Ahead Of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Every Spider-Man Film Ranked

Ahead of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, we rank every live-action Spider-Man movie from the critically acclaimed Spider-Man 2 to the less successful The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

One of the world’s favourite superheroes is swinging back onto the big screen this week. Tom Holland is returning as Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

This is the fourth Spider-Man-focused movie in the MCU after Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Holland’s seventh appearance in the franchise, which also includes Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wonder Man), taking over from Jon Watts who made the previous MCU Spidey movies.

The movie also brings back Zendaya and Jacob Batalon as MJ and Ned Leeds respectively. Mark Ruffalo and Jon Bernthal will reprise their roles as Bruce Banner/The Hulk and Frank Castle/The Punisher from the MCU respectively.

Stranger Things fame Sadie Sink is making her MCU debut in a role that is strongly rumoured to be the new iteration of Jean Grey from the X-Men.

With Spider-Man: Brand New Day releasing in theatres in India on July 30, a day before its American release, Sreeju Sudhakaran brings out his spider-sense to rank every live-action Spider-Man movie from worst to best.

11. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

The bottom two entries on this list are classic examples of what happens when you stuff too many villains into a movie for the sake of it.

In the case of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it also commits the cardinal sin of using the sequel to expand the franchise and compete with the MCU by teasing spin-offs and sequels without first building a strong narrative.

The one genuinely strong sequence is Gwen Stacy’s (Emma Stone) death, which is poignantly depicted. Otherwise, this is a film that barely holds together, relying on story beats we have already seen before.

Talented actors like Dane DeHaan, Paul Giamatti, Felicity Jones and Chris Cooper hardly get much to do, with most of them merely serving as setups for spin-offs that never came to be.

The film was such a critical disappointment that the franchise went through another reboot within a couple of years, which was sad since Garfield was really good as Peter Parker.

10. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Three words that almost ruined a great trilogy: Emo Peter Parker.

We still can’t forget the cringe of watching Tobey Maguire’s emo makeover and his attempts to look cool. Sure, that was intentional, but the way Sam Raimi handled Peter Parker’s personality being altered by the alien symbiote felt awkward to watch and brought far too much melodrama into an already overdramatic storyline.

Again, this is also a film of excess, with Raimi reportedly being forced to include more villains than he wanted. So we get Sandman, New Goblin and Venom all crammed into a movie that doesn’t do complete justice to any of them, unlike the previous two Spider-Man films.

While the movie was still a huge box office hit, the mixed response to the threequel forced the studio to abandon Spider-Man 4 and reboot the franchise just five years later, only to reboot it again four years after that.

9. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Even if Marc Webb’s take on Spider-Man struggles with identity issues, trying to distance itself from Sam Raimi’s more classic interpretation, it does get one thing absolutely right: The casting.

Andrew Garfield made for a really cool Peter Parker, making that blend of awkwardness and cheekiness feel natural.

Emma Stone was wonderful as Gwen Stacy, bringing far more personality than Kirsten Dunst’s often mopey Mary Jane Watson. She also shared crackling chemistry with Garfield, helped by the fact that they were dating at the time.

The mystery surrounding Peter’s parents also kept things interesting, even though the film largely followed an origin story we had already seen before.

While Rhys Ifans’ Dr Curt Connors, aka The Lizard, may not be as memorable as the villains in Raimi’s first two Spider-Man movies, his motivations felt believable, and the library fight between him and Spider-Man remains one of the film’s highlights.

Also, as an Indian fan, I have a soft corner for the movie because it featured the late Irrfan Khan.

PS: In case you are wondering why he suddenly disappears from the film, there is a deleted scene that explains the fate of his character, Dr Ratha.

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

Spider-Man: Far From Home is not a bad movie. It just doesn’t quite have enough of its own strong identity to avoid being overlooked.

Coming immediately after Avengers: Endgame, the film dealt with the aftermath of those events, with Peter Parker coping with the loss of Tony Stark while trying to find his place in a world where the Avengers were no longer a team. At the same time, he also had to survive a school trip and deal with his feelings for MJ.

Sure, there is plenty to like here. This is the first film that truly lets Tom Holland and Zendaya’s chemistry shine. The Europe trip sequences are fun, Jake Gyllenhaal has a blast playing Mysterio, and it also features one of the MCU’s greatest post-credit scenes.

It is just that Spider-Man: Far From Home struggles to step out of Endgame’s enormous shadow, with a screenplay that works with the moments but doesn’t hold enough to stand alone fine.

7. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Sure, Iron Man’s inclusion felt a little too eager to connect the movie to the wider MCU, but Spider-Man: Homecoming was still a hugely enjoyable superhero entertainer, with Tom Holland proving to be excellent casting as Peter Parker.

The best thing about the film is how wonderfully it captures Peter’s high-school life, with the makers clearly drawing inspiration from John Hughes’ 1980s coming-of-age comedies.

The movie also featured one of the MCU’s finest villains in Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture. The sequence between him and Holland before the homecoming dance remains one of the franchise’s finest twists.

All in all, a fun and enjoyable movie that works within the MCU parameters, even if it also has some troubles having a standalone perspective. 

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

Sure, Spider-Man: No Way Home is nostalgia bait, and its screenplay doesn’t always make logical sense while trying to explain the multiverse madness. That said, its biggest weakness is also its greatest strength because all those multiverse shenanigans make for an immensely entertaining watch.

Come on, didn’t watching three generations of Spider-Men, with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning to join Tom Holland against their old enemies, thrill you? The film also knows exactly when to hit you emotionally, especially during Aunt May’s death. Tom Holland delivers his best performance in the role here.

The only thing I missed was the high-school vibe of the franchise taking a back seat. Then again, we got three Spider-Men swinging together, Garfield’s Peter getting his redemption moment, and Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe returning as Doc Ock and Green Goblin. That’s more than enough to forgive it.

5. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Captain America: Civil War may not be a Spider-Man-centric movie nor are the next two entries, but it marks Spider-Man’s first appearance in the MCU.

It is also the first time we see Peter Parker sharing screen space with Iron Man, Captain America and Black Panther (who also made his MCU debut in the same film). It was seen as a groundbreaking moment back then, with Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios finally reaching an agreement to share the character.

The partnership has certainly had its ups and downs since, the biggest downside being the existence of Sony’s Spider-Man-less Spider-Man universe.

Still, Spider-Man enjoyed a remarkable renaissance under Marvel. It all began with Tom Holland’s delightful introduction, the mentor-student relationship between Tony Stark and Peter Parker, and his standout role in the film’s biggest set piece, the airport battle.

Captain America: Civil War was already a thoroughly entertaining blockbuster, and Spider-Man’s arrival only made it better.

4. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

The impact of Avengers: Endgame worked so well because of everything that came before it. Viewed in isolation, it wouldn’t have the same emotional weight.

If you had followed the entire saga, Avengers: Endgame was an absolute treat. The film is packed with clap-worthy moments, delivers brilliant pay-offs to long-running story arcs, and culminates in one of the greatest ensemble climaxes ever filmed.

Spider-Man’s role is limited, considering he only returns during the grand finale, but he still gets memorable moments. The theatre erupted in cheers when he swung through the portal and unmasked himself. His brief but emotional reunion with Tony Stark, followed by his breakdown over Stark’s death, left many of us in tears.

3. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Avengers: Endgame felt rewarding because its predecessor was a terrific film that gave Spider-Man far more room to shine alongside his mentor.

More importantly, we got to see a character who was still just a high-school student willingly leave his ‘friendly neighbourhood’ behind and head into space to fight a purple genocidal alien. As Peter tells an exasperated Tony Stark, ‘You can’t be a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man if there’s no neighbourhood.’

Spider-Man gets several standout moments here, from his official induction as an Avenger to his interactions with the Guardians of the Galaxy and his battle against Thanos.

Of course, he also delivers the film’s most heartbreaking moment. Peter’s spider-sense lets him realise something is terribly wrong before anyone else, allowing us to witness the rare sight of him scared, helpless and clinging to his mentor as he fades away.

If that scene didn’t leave you teary-eyed, man, only Thanos can save you!

2. Spider-Man (2002)

No matter how entertaining the newer Spider-Man movies are, the OG will always remain the OG.

Alongside the X-Men films, Sam Raimi helped usher in a superhero revolution in the new century with his definitive take on the web-slinger, turning even those unfamiliar with Marvel Comics into Spider-Man fans.

This exhilarating origin story introduced us to Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker and instantly turned him into everyone’s favourite superhero who wasn’t Batman.

Raimi perfectly captures the spirit of the comics while assembling inspired casting, from Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin, to Rosemary Harris as Aunt May and J K Simmons as J Jonah Jameson.

The film also gave us plenty of unforgettable moments, from the wrestling match and Peter Parker’s locker-room fight to the iconic upside-down rain kiss and the Green Goblin’s attack on the festival.

More importantly, it laid the foundation for what remains one of the two greatest superhero movies of all time. Which is…

1. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Also known as The Godfather Part II of superhero movies, a title it can comfortably share with Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.

Spider-Man 2 builds expertly on the foundation laid by the first film. It further explores Peter Parker’s personal struggles, the emotional and financial downfall of his broken best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco), and introduces one of the genre’s greatest villains in Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, a well-meaning scientist psychologically manipulated by his mechanical tentacles.

The film features some of the greatest superhero action sequences ever put on screen, including the bank robbery and the legendary train battle. Raimi also gave us a glimpse of his horror roots with the unforgettable hospital surgery sequence.

With fantastic acting, writing and direction, Spider-Man 2 became the benchmark for superhero cinema. Sadly, even Raimi himself struggled to live up to it in his later superhero outings (Spider-Man 3 and Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Darkness).

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff