty terrible material, to end things on a much higher note.

10^th place – Spider-Man 3

Is the Venom corrupted dance scene hilarious? Yes. Is it any good? Obviously no. (Sony)

Spider-Man 3 may have had a redemption in recent years in public opinion but if you ask me those are simply people viewing the film with the same rose-tinted nostalgia goggles used by fans trying to tell me the Star Wars prequels aren’t awful.

Spider-Man 3 could have been a good movie, the Sandman scene is exceptional, Tobey is still giving a great performance, and it has some great individual moments.

As a full movie however it is a mess, with studio interference forcing a Venom storyline that Sam Raimi didn’t want and didn’t execute well at all.

Similarly to Garfield, this is a far more dignified end for Tobey as Spider-Man, even if he is rumoured to be making a return in either Avengers Doomsday or Secret Wars.

9^th place – The Amazing Spider-Man 1

The actors carry the film, with 9 Oscar nominations between the pair of them (7 of which are Emma’s), but the material doesn’t deliver (Sony)

This may be an unpopular opinion but TASM1 is really not that much better than the second film, and it is a far worse film than anything Tom Holland has put his name to as Peter Parker.

Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are brilliant in their roles, but this should be obvious considering they’re now both Oscar-nominated actors with Emma having won twice.

The issue however is that Peter Parker is terribly miswritten, as long as Garfield is in the suit he’s great, but a great Spider-Man film needs both – and this one doesn’t have it. Add to that a disappointing adaption of The Lizard and a mediocre retelling of the death of Uncle Ben and you have easily one of the weaker entries on this list.

8^th place – Spider-Man: No Way Home

The trio working together on screen is great fun, but the film is pretty meh on a rewatch (Marvel)

Okay, okay, put away the pitch forks and let me explain: Spider-Man: No Way Home was a really fun time in cinemas, no one is denying that.

Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire, and Tom Holland interacting on screen as the trio of live-action Spider-Men was just as fun as super-fans will have hoped for, and the ending decision to wipe everyone’s memory was a great reset and ultimately, just a very Spider-Man decision.

The movie is plagued however by its lockdown-filming procedures: everything feels like it is shot in a sterile soundstage where they were more focused on making sure no one saw Tobey or Andrew than making it feel like it was actually shot in New York City.

No Way Home is (in the nicest way possible) like junk food: the first time tastes pretty great but when you look back there’s nothing of major substance here.

7^th place – Spider-Man: Homecoming

Holland was the youngest actor to play Peter Parker when he started as a teenager (Marvel)

Homecoming, No Way Home, and (spoiler alert for my own list) Far From Home are all pretty interchangeable for quality for me, but Homecoming slots right into the middle of that trio.

Tom Holland is immediately charming as Peter Parker, continuing his momentum from a great cameo in Civil War. Despite the complaints he plays ‘Iron-Man junior’ in the film it has some pretty core Spider-Man stories where he continually struggles to balance being both a high schooler and a superhero.

Homecoming has its flaws, but it is the most high-school hijinks focused Spider-Man movie to date and its charm is undeniable.

6^th place – Spider-Man: Far From Home

Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio may not exactly be comic accurate, but he’s still pretty great regardless (Marvel)

Does Far From Home have all the same problems I just mentioned about Homecoming? Yes. But is it still the best of the Jon Watts MCU trilogy? If you ask me, also yes.

Similarly to Batman the best Spider-Man stories have a great villain to centre things on, and Jake Gyllennhaal’s Mysterio is a fantastic MCU adaptation of a classic Spider-Man antagonist.

The MJ and Peter storyline grounds the film, Holland is exceptional once again as Peter, and the final sequence is as Spider-Man as Spider-Man gets.

This may be the least popular Tom Holland Spider-Man film on social media, but I’m ten-toes down defending Far From Home as easily the most underrated Spider-Man film.

5^th place – Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Brand New Day nails a core idea of Spider-Man – a sad Peter Parker is an interesting Peter Parker (Marvel)

The first MCU Spider-Man film to not feature Jon Watts as director was a much needed shake up as Destin Daniel Cretton brought a huge amount of flair to the movie to produce easily the best MCU Spidey instalment.

Tom Holland gives by far his best performance, nailing the New York accent finally and bringing much needed gravitas to the film. The movie, for better and worse, feels ripped right out of a comic-screen with by far most comic-book feeling world in an MCU film.

Brand New Day at times does feel a bit overstuffed as a result, and does a bit too much legwork setting up the future of the MCU, but it is such core Spidey goodness that you can easily overlook these flaws and appreciate the best instalment in Holland’s franchise.

Sadie Sink gives a fantastic performance and the story manages to link a character who I was sceptical they could fit well into a Spider-Man story, whilst Jon Bernthal and Zendaya give fantastic supporting performances.

4^th place – Spider-Man

Spider-Man 2002 is still the gold standard for many, but it has been pipped to the top spot by three incredible films (Sony)

The first Spider-Man is where it all started, and it is still pretty damn hard to beat. Tobey gives an incredible performance as Peter, and Rosemary Harris gives a totally underrated performance as Aunt May.

Add to that Willem Dafoe’s absolute lunatic outing as the Green Goblin and it’s obvious why this took on the momentum built by 2000’s X-Men and more or less created the modern comic-book movie.

Where many 00s Comic-Book films don’t live up to the nostalgia we all have for them, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man gets better with every viewing as a quintessential Spider-Man story.

3^rd place – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen steal the show in the Spider-Verse films, and make you forget about Peter Parker more or less (Sony)

If you’ve only ever limited yourself to the live-action Spider-Man instalments you are missing out, because the two animated Miles Morales-focused films are easily amongst the best Marvel movies ever made.

Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to Into The Spider-Verse, is a far bigger swing than the first film of the soon-to-be-trilogy, and though not all of it lands perfectly it is a sensational movie.

This sprawling multiversal movie may stray far from the comics but it is still somehow one of the most keeping in the spirit of Spider-Man at the same time, and anyone who skips over these movies is making a huge mistake.

2^nd place – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

The top two films are the only Spider-Man movies to win Oscars, and that’s no surprise because they’re the best two films in the series (Sony)

The top two of this list were a toss-up, but Into the Spider-Verse is just about pipped to the top spot.

This film was a revelation on its release, winning the Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2018.

Miles Morales was a name known to comic book fans and the nerdiest of Spider-Man lovers, but this film is a huge factor in him becoming a beloved universal name MCU fans are clamouring for.

The score and soundtrack are next level and it tells a brilliantly self-contained story about the pressure of taking on the mantle of Spider-Man – and its all-time-high score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes is well earned. This easily could’ve been the best Spider-Man movie ever and again, if you haven’t watched, it solve that immediately.

1^st place – Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2 is the best film in the franchise, and it’s even better on a rewatch (Sony)

I’m not claiming this is an original opinion right here, but god isn’t Spider-Man 2 great?

The 2004 follow-up could easily have baulked under the pressure but Raimi instead managed to produce the best Spider-Man film ever made.

Alfred Molina as Dr Octopus is the most underrated performance in all the Spider-Man films, perfecting the ‘Comic-Book movie villain who you really feel for’ trope years before it became the standard, whilst Kirsten Dunst is given even more to do here than in Spider-Man.

Whilst any of numbers 2-4 could’ve been top there is one scene in Spider-Man 2 that takes it over the top, in which Peter passes out saving a train full of New Yorkers who stand together to protect him and then promise to keep his identity a secret after realising he’s ‘just a kid’.

The best scene in all of Spider-Man media (Sony)

In the best Spider-Man films New York is an integral character in his stories, and 22 years on nothing has come close to that moment in illustrating that.

Spider-Man may have been the film to help X-Men in putting comic-book movies on the map, but Spider-Man 2 is the film that solidified this film series as an all timer that defies superhero fatigue – no matter how people feel about comic-book movies, the masses will always come out to see Spider-Man beat the odds.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is available to watch in cinemas now.