Years before Andrew Garfield had his trilogy cut short and even longer before Tom Holland picked up the mantle in Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker aka Spider-Man lept from the pages of comics to the big-screen thanks to Sam Raimi’s celebrated trilogy. Fully launching its leading man, Tobey Maguire, into the spotlight, the trilogy not only cemented the young star’s status in the industry, but also served as a foundational building block in the theatrical takeover that the franchise has continued to establish in the more than two decades since Spider-Man’s 2002 release. Soon, on January 1, the trilogy will find a new streaming home with all three of Raimi’s celebrated features set to arrive on Netflix.
Taking the world by storm, Spider-Man leapt into cinemas in 2002, quickly establishing itself as a hit among both those who were familiar with Marvel Comics and those who only knew the baseline about Peter Parker’s journey to become the titular young hero. Along with Maguire donning the spider suit and all the spandex that came with it, the movie also featured leading performances from an array of incredibly talented artists, such as Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, James Franco, Rosemary Harris and Cliff Robertson. Landing a Certified Fresh critics’ approval rating of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, the first movie in Raimi’s heroic trilogy went on to become a box office hit and even landed two Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects.
Immediately realizing the franchising opportunity that sat in front of them, Sony, the studio behind Spider-Man, pressed the greenlight on a sequel as quickly as possible. Two years later, Spider-Man 2 swung into cinemas. After his origin story was established in the debut picture, the sequel followed up on the life story of Peter Parker, giving him different villains to fight and personal relationships to toil with. This time around, Maguire, Dunst, Franco, and Harris reprised their roles, with Alfred Molina joining the cast as the film’s primary antagonist. Yet again, the movie was both a financial and critical success, this time landing three Academy Award nominations and taking home the trophy for Best Visual Effects.
‘Spider-Man 3’s Grand Farewell
Finally, in 2007, Raimi threw audiences into the final chapter of his web-slinging trilogy with Spider-Man 3. If ever there was a Spider-Man movie that leaned into the campier side of things, it was this one. While Tom Hardy’s name is now synonymous with Eddie Brock and his symbiote bestie, Venom, a much more unassuming actor stepped into the role in the trilogy capper. Having recently wrapped his long-running role in the hit sitcom, That ‘70s Show, Topher Grace took over the reins of the character which would serve as the third film’s big bad. It was the battle of two similarly looking white dudes in a movie that featured one of the most iconic musical numbers in cinematic history. While it didn’t land any nods at the Oscars, Spider-Man 3 will forever hold a place of love in our hearts.
Check out all three movies in one place when Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy swings onto Netflix on January 1.
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Spider-Man
After being bitten by a genetically-modified spider, a shy teenager gains spider-like abilities that he uses to fight injustice as a masked superhero and face a vengeful enemy.
Release Date May 3, 2002
Runtime 121 minutes
Main Genre superheroes
Writers Stan Lee , Steve Ditko , David Koepp
English (US) ·