A Complete Ranking of Every Spider

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The premise of both Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is one that's both clever from a storytelling perspective, and a mirror reflection of our own world: there are infinite superhero stories out there, period, but in particular there seem to be endless depictions of the famed web-slinger (s) and the world that surrounds them. Across the Spider-Verse's release marked the 13th Spider-Man movie—and that doesn't even count movies like Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, where the character appeared in a supporting capacity.

The Spider-Man world and lore is so expansive, in fact, that Sony has even begun rolling out movies in his world that don't even feature the titular hero; that's where the villain stories like Morbius, Venom, and the upcoming Kraven the Hunter come from. In a way, we all kind of live in the Spider-Verse, whether we realize it or not.

Having said that, there's a wide range of quality when it comes to these movies. Some of them are great! Some of them are not great. That's to be expected when we start getting into the double-digit amount of movies, and it's also why we’re here. We’re not going to agree on everything, but that's the joy of movies—everyone's got their own takes, and that counts for Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and all of their friends and foes too.

So, without further ado, here's our full ranking—only counting the movies where Spider-Man, or one of his villains, is in the lead role—of every Spider-Man movie.

This movie is awful! Truly, truly, just awful. Awful! There is absolutely nothing good in Morbius, which is oddly derivative of, weirdly, Batman Begins. It's mainly that it's just dry and boring. Why is JARED LETO, of all people, going small in MORBIUS? Jared Harris is completely wasted playing a character named "Nicholas" who doesn't even have a last name. The only one having any semblance of fun is Matt Smith, which, credit to him, we guess. The movie's credits scenes, clearly scripted with crayon and filmed on a lazy afternoon just for shits and giggles, desperately attempt to capitalize on the success of Spider-Man: N0 Way Home, which came out only a couple months earlier,and fail miserably. Please, Sony, we beg of you, do not bring The Good Doctor Mike Morbius back under any possible circumstances.

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Another movie that is really not good, but at least it has its merits. The majority of this movie is overstuffed and makes very little sense, but Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are good as usual, and perhaps I'm in the minority, but we mostly enjoyed Dane Dehaan's weird version of Harry Osborn. Plus, a beat from this movie (we won't say specifically which in case you haven't watched) specifically sets up what might be the best character moment in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home. That said, Jamie Foxx's whole Electro storyline is weird and his character motivation is not substantial. Most of this movie is not substantial. It also just looks bad. We do not blame Sony for stopping this series here and starting fresh elsewhere.

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Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Rhys Ifans (as Curt Conners/The Lizard) try their darndest, but the Amazing Spider-Man movies just don't have the juice. They don't! I'm sorry. These movies try really hard to zig a little bit from what the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire movies did a decade earlier, and it's just dry, and looks dark and not particularly good. Garfield is kind of exceptional in the suit as Spider-Man, and he's a good Peter Parker (if not a little too cool). But if you're looking for a Spider-Man Movie... there are better options than this series. Still worth watching for any big fan, though.

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The Venom movies "work" for one reason and one reason only: Tom Hardy's absolutely committed and utterly unhinged performance as Eddie Brock/Venom. These movies are high camp: don't go in expecting a cinematic masterpiece, but they are fun as what they are. Entertaining time at the movies (or on your couch)!

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The original Venom gets the upper hand on Let There Be Carnage for the lobster tank scene—which Tom Hardy improvised on the spot—alone. This movie is high—and incredibly fun—camp.

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Spider-Man 3 is a flawed movie for sure, but it's neither the disaster that some made it out to be nor is it the reclaimed good movie that others have pushed for. It's got some fun parts that lean into the Sam Raimi-est stuff in the original trilogy. The main three—Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and James Franco—all do a good job here, and while the depiction of Topher Grace as Venom is disastrous, his Eddie Brock is actually a quite good character foil for Maguire's Peter Parker. No disrespect to Thomas Haden Church, but Sandman is a wildly boring villain in this movie. Does not work.

And then there's the Peter Parker Emo/Dancing scene, which we are going to go down, on the record, as fans of. Good stuff.

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The second Tom Holland/MCU Spider-Man film, Far From Home is not a bad movie, but is probably the closest thing to being MCU-house style of any movie on the list. The Jon Watts/Holland Spider-Man films do a decent job of reinventing the series into less of a genre story and more of a teen/high school/coming-of-age thing, but the post-Endgame placement here really revolves around a lot of aftermath storytelling and setting up for the future of the overarching franchise. The cast delivers for sure, though, particularly Jake Gyllenhaal, who makes a super compelling villain—albeit one whose beef is mostly with a character who is not even in this film.

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Spider-Man: No Way Home was a true moment in the Marvel world, and until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 came around, was probably the pretty easy consensus pick for "best MCU movie since Endgame." The story is executed strongly, hitting its emotional beats as it needs to, and leaning into some truly exciting cameos in a way that quite literally had audiences around the world hooting and hollering. The only reason this falls behind Homecoming among the Holland/MCU films on this list is because this one leans endlessly into the past and nostalgia, while Homecoming is doing a little bit more of its own thing. But don't get us wrong: No Way Home is a fun, ambitious, blast, featuring many of the greatest characters in the entire Spider-Man history.

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After being briefly introduced in Captain America: Civil War, the MCU's Peter Parker (played to comic-accurate near-perfection by Tom Holland) gets his turn to go front-and-center in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which delightfully leans into what's almost a John Hughes-esque coming-of-age take on the Spider-Man story (that brightly skips the origin story that we've all seen several times before). Homecoming leans heavily on the power of its actors: Holland, Jacob Batalon as his best friend Ned, and Michael Keaton as the villainous Vulture are major standouts—and Robert Downey Jr. helps anchor everything with his usual Tony Stark charm.

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2002's Spider-Man is one of the most important movies in modern culture, setting many of the first steps for the superhero genre to become the behemoth its become today. But first, it was this movie of passion for director Sam Raimi, who got to make the comic book movie he always wanted to make with his hand-picked Peter Parker, Tobey Maguire. The movie frequently uses practical effects and for all of its fantastical superhero elements, has characters, moments, and situations that really feel lived-in and great. Willem Dafoe is one of the greatest villains in the history of the genre as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, and the movie serves as pretty much the benchmark for great superhero origin stories.

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is an absolute work of art. Everything we came to love about 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (more on that one in a moment) is amplified in Across the Spider-Verse: the visual and audio experience is unbelievable, the characters are great (Oscar Isaac and Daniel Kaluuya are two of the standout newcomers, as Spider-Man 2099 and Spider-Punk, and Jason Schwartzman's villainous Spot goes from a joke to terrifying in a stunningly effective organic manner), and it's a movie that we could have watched for another 2-3 hours if it were to go on so long.

Which brings us to our next point, and why it—for now—lands behind Into the Spider-Verse: this is only Part One of a two-partstory. It could very easily ultimately jump higher, but for now we lean towards the complete emotional arcs of this series' first film. But this movie, again, is a work of art.

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If you didn't at least get teary a few times during 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, you may have to get checked to see if there's even a heart in your chest at all. The movie, which centers on Brooklyn native Miles Morales (perfectly voiced by Shameik Moore), marks the perfect balance between self-aware, earnest, and exciting, making for what ultimately became one of the biggest and most important breaths of fresh air in both mainstream animation and superhero filmmaking in years. The vocal performances are all exceptional, really (Nicolas Cage! Brian Tyree Henry! Liev Schreiber!), but special shoutout for Mahershala Ali's Uncle Aaron, who brings on the waterworks every single time with a performance that even through limited scenes and only voiceover, feels so human and warm. This movie is a stunning visual and audio work.

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For all the wild, exciting, and unexpected places that all the Spider-Man films on this list goes, it's hard to go away from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, which takes an approach that worked at the time and, really, will always work: tell a Spider-Man story, and tell it well. Spider-Man 2 follows Peter Parker's (Tobey Maguire) relationship with the mentor-turned-villain Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) and how that eventually intertwines with his own relationships with love interests (Kirsten Dunst), friends (James Franco), and family (Rosemary Parker). Everything that Spider-Man did, Spider-Man 2 does even better. The train sequence? The train sequence. There is not a single thing wrong with Spider-Man 2. It also ends with "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional, which is up there for the most inspired choice ever made in any movie, ever. Bravo.

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