Spider-Man Movies Ranked: Why No Way Home Edges Out Spider-Man 2 for the Top Spot

There have been enough Spider-Man movies that we can now rank them, and there are just enough for a top ten. My number one is Spider-Man: No Way Home, with Spider-Man 2 as the runner-up.

I think a lot of us might share the same top three, maybe even the same top five, and I bet most of us agree on the bottom two. Here is how the rest falls into place.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 edges the first film for ninth because of Gwen Stacy

To me, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are pretty much a toss-up. They really are a set, so they take tenth and ninth. The sequel gets a slight edge, landing at number nine, because it tackled the death of Gwen Stacy. That is such an important moment in Spider-Man mythology, and it is bizarre that across ten movies nobody has done it justice. This one came pretty close, and Emma Stone was so charming and wonderful that she helped a lot.

Andrew Garfield was phenomenal as Spider-Man, and everybody was excited to see him return in No Way Home. People always say about him, if only he got a chance to do it right, because the films around him weren't that good. But he did a great job. He is good with the comedic side of the character, and I think you could argue he is actually the best of the Peter Parkers. His wiry swimmer's physique is also more like the comics. The VFX teams on both films deserve major props for recreating some of Spider-Man's most famous poses.

The Lizard, Peter's father and Electro did not work out in the Garfield films

The Lizard is a core Spider-Man villain, and I know the filmmakers didn't have many cool villains left to work with at that point, but it did not work out in that movie. Making Peter's father an Oscorp employee who might have been murdered was totally unnecessary. We don't need that drama with Spider-Man.

Then, with all due respect to Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, his first crack at Electro in the sequel was a disaster, more like a Joel Schumacher Batman villain. People like to say Uma Thurman did a good job as Poison Ivy, and that she was the only good thing in Batman and Robin, but what kind of compliment is that? I always hated her take on the character, and I do think Electro is kind of based on it. Neither works, in my opinion.

Finally, Garfield and Stone's real life romance ended up overshadowing the movies, which is why Amy Pascal said she warned Tom Holland and Zendaya not to go down the same path. But their movies are so much better that they will never be overshadowed. Plus, Tom Holland and Zendaya are forever, and I don't want to hear anything else.

Spider-Man 3 is so bad it is kind of good at number eight

You can't deny that Spider-Man 3 is a meme and GIF factory that is still used to this day. It is legendary and part of movie history at this point, for how much Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire dropped the ball after two home runs. How do you strike out like that? How do you mess up the Venom storyline? And the way it introduced Gwen Stacy was just shocking. We'll never forget it.

Have you ever watched it more than once? Maybe if you are a glutton for punishment, and I'm sure there are Spider-Man 3 defenders out there. That covers the bad movies. Everything from here up is good, so it is just a question of order.

Spider-Man: Homecoming at seven put Peter in Iron Man's corner

I really like Homecoming, but I agree it is more of an Iron Man movie. That is from the comics too, when Peter was hanging out with Tony Stark a lot, but he did seem to become a character in Iron Man's corner of the MCU rather than having his own space. You can't blame Robert Downey Jr. Civil War had not gone well for him in public opinion, and everyone became Captain America fans overnight. He needed help, and he decided Spider-Man would provide it. It didn't work; it just made people upset that he co-opted Spider-Man. People were so mean to Robert Downey Jr., and he was great.

Michael Keaton's Vulture is undeniably cool and modernises the character in a really exciting way, picking over the leftovers of superhero battles like a vulture. I love it. The scene where he drives Peter and his daughter to prom, with both men knowing each other's secret identities but trading veiled threats because Liz isn't on to either of them, was amazing. The reveal that Liz was his daughter was hidden so well that when he came to the door, we were all stunned.

Tom Holland's decision to model his Peter Parker on Michael J. Fox was a really good idea, and it plays as an homage rather than stealing his whole thing. His dance and acrobatics background gives him an edge in realism, and his chemistry with Zendaya is amazing. Just like the Vulture, Aunt May was finally pulled into the 21st century. I love it. Marisa Tomei is an all-star.

Spider-Man: Far From Home at six made Mysterio cool

I love Far From Home. I know not everybody does, and I don't know why. Who would have thought you could make Mysterio cool? But we got a brilliant take. The Sony team does a good job with fake outs, and here they really had us believing he was from another universe. They played up the multiverse, which was his cover story, so when that turned out not to be true it was another great surprise.

It was also a take on fake news and how advances in technology are largely responsible for so much of it, ripped from the headlines even today. Mysterio better come back. At the same time, he stayed true to the comics. The big sequence in the middle of the film where he plunges Spider-Man into one of his illusions was a great homage. I'll never forget seeing it for the first time and thinking, that is a Mysterio illusion action sequence. It was incredible.

Building on Homecoming's modern Aunt May and Vulture, this film modernised Mysterio and J. Jonah Jameson, with J.K. Simmons returning from the Raimi films. We also saw Peter reveal his secret identity to Zendaya's MJ, a vital part of the Peter Parker and Mary Jane relationship in the comics and in every medium. It was great to see that finally come to fruition.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse only just makes the top five as a part one

When I put this ranking together, Across the Spider-Verse had just come out, so no spoilers. It is a really fun film and it is in the top five, but it only just makes it because it is very much still a part one, setting up what I was sure would be a phenomenal part two.

I take a few points off for the lack of Miles Morales throughout; it isn't really his movie until about 20 to 30 minutes in. The film is also a bit, let's say, TikTok-y, that's how I would describe it, which might end up helping it, but from an emotional and storytelling standpoint I think it detracts a little. Once it gets to the third act, though, it is just brilliant, and I couldn't wait for part two. Artistically, it is one of the most impressive animated films I've ever seen, and at the time I thought it would win another Oscar.

Spider-Man at four is one of the best superhero origin movies ever made

The very first Spider-Man movie started it all, not just bringing Spider-Man to the big screen and an even larger audience but standing as one of the first major comic book movies. Sam Raimi brought an old school, timeless quality to it. Tobey Maguire's casting was quite controversial at the time, but he knocked it out of the park, capturing Peter Parker as an outsider, which is what has made the character so relatable and kept the movie relatable too.

It holds up. Peter tries out his powers, and the film perfectly illustrates the defining sequence for Spider-Man: the death of Uncle Ben and with great power comes great responsibility. This is "Marvel's storytelling not only at its finest but at its core."

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse at three proved what Miles Morales is

For years, comic book fans including me have been trying to tell everyone what a great original character Miles Morales is. For too long people felt he was just a race swapped version of Peter Parker, and we kept saying that is not what is going on here, read the comics. This movie finally proved it.

Before Arcane and the Puss in Boots sequel, it was Into the Spider-Verse that revolutionised feature animation with its CGI and hand drawn hybrid, beating Disney to the punch. Disney had Paperman, but they didn't make a movie; they sat on it too long. Into the Spider-Verse swung away with the Oscar. While perfectly telling Miles's origin story, it introduced fan favourite Spider-Gwen to a larger audience, though the death of Gwen Stacy still hasn't been done right. Including Peter B. Parker was smart, and his voice actor was a fabulous fit for an iconic character in Spider-Man mythology. Into the Spider-Verse has it all.

Spider-Man 2 is the ultimate Peter Parker movie and my runner-up

Creatively, Spider-Man 2 is the ultimate Peter Parker Spider-Man movie; I say Peter Parker because we now have Miles Morales too. It has a well meaning scientist turned villain, Peter at the Daily Bugle, and his superhero life messing up his personal life in every possible way. That is what made Spider-Man unique in the comics. Other superheroes led more exciting lives under the mask, like James Bond, but Peter's heroics are truly a sacrifice that destroys his personal life, highlighting his mantra that with great power comes great responsibility.

That train sequence is brilliantly and thrillingly filmed, with Harrison Ford level facial expressions from Tobey Maguire and an emotional ending with that crowd. Alfred Molina proved to be the ultimate Raimi Spider-Man villain, with a fantastic origin story; that surgery sequence is classic Raimi. He was a sympathetic villain and another early warning from Hollywood about the dangers of artificial intelligence. Why did nobody listen?

Spider-Man: No Way Home is the best Spider-Man movie to date

As I said, I didn't even love this movie, but I respect it. Spider-Man 2 walked so No Way Home could run. Spider-Man 2 represents early Spider-Man comics, while No Way Home represents Spider-Man comics today, with the spider-verse. It was one short with five villains, but it is pretty much the Sinister Six, and it did not disappoint. The action sequences were phenomenal.

The message of sacrifice returns, with Peter losing Aunt May and that loss reflected in the other Spider-Men, which was beautiful. He also lost MJ when he was forced to make the world forget Peter Parker, though not Spider-Man, to save the multiverse. That sacrifice also saved the MCU Spider-Man, freeing him from Iron Man's influence. The end was my favourite part: he became the everyman the character has been famous for since the beginning, with a struggling New York apartment, a cool homemade suit and a swing past Rockefeller Center at Christmas. It was perfect.

Sure, the film sometimes feels like a Saturday Night Live sketch, but it was a labour of love that came together at the last minute. It took so long for everybody to sign, there were massive reshoots, and they stuck the landing. It has almost 2 billion to show for it, putting it among the greatest crowd pleasers of all time. It also got to theatres first during Hollywood's nostalgia craze for bringing different versions of a franchise together in one film, and the results were potent. So far, nobody has managed to do it better.

Do your top three match mine, or does Spider-Man 2 deserve the top spot over No Way Home?