Written by Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is out now and making history at the box office. With the latest release, an age-old debate has once again reared its head.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who previously helmed the MCU film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which was released in 2021. The movie is once again led by Tom Holland as he reprises his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Emmy winner Zendaya and Jacob Batalo also return for the sequel. They are joined by cast members Sadie Sink (Stranger Things), Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear), Jon Bernthal, and Tillman, among others.
Every time a new Spider-Man movie comes out, social media is quick to debate who their favorite Spider-Man is. Throughout the years, three different actors have taken on the mantle of the character in major films, and all of them have their own merits. To that end, we’re ranking the best live-action Spideys to see how they stack up.
Ranking the Spider-Man live-action actors from worst to best
3) Andrew Garfield
This one hurts me the most, as I do personally believe Garfield fit the bill as one of the best-looking Spider-Man actors in the suit and in attitude. However, the fact that he starred in what are likely the two worst live-action Spider-Man entries makes it all but impossible to truly rank him above his peers.
Garfield first appeared in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, and quickly established himself as a way different character than Tobey Maguire, who had preceded him. Garfield’s Parker was a sarcastic skateboarder, who was quick to throw a quip out both in and out of the suit. It sometimes felt like Garfield’s Parker was a little too “cool,” but where he really shined was when he put the suit on.
Garfield’s in-suit performance as Spider-Man is still incredible to this day, as he fully takes on the role of a hero quick to throw a joke out as he’s fighting, but also ready to save the day on a moment’s notice.
2) Tom Holland
Holland’s Spider-Man has the special distinction of being the first to grace the larger MCU. Originally debuting in Captain America; Civil War, Holland’s Peter Parker went back to the roots of the character, thrusting him back into his teenage years, living with Aunt May and struggling to handle being a high school student and a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
To his credit, Holland absolutely owns the role of Parker and Spider-Man together. He plays them both equally well, and his movies have only gotten better, with Brand New Day easily the best entry in his four-film set. His movies also tackle some of the wider edges of Spider-Man’s rogue gallery, and his movies’ twist on the character of MJ (played by his real-life wife and star in her own right, Zendaya) was an incredibly smart move to differentiate the MCU versions of things.
What holds Holland back is more so the way the MCU largely portrays Parker. As noted above, Holland’s Parker originally debuts in Civil War, and his first few movies are heavily intertwined with the ongoings of Iron Man and whatever cosmic threat the Avengers might be facing. While it’s cool and while Spider-Man is obviously an Avenger in most comic iterations, Holland’s Spider-Man doesn’t get to spend as much time in the city he calls home too often, and never really shows much of any struggle due to his connections to Tony Stark until Brand New Day.
1) Tobey Maguire
The problem with being the original is that you set the bar, and Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi set an incredibly high bar. It’s no secret that every Spider-Man movie (both live-action and not) that have come since Raimi’s trilogy has tried to match the highs of it. Maguire’s performance as Spider-Man and Parker, specifically, is one that’s still heralded by many as the de facto performance, and with good reason.
Maguire’s performance is not only set in some of the best Spider-Man movies ever, but capture the character the best. While he himself might not look like a prototypical Peter Parker, Maguire plays the role with genuine emotional sincerity and sells being a nerd-turned-hero in every way possible. His ability to convey everything he’s feeling in just one look is one that is unrivaled by even the best superhero actors, and when he puts on the suit, it gets even better.
Inside the suit, Maguire’s Spider-Man is simply spectacular. He throws jokes out with the best of them, but still manages to have incredibly emotional moments with some of his biggest villains despite being inside of a spandex suit. His scenes with Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, specifically, are still some of the best interpretations of what it means to be Spider-Man, and that comes in due part thanks to the movies he’s in.
Raimi’s trilogy, even the oft-criticized Spider-Man 3, remains some of the peak of superhero storytelling in movie form. The films feature iconic live-action villains, some of the most memorable setpieces, and have a look and feel to them that the newer movies simply don’t. Holland is gaining ground, but for now, Maguire remains the greatest to ever do it.
Originally written by Anthony Nash at Coming Soon
