As far as superheroes go, Spider-Man is sort of the gold standard. Despite the fact that he’s not as traditionally powerful as Superman or as edgy as Batman, Marvel’s resident wallcrawler is utterly iconic and remains one of the most consistently popular heroes in all of pop culture. Nailing down the specific reasons why is far more difficult than you’d think, but generally, it’s all about how relatable Spider-Man is as a character and just how compelling that makes his story.
As one of the most popular heroes of all time, Spider-Man has appeared in his fair share of movies. Adapting Spider-Man stories to the screen may be challenging, but it’s a challenge that filmmakers have risen to repeatedly over the past two decades, with remarkably impressive results. With eight live-action Spider-Man movies and one major animated title having been theatrically released since the year 2000, there’s plenty of Spider-Man in the recent memory of moviegoers.
Before we start ranking, let’s go over our rules. We’re exclusively looking at theatrical Spider-Man movies, and only movies specifically focusing on the hero himself (so no Captain America: Civil War or Avengers: Endgame). We’re judging the films on a variety of merits, including their individual strengths and overall franchise factor (where appropriate). With that in mind, here is every Spider-Man movie ranked from worst to best.
9. Spider-Man 3 (2007)
It’s likely no surprise to anyone that 2007’s Spider-Man 3 finds itself at the tail end of this list. Despite having Sam Raimi at the helm and bringing back Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst as Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson respectively, Spider-Man 3 ultimately bungled the formula in a way that simply didn’t work. Rounding out Raimi’s trilogy of Spider-Man movies, Spider-Man 3 is typically seen as the worst of his wall-crawling efforts.
Unpacking every single thing that Spider-Man 3 got wrong would be a tedious and frankly unpleasant task, so let’s just summarize. It had three excellent villains crammed into one movie, rushing each of their respective stories beyond belief. Topher Grace was a terrible casting for Eddie Brock/Venom, and James Franco’s iteration of the Green Goblin left much to be desired. Spider-Man 3 was also riddled with plot holes and sub-par dialogue that really weakened the overall experience.
It’s a shame, too, because Raimi’s direction is still decently entertaining and the story still takes place in the world he so lovingly crafted. Spider-Man 3 is certainly a fun film, but for all the wrong reasons: it’s unintentionally hilarious at times and filled with cheesy clichés, making it something of a guilty pleasure for many. Even so, there are very few people who would effectively argue against Spider-Man 3‘s place as the worst Spider-Man movie.