In the past 20 years, we have had 8 Spider-Man movies with a total of 3 actors playing Spider-Man. Toby Maguire became Spider-Man from 2002-2007 across 3 of the movies. The second Spider-Man was Andrew Garfield from 2012-2014 and appeared in 2 movies. The final and ongoing Spider-Man has been Tom Holland who first appeared as Spider-Man back in 2016.
In reflecting on how each actor varied, let’s take a look back through each of their roles. Toby is most people's favorite Spider-Man, because he is the original. He definitely got points, because he was the first to introduce us to Peter Parker. I think he did an excellent job, considering there was no one for him to look back and get inspiration from. Another great thing about Toby’s Spider-Man is the villains he faced. In my opinion, Toby Maguire had some of the best villains. The Green Goblin in the first movie I particularly liked, especially after we got to see him again in No Way Home this year. I liked his character, because we get to see the struggle of Osborn not wanting to be the Green Goblin while also having to fight against it. We see the same thing in the second movie with Doc Oc being controlled by the tentacles which are making him evil. I liked that both villains had no control in being evil. One of them was aware of the misdeeds, while the other had no idea that anything was wrong until appearing in No Way Home. The thing I don't like about Toby Maguire's Spider-Man is MJ, played by Kirsten Dunst. I can say that she did a horrible job. I hate the fact that she dated Harry Osborn (who is my favorite character) and still tried to get with Peter. I especially hated that Peter was willing to betray his best friend like that. Overall, I think Toby’s MJ was a whiny jerk who ultimately deserved to die.
The next Spider-Man was Andrew Garfield (my personal favorite). Andrew’s Spider-Man only entailed 2 movies, but they were both amazing. One part I loved was his love interest, Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone. Gwen Stacy's character was very interesting, considering both other Spidermans had an MJ. Gwen's character was awesome. She was independent and really held her own in the movies. I also feel like she loved Peter, not Spider-Man, unlike Toby's MJ who only loved him because he was Spider-Man (can you tell I hate her?). One critique I hear about Andrew’s role was that he was “too cool” to play Spider-Man. Personally, if you think he’s “too cool” because he rides a skateboard, you seriously need to reevaluate your life. Ultimately, I don't think that Andrew was too cool at all; I like that he was able to stand up to Flash when he became Spider-Man. I think it was a good representation of how becoming Spider-Man gave him confidence. I also enjoyed Andrew’s commentary in his fights. The way he moved in his fighting scenes reminded me of an actual spider, which was an element that the other Spider-Man haven’t had. One thing I will say about Andrew’s Spider-Man is that his villains weren’t as epic. With that being said, Andrew’s villains are still enjoyable. Additionally, Max’s story was very emotional and made me want to cry. Overall, Andrew’s personality as Spider-Man and his Gwen helped to make his movies some of the best. He definitely deserved a third movie.
Next is Tom Holland's Spider-Man. Tom's is interesting, because his first appearance as Spider-Man wasn't even in his own movie. Tom made his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War in 2016 but didn't get his own movie until 2017. Making Spider-Man into an Avenger (not officially until Infinity War, and it’s still up in the air after Endgame) or at least associating him with Tony Stark and Iron Man was such a great plot point. Tom fought more villains than both Toby and Andrew, some of them not even being in his own movie. Similarly, Tom's Spider-Man lost everyone in his life and was now completely alone. By the latest movie, nobody remembers him. I like that as we see Tom’s movies progress, we see him becoming a more confident Spider-Man. For example, I thought it was awesome when he really unlocked all his powers during the scene with him and Green Goblin in No Way Home. Here, we really got to see that he might be the most powerful Spider-Man.
In conclusion, I would say that all the actors did a great job portraying Spider-Man who, at the end of the day, is just a teenager from Queens. I believe they all had their own unique way of playing the role and all were exceptional. In the end, I am super excited to see where Tom’s Spider-Man goes next.
- Ceci Elliott