The Best Spider-Man Film Ranking Ever

Introduction by Aidan Lytle and Phill Lytle

Very few superheroes have been as iconic and impactful as Spider-Man. Ten feature films. Four unique iterations. Over TEN BILLION DOLLARS at the worldwide box office. Spider-Man is a cultural juggernaut, capturing the hearts and minds of multiple generations. But what is it about the character that inspires such love and excitement?

Simply put, Spider-Man is us. He’s not a super-powered alien. He doesn’t have billions of dollars at his disposal. He’s not a broken and selfish man whose newfound abilities help him discover his true purpose and calling. He’s a kid. (Tobey Maguire required a bit more suspension of disbelief on the audience’s part.) He’s nerdy and decidedly not part of the cool crowd. He has a crush on a girl that is totally out of his league. But most importantly, he suffers.

Every superhero goes through a painful process of refinement, yet Peter Parker seems destined to deal with loss and grief. Time and time again, he loses those who are closest to him, and he still chooses to keep fighting, saving, and protecting. We see a little of ourselves in his personality and struggles. And we see what we can aspire to in his response to loss. The better version of ourselves. The version that will put the needs of others ahead of our own. Spider-Man is a mirror and an ideal. And we love him for that.

So today, we are excited to present to you the Rambling Ever On Spider-Man film ranking. We called in 4 lifelong Spider-Man fans as guests to help us rank and write about these films. The lists submitted were all over the place, yet we are all pleased with the results. We believe this final list is an excellent synthesis of how the world views Spider-Man, yet with small areas of our own flavor poking through. Let us know in the comments what film is your favorite and which you would have had higher!

10. Spider-Man 3

I barely remember this movie and what I do remember is not great. (Michael Lytle)

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At the least, it gave us this glorious moment, and we will forever be thankful for that:

9. Far From Home

Far From Home had the unfortunate luck of following Avengers Endgame, the culmination of Marvel’s previous 21 films. What that regrettably means for this film is that it finds itself struggling to balance a grounded Spider-Man story with answering much larger universe centered questions. Holland is a great Spider-Man, but this film manages to feel both too busy and like not enough happens. The humor falls substantially flatter than other Spider-Man movies, the characters’ decision making never feels smart or organic, and the stakes are wedged between being too grounded and too lofty. This is the weak entry of Holland’s trilogy, and one where you wouldn’t miss much by skipping. (Aidan Lytle)

8. The Amazing Spider-Man 2

I realize I am in the minority when it comes to this movie, but I’ve been a fan since I first saw it in the theater. Andrew Garfield is a great Spider-Man. He plays the part with the right mix of youthful energy and bravado, but with an underlining sense of vulnerability and self-doubt.

I hear the criticisms. Yes, the film tries to do too much. It’s overstuffed with too many villains and complications, and perhaps it rushed one of the most iconic Spider-Man/Gwen Stacy moments. (It might have been better served to hold that one for a 3rd film.) But with all that said, I still absolutely enjoy the film. It’s vibrant, ambitious, and briming with emotion. And the wonderful soundtrack is the icing on the cake. (Phill Lytle)

7. The Amazing Spider-Man

5 years following the end of Tobey McGuire’s tenure as the famous web-slinger, Andrew Garfield was presented the opportunity to continue the legacy Spider-Man had on the big screen, and for my money’s worth, he absolutely succeeded. I am quite a bit higher on Garfield’s run as Spidey than your typical fan. I think his take on Peter Parker, though a bit cooler and less overtly nerdy, provides some of the deepest emotional moments in the entire Spider-Man canon. Garfield’s Spider-Man feels vulnerable. He makes mistakes, and he suffers the consequences.

This iteration of Peter Parker is presented in a way that feels the truest to life if a real teenager would have to deal with these things. The relationship between Peter and Gwen is hands down the best take on romance in any Spider-Man film. Their relationship is funny, a bit awkward, yet impactfully powerful in a way no other film has reached.

The film isn’t perfect; you can tell there are portions they had to cut that would’ve made the villain’s arc feel less extreme, but I still believe this is an all-time great Spider-Man film. The music, the suit design, Uncle Ben’s death, and every other iconic part of what makes a Spider-Man film all work. The Amazing Spider-Man is a fresh take that had a lot to live up to, and for me has only gotten better with time. (Aidan Lytle)

6. Spider-Man

The one that started it all, Spider-Man finds itself currently in the position for the most influential film in its genre. Directed by horror legend Sam Raimi, the 2002 film contains many of my favorite elements from the trilogy. One of the biggest ones has to be how Spidey’s arch-nemesis, Green Goblin, is portrayed. The idea of Norman dealing with a disease that he can’t shake is truly a horrific detail that I would only trust Raimi doing this way.

Tobey and his love interest Kirsten Dunst have a very interesting and very 2000’s approach to the MJ and Peter love story that I can’t help but adore in retrospect. Sure, it’s nostalgic and cheesy, but I’ll enjoy watching it unfold time and time again. This is easily my favorite Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and their relationship with Peter is shown more in this trilogy in comparison to the other adaptations. In summary, Spider-Man’s importance to the whole genre cannot be understated, from the countless amount of influence on other films to making this massive market profitable in the first place. (Caleb Boivin)

5. Homecoming

After his MCU debut in Captain America Civil War, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man was given his own film in 2017, Spider-Man Homecoming. We are introduced to a whole new cast of characters as well as joined by some familiar favorites such as Tony Stark. This isn’t an origin story. Marvel wisely chose not to tell how Peter got his powers for the third time in the last 15 years. Instead, we are introduced to the character in full effect. Homecoming brilliantly displays Peter’s struggles with balancing his life as a high schooler and a superhero. The performances are great, the jokes are funny, and the action is well crafted.

The real star of this film, though, is Michael Keaton’s Vulture. The Vulture in this film is my all-time favorite Spider-Man villain, something only made possible by Keaton’s gripping performance. There’s a scene a little over halfway through the film where Peter finds out the Vulture is the dad of the girl that he has feelings for. The following 20 minutes are some of the most tense and enthralling filmmaking in the entire MCU. The Vulture begins to piece together that Peter is Spider-Man, and their car conversation that follows before a high school dance has me on the edge of my seat every time that I watch this film.

The MCU could not have asked for a better solo movie for Marvel’s most iconic hero. Homecoming is brilliant, and it kicked off Tom Holland’s trilogy in the best possible way. (Aidan Lytle)

4. Across the Spider-Verse

There is so much that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse does right. It builds on the characters of its predecessor in meaningful and interesting ways. It innovates upon the already innovative animation style of the first film by adding unique styles for every universe it visits. It reaches a scope of far more epic proportions than the original could ever dream of. And it contains some of the most jaw-dropping action sequences in animation history. Across the Spider-Verse is more than a movie; it’s a work of art stained with the fingerprints of hundreds of artists.

There are, however, a few elements that keep this movie from topping the original. The first is plot integrity. While the plot is far more bombastic than the first, it also has more fluff. Several moments feel less essential to the overall narrative, whereas the first film made every line of dialogue feel carefully selected.

The second drawback is its cliffhanger ending. While I don’t always fault a film for being a “Part 1,” the excessive delays and rewrites for the threequel show that the writers and studio had less of a plan for this movie than they want audiences to believe. Across the Spider-verse is a fantastic film, but it doesn’t stand on its own as well as the first, and its fate will depend upon Beyond the Spider-Verse. (Warren Markins)

3. No Way Home

What makes No Way Home the best Spider-Man film, in my opinion, is not its inclusion of returning actors nor its implications for the multiverse. Rather, it is the film’s portrayal of the significance of time.

In the MCU, Peter has been supported by Tony Stark and the Avengers at large, and has not been faced with personal loss – until now. Peter, in full naivety, seeks a quick fix to a problem for himself and his friends, leading to his entire world of people being affected for the worse.

Though he seeks to make things right, his actions lead to the death of Aunt May, robbing her of the rest of her years. In the end, he is able to make up for his mistakes, but at the cost of not only the future he could have led with his friends, but the time he had with them as well. Peter ends the film truly alone for the first time in his life, living with new burdens and a spark of hope to ease his loss.

The hook of this film is the returning of past villains and heroes, here to challenge and support Peter through his grief. The larger impact of these performances, such as by Garfield and Maguire, is to show us that they have not been forgotten by time. Getting to see these foundations of the past shows us the beauty in appreciating them.

Each and every one of us can relate to dearly missing people and times past and have felt that longing to have another moment with those we love. Sometimes we get them, and sometimes we don’t. In either outcome, we are reminded of the temporary nature of this life. If we are to be truly responsible with our time, we must appreciate it and cherish the gifts that we experience. This film is a reflection of such a gift: to be able to add a new moment to a cherished past. (Caleb Creech)

2. Spider-Man 2

As far as I’m concerned, Spider-Man 2 set the standard for Spider-Man movies, and no film has been able to knock it off the throne, though a few have come very close. It landed at Number 2 on our list, so other voters obviously disagreed with me on where it should be placed. And that’s okay. They are allowed to be wrong.

If back in 2002, you had told me that the sequel to the first Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man would become one of my favorite superhero films, I would have laughed at you. I was not a big fan of the original film, though I have come to appreciate its colorful campiness more over the years. While Spider-Man 2 was not high on my “must watch” list, I was a huge movie fan and felt compelled to check it out when it hit the theaters. What I saw felt revolutionary in many ways.

First, most of the things I disliked about the original were smoothed away or removed altogether. Second, the entire cast not only felt more comfortable in their roles but come across like actual human beings and not caricatures of comic book characters. Maguire, Dunst, Molina all shine, imbuing their performances with real emotion. Third, the stakes feel more real and tangible than in the original film. Doctor Octopus is a comic book villain, but he’s grounded in a way that Green Goblin never was. His turn to evil, after serving as a mentor to Peter Parker, holds weight and never feels forced. In fact, it creates all sorts of character dynamics that were missing from the first film.

But all that could be true, and the film would likely still only be a decent comic book adaptation. What sets Spider-Man 2 apart, and what continues to astonish and entertain audiences this many years later, is how effective and incredibly powerful the action sequences are. Spider-Man 2 has multiple set pieces that put many modern superhero films to shame. The bank heist that introduces Doc Ock as a villain. The cafe attack when Doc Ock abducts Mary Jane. The final confrontation at the warehouse on the bay.

But the one that stands out most, and in many ways set the bar for these sorts of movies, is the train sequence. It is expertly shot, with a million moving pieces and complications. But the sequence works so well, and hits just as hard today as it did in 2004, because it’s more than just visual spectacle. There’s real heart in this sequence and it turns a cool action scene into one of the most iconic moments in film history.

Yeah, Spider-Man 2 is pretty awesome. (Phill Lytle)

1. Into the Spider-Verse

In a time where Infinity War just released and superhero movies were at their peak, where Pixar was dominating the animated box office, and where Spider-Man: Homecoming had just reintroduced the character for the third time, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse had to do much right in order to succeed. And succeed it did.

While poking fun at the surplus of Spider-Man movies in the past twenty years, Sony Pictures Animation produced the best of them all. In an era of animation where every studio is creating the same, uninspired style, Into the Spider-Verse made a bold artistic choice in its visuals, and it is beautiful: it’s animated so that every frame looks like it’s been ripped straight out of a comic book.

It has a brilliant script performed by an equally brilliant voice cast. The film also boasts an epic score with some of the most effective leitmotifs in film. Perhaps the most impressive part of the score is its ability to seamlessly support the film’s hip-hop soundtrack, immersing the audience into its atmosphere.

Into the Spider-Verse is more than just technically excellent — it’s good. It tackles how complicated families can be, how much one’s past can haunt him, and how difficult it can be to find confidence in oneself. Throughout the film, Peter B. Parker often tells Miles Morales, the film’s lead Spider-Man, that he has to take a “leap of faith,” but he doesn’t just have to have faith in himself to defeat Kingpin, Miles also has to have faith in order to restore a loving relationship with his father. At its core, Spider-Man has always been a story about a “friendly neighborhood” kid from New York, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse perfectly captures that. (Jaron Austin)

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Final Thoughts

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