Spider-Man has been a staple of, not only Marvel movies, not only Marvel comics, but the comic book and pop culture world as a whole for the last 64 years. Over that period, he has become one of the most well known superheroes of all time, with 14 television shows since 1967 and 11 movies since 2002. I strongly believe there’s nobody in the civilised world that doesn’t know of Spider-Man in some sense. He’s become a household name, on par with Mickey Mouse and Superman.

This iconic character doesn’t only resonate with billions around the world because of his powers, however. Spider-Man represents the common man, and the ability for anybody to be a hero, with enough resilience. He isn’t wealthy, he’s not a god, Peter Parker is simply a man who has the same worries and responsibilities as you and I. He worries about his finances, school, and social awkwardness just like any other teenager to young adult would. He simply takes on the responsibility to keep others, just like him, safe.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the eleventh movie following this incredible character and will definitely not be the last. But how does this one stack up against Maguire’s, Garfield’s, and even Shamiek Moore’s Miles Morales? This is my official ranking of every single Spider-Man movie, from worst to best.

11. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

I can’t imagine this placement being much of a surprise to anybody. Even though they do up the stylisation from the first movie, with this looking much more vibrant, the story is where this really falters. There are definitely a few amazing things that carry over from the first movie, though, like the incredibly cool and well shot action sequences and simply the characterisation of Spider-Man.

I have absolutely no interest in learning of Peter’s father and his history, I don’t know why they decided to continue that from the first movie. I’m also not really bothered with anything regarding Harry Osborne, partly because he’s just not developed nearly enough — even if Dane DeHaan does play it quite well. If Harry was introduced in Andrew Garfield’s first movie, however, I’m sure I would have had a much different opinion on his story here. This could have been so much more interesting if they went all in on the story with Max Dillon, as it was easily the best part of the movie,

Speaking of, Jamie Foxx was a highlight for me. Electro as a man who simply feels invisible and wants to be seen and recognised by anybody essentially gets what he wants, but in the complete wrong way.

One thing I absolutely adore about this movie’s story is basically anything regarding Gwen. She is the emotional core and what really drives and redeems this, especially with her death. Gwen’s death scene is played absolutely incredibly by Andrew Garfield and is possibly the best thing to happen in this entire movie — especially after Gwen’s father has been haunting him up until this point. Unfortunately, the last 10 or so minutes are absolutely amazing, it’s just a shame that isn’t the case for the rest of it.

10. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

One of the best things about this movie is, unfortunately, seeing the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame and the death of Tony Stark, which makes this never really feel very ‘Spider-Man’. This isn’t necessarily a bad movie, it’s definitely entertaining, but it’s not a good Spider-Man movie.

Having Spider-Man be outside of New York and an ‘international hero’ for this entire movie was a mistake. It defeats so many important parts of this character, as it’s so tied to the city of New York. This could have been excusable if we saw anything with him fighting any kind of crime in New York, but we don’t. Not only this, the movie also lacks many, quite integral, parts of Spider-Man. We see very minimal quips throughout and this ends up being quite a large concept for Spider-Man, especially one that still classifies himself as ‘friendly neighbourhood’ — even if he has been to space.

I do love Mysterio as a villain, though, any moment that Jake Gyllenhaal is on screen is so much better for it. Whether he’s defeating elemental monsters of his own creation or revealing his villainous plans, he commands the screen so well — even though the writing doesn’t hold up quite so well in moments.

Where this is best is in the long scene of Mysterio warping Peter’s reality, keeping him in this illusion before hitting him with a train. Not only does this change Peter’s perception of what’s real, but also warps the audience’s, the only thing I wish was that we saw something like this earlier on. This would have meant that the filmmakers could have played on the idea that anything we’re seeing could be fake at any time, making us constantly doubt everything we see. However, that never really translates to the audience, only to Peter’s own perception of the world for a few scenes.

09. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Spider-Man: No Way Home is a dessert of a movie. You know it’s not good for you, and you don’t want it all the time, but when you do have it, it’s so sweet. This is an amazing cinema experience that I wish I could relive, but alas, we’re left with this being a home watch and ends up being quite underwhelming in that form, mostly because of how heavily it relies on its callbacks, which prove to be difficult to stand alone with.

A lot of what I really enjoy, aside from its third act, takes up about 15 minutes of an almost 150 minute movie. Most of what I like is really the idea of this movie, much like with many desserts. After a starter and a main course, all you’re thinking about is the possibility of dessert, yet after three bites you feel sick and can’t finish it.

This movie contains a few examples of what’s wrong with the MCU post-Endgame, with three main points. First, this contains way too much comedy, and not even the classic Spider-Man quippy comedy. Much of it also proves to be quite unfunny or simply uncharacteristic of many characters. Second, nothing ever really feels tangible, it seems like absolutely everything was filmed on a sound stage and was replaced with CGI. Finally, this disrespects the source material in so many moments, namely in mocking a few characters’ names.

The actual story here is just somewhat forgettable. Peter (Tom Holland) wants to figure out a way to change these villains’ fates to stop them from dying when they return to their universes. How exactly would this change anything, though? Green Goblin would still be impaled by his glider, Doc Ock would still drown, they’d just die cured because they were teleported to this universe just as they were about to die in their own. Not only this, but every villain seems to have different objectives, ultimately just convoluting the story too much and none of it is really developed at all.

I’ve just spent the last four paragraphs telling you nothing but negatives about this movie, so why is it above two others? Well, this is completely composed of fan service, unfortunately I am a fan who was indeed serviced. I love watching this movie, even though I know it isn’t good.

08. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

After the triumph of a story, and movie in general, that was Spider-Man 2, Sam Raimi had to pull out all the stops for the finale in this trilogy. That is not this movie. I think one easy improvement to this would have been to simply only use one of its villains. Venom, Sandman, and Harry Osborne cause this to feel incredibly bloated, especially because it can’t balance them.

There are, obviously, some very cringe worthy moments here, which have since gone viral on the internet. However, this does manage to mostly ride that line between funny and cringey, making for a fun addition and finale to this great trilogy.

This movie proves to have the biggest final battle of the three Maguire movies, with two villains and an ally for Spider-Man, however bigger doesn’t always mean better. Spider-Man, especially Maguire’s, is always at his best in smaller scale fights, testing his wit as well as his raw strength against villains like Doc Ock. This movie doesn’t really have any of that, only focusing on his strength, leading to a third act with much less intrigue.

This movie seems to be around the birth of the generic superhero movie. This was released one year before Iron Man, in an era where superheroes were becoming more mainstream and enjoyed by the day, leading to an influx of lazier writing in which they tend to take a ‘bigger is better’ approach. This final fight goes for much more flashy visuals, rather than any real substance and, yes it’s cool to look at, but there’s really not a lot behind it.

07. Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

This is the newest of this list, and of course the reason for it, and I’m slightly conflicted on this movie. Bear in mind, this segment will involve spoilers. Brand New Day features so many incredible swinging scenes, many of which were filmed practically — helping it feel much more tangible — however they’re held back by some quite choppy editing in the first act.

This very obviously takes a lot of inspiration from the incredible Spider-Man PS4 game with its fight choreography and it makes for some of the most visually interesting and simply just fun fight scenes — whether against foes like the Hulk or a band of ninjas.

I love part of the story here, following on from the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which Peter tries — and ultimately fails — to live only as Spider-Man while trying to keep a distant eye on Ned and MJ. This makes for such an interesting character study on Peter and his mental state post-No Way Home and creates some of the best parts of this, I just wish this was focused on slightly more.

This brings me onto my critiques for Brand New Day. At times, this can feel like it’s much more of a Marvel movie than a Spider-Man movie. I admire the decision for this to be much more small-scale than many of Tom Holland’s movies, rather than trying to make another event movie which seems to be what’s attempted throughout the MCU in the last few years.

However, it feels as if there’s quite a bit of focus on connecting this to the wider universe, especially with the, often somewhat unnecessary inclusion of Yelena. The Punisher team up felt natural and Bruce Banner, and his inhibitor, was needed, but I think that was about it. Not only this, it felt as if the movie was setting up the future of the MCU.

With all eyes on Spider-Man, as he seems to now be Marvel’s only hope outside of The Avengers, I assume they felt forced to bring some kind of X-Men character into this story. Because we’re so close to Doomsday, coming at the end of the year, and Secret Wars after that, much of what’s released is trying to tie everything together and lead it onto the next movie, which will ultimately date this. You could watch Raimi’s movies at any point in the last twenty or so years and have the same experience as an audience member would have in 2002 — I just can’t see that being the case for Brand New Day, at least not entirely.

06. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

I know this being so high isn’t the most popular of opinions, but I believe this is heavily underrated and I will stand by this movie. Within this, Andrew Garfield is able to balance the two identities of Peter and Spider-Man better than anybody before or since. This movie is full of so many great things, most of which unfortunately come with a few caveats.

Many moments in this contain some of the best of Spider-Man. Namely, and one of my favourite scenes of any movie in this entire list, is when Peter saves a child on the bridge. Within this scene, Peter risks his identity by removing his mask because making this child feel safe and secure is so much more important to Peter than keeping his identity a secret. We see, when this child decides to adorn the mask, that Spider-Man is so much more than a single person, he’s a symbol of hope and bravery. This scene is everything the mask represents and, while the movie may not be perfect, it is very Spider-Man and shows a complete understanding of what this character means for the masses.

I absolutely love the scene of Peter fighting Curt Connors through the school. Unfortunately, any scene involving the Lizard feels slightly worse because of his design. He looks both way too human, yet way too lizard-like in a way that I can’t fully explain. Somehow, the filmmakers managed to find the most unsettling and uncomfortable middle ground possible.

I will say, the decision to give Peter’s dad a much more drawn out backstory is an interesting one, and there are a few good moments that come from it and Peter’s resentment of his parents, but the backstory itself is a bit of a bore. The biggest sin in this movie, however, is that this never really has much of a visual identity. This lacks a lot of the hopeful colour that a Spider-Man movie should have.

05. Spider-Man (2002)

Just slightly above one origin story, we have Tobey Maguire’s, however there is a lot of space between this and what came before it. This is obviously the blueprint for, essentially, every Spider-Man movie going forward, and many superhero movies in general with all its silliness and imperfection. Many parts of this feel like a cartoon brought to life which is, in my mind, some of the highest praise you can give a superhero movie. There’s a simple charm here that can’t be denied.

Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin was a perfect choice for this origin movie, in which he tests Peter’s morality and willingness to be a hero, pushing him to his limits. I’d compare this to the importance of Ra’s Al Ghul in Batman Begins. Willem Dafoe puts on an all-time great performance as the Green Goblin, at times feeling somewhat reminiscent of Gollum from Peter Jackson’s Lord of The Rings. Many moments of him playing both sides are genuinely chilling to watch.

Even though, at times, Maguire’s Peter Parker can fall quite flat, and many Peter scenes can feel somewhat awkward, he does a great job at playing Spider-Man. He nails the awkwardness and silly, mid-fight quips all the way from his first appearance against Bonesaw.

One tiny detail I absolutely loved was the small interview moments during Spider-Man’s first actual appearance, aside from his cage fight. This gives much more depth to the finale, as well as even its sequel, in which we see this city protecting Spider-Man. This also lends into the importance of J. Jonah Jameson in this story, being the other side of this adoration, allowing for a much more developed view of Spider-Man from the people of New York.

The finale of this movie is able to show Spider-Man’s impact on the people of New York, as well as children across the world, in such a simple yet effective way. The end being a simple hand-to-hand fight was the best decision possible, showing that even if Spider-Man has all these powers, he’s still just a man. It also helps to make this feel so much more personal, as the man he’s fighting is someone that Peter looks up to and is his best friend’s father.

04. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

I just love Homecoming’s style. There’s something so happy-go-lucky about this movie which feels so ‘Spider-Man’ in all the best ways, from the scene of him locked in a containment facility and figuring out his suit to him panicking about being so high up when he’s at the top of the Washington Monument.

Tom Holland nails the Peter Parker awkwardness better than any Spider-Man has — not to mention he’s the only one who actually looks his age — even if sometimes that seems to carry over to the character of Spider-Man which causes the two to meld together slightly too much.

Something I love here, and what many of the previous instalments seemed to miss, was Spider-Man simply helping regular civilians throughout New York. This helps to give the city much more of an identity, as well as showing more of a ‘friendly neighbourhood’ side to this character.

While a big complaint about this movie can be that Iron Man takes control of it from time to time, the heart still manages to remain within Peter and his journey of independence and knowing his own strength, of which we see so much of in many great ways in the final act.

I feel slightly conflicted on Peter’s tech in this. Occasionally it can rely too heavily on this, yet it does definitely seem to be necessary due to the firepower that the villains possess, even in the smaller fights. Holland’s Spider-Man goes through much more vigorous tribulations and high concept fights than any other. For example, one of Maguire’s largest struggles, within the climax of his second movie, was stopping a train, however Holland managed to hold a ferry together during the middle of his first appearance — even if it was only for a few moments. My main problem is that I would have liked to have seen a few more raw Spider-Man web shooter moments, rather than multiple big fights with the Vulture.

Michael Keaton is incredible in this. He commands the screen better than anybody in the entire movie, and that is no better shown than right after the reveal of him being Liz’s father. We see as he slowly starts to figure out Peter’s identity, making for such a tense scene which is masterfully performed by both Keaton and Holland, leading into this truly amazing third act.

I absolutely love the scene of Peter lifting himself from the rubble in the final act. Here, we see Spider-Man’s true perseverance in the face of danger and almost imminent death, which is something that carries through the entire final fight. We’re also reminded, in this scene, that Peter is still a child, no matter what battles he’s able to fight. As he panics and pleas for help, the audience remembers he isn’t just Spider-Man, he’s also Peter Parker. This scene is incredibly understated, yet is one of my favourite scenes in any Spider-Man movie, all the way up there with Maguire stopping the train, Garfield helping the child on the bridge, and Morales’ leap of faith. My only other complaint for this movie is, once again, this lacks a lot of colour that it should have, presumably to fit into its universe easier.

03.  Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Spider-Man 2 is widely regarded as the best live action Spider-Man movie, and for good reason. This is much more of a Peter story than a Spider-Man one, despite many of the most iconic moments. We follow Peter yearning for Mary Jane throughout, as he tries — and ultimately fails — to balance his dual identity.

This is obviously much bigger in its ambition and scope than the first, yet feels no less grounded. Unlike its sequel, this never sacrifices on what made the first so great to make way for more big fights — with the only actually large scale action sequence taking place in the final act.

Peter losing his powers is such an interesting storyline, showing that his powers aren’t what make him Spider-Man, his heart and his will are. This is somewhat the same plotline as Spider-Man: Homecoming, yet in a more personal way. Holland’s Peter loses what he believes makes him strong, but he’s still Spider-Man. Maguire, however, once again becomes a regular person, losing everything that he believed makes him special. In losing his powers, he must rely on his own willpower, pushing further than he’s ever had to before to show that even as a normal person, he can still be a hero.

Within this story, Doc Ock is able to challenge Peter’s intelligence rather than his morals, like the Green Goblin in the first. By the end, Peter is forced to solve this problem with his mind rather than his body, making for a slightly different, yet no less interesting third act.

Many parts of this finale show Spider-Man’s spirit better than any other has since. No matter how much Doc Ock beats him and hits him with a train, Peter will constantly keep fighting. The iconic train stop makes for an absolutely incredible scene, as well as showing how New York will put their own lives in danger to protect Spider-Man, just as he did them. These New Yorkers stepping in between Spider-Man and Doc Ock once he returns, even with their limited strength against this menacing foe, is such an admirable thing to watch.

02. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (2023)

Whilst these next two are very nearly tied for the top spot, and neither are far above Spider-Man 2, I simply put Across The Spider-Verse at №2 because it isn’t complete. I’m sure when the final part releases, this may end up even higher than it already is on this list.

This movie ups the visual style infinitely from the first movie, which is abundantly evident even from the first frame. This adds so many unique animation styles and, once again, reinvents animation — mostly in the creation of Spider Punk, Hobie Brown. There’s not a single ugly frame in this entire almost two and a half hours, and everything blends together in such a beautiful harmony to sell this story in so many ways.

This is full of original songs, all of which are incredible at displaying their own unique vibes, working with its various needle drops, as well as simply being amazing songs in their own right. The same can be said for its various scores, especially those for each character, which are able to give you a layered glimpse into each person’s universe and personality within seconds.

Following Miles through this Spider Society, we explore so many deeply emotional moments, even when we reach the climax and long chase sequence. Many movies, when dealing with a scene with this kind of scope and large scale concept, can often forget their emotional core at some point throughout. This never falls into that pit at any point. While watching this, you never feel disconnected from what Miles is feeling and thinking through this scene, leading onto his eventual, beautifully shot and stylised panic attack after leaving the Society.

The Spot is a character that went through an incredibly written arc throughout this. With very minimal screen time after his initial introduction, he’s able to go from a seemingly quite silly, comic relief villain-of-the-week to one of the most menacing Spider-Man villains put to screen.

01. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is the greatest Spider-Man movie ever. I will take absolutely no debate on that. Part of what put this one step above its sequel is that it’s the blueprint, as well as being a much more contained story, rather than the much larger scope that Across The Spider-Verse elevated this story to.

This movie has such an abundance of style in its visuals, as well as its music and storytelling. There’s so much beauty in every frame and the thought put into it all could be dissected for days. This looks and feels exactly like a comic book brought to life, and it’s the best comic book you’ll ever read.

Not only does this look absolutely incredible, but the story is just as beautiful. We follow Miles as he tries to find himself and live up to these great expectations set for himself and by others. He’s surrounded by so many people, both as Spider-Man and as Miles, who constantly show that they can do everything better than him, causing him to doubt his own abilities. He also must navigate his broken relationship with his father, something that he feels is only elevated after realising his powers. This is all such a beautifully personal story of courage, perseverance, and self-belief that so much of the audience is able to relate to, whether that’s in the cinemas in 2018 or its 50th anniversary in 2068. This is what puts this a cut above the rest and solidifies its place at the top of this list.

Music is a very important part of the culture of this movie, as well as the movie itself. This is something that’s executed incredibly and with so much care, in both its original songs and needle drops, especially mixed with Daniel Pemberton’s beautiful score.

This includes some of the greatest swinging scenes in any Spider-Man movie, most of which work to move this story forward in the best possible ways, rather than simply as a mode of transport for Spider-Man. Whether Miles is hauling Peter B.’s lifeless body through the streets of New York, learning to swing on the job while escaping from Alchemax, or during the iconic leap of faith, these scenes are always a chance for the filmmakers to show off their beautiful stylisation and storytelling.

I could talk about this movie for hours on end, which just goes to show how incredible and impactful every moment is. There is no debate on this being the greatest Spider-Man movie of all time — and I may be so bold to widen it to superhero movies in general.