Which Spider-Man is the best?

Now that Spider-Man: No Way Home has hit theaters, it's time to admit Tom Holland's Spider-Man just might be the best live-action installation of the beloved superhero.

*IMDb

*WARNING: NO WAY HOME SPOILERS AHEAD*

Before we get into the good stuff, please understand that I love each and every one of these Spider-Men for different reasons. I do not think any were trash, and it's important to note that the actors had different assignments. I believe each one of them slayed the roles they were given.

Having said that, the criteria for who has the best Spider-Man is not just about what the actor brought to the table, but how the character was written and the overall plot/quality of the films.

Tobey is the OG

*Giant Freakin Robot

Let's start with the OG, Tobey Maguire. Tobey portrayed the classic, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He played nerdy very well, and brought us through the very first big-screen Spidey. The first film was many things: a coming of age, a romance, an action and a DRAMA.

Uncle Ben and Aunt May were central figures in Peter's life. With the first film came one of the greatest lines in history" "With great power, comes great responsibility."

Hands down, Tobey's Spider-Man had the best villains. Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin is that girl. His likeness has been compared to Batman's Joker. His performances in 2002 and 2021 are top tier. The same can be said for Alfred Molina as Dr. Octavius. He ate that up. Marvel's de-aging tech has gotten so much better. These two villains were clearly the most dangerous and the ones to beat.

*Screen Rant

Spider-Man 2 is the best film out of Tobey's trilogy, and one of the best Spider-Man films to date. And Spider-Man 3... was a mess but still brought us Harry's Green Goblin, Sandman, and Venom (the plot was just doing too much in one film. It didn't spend enough time developing important characters and themes. Sandman ate up too much time).

I liked that Tobey's Spider-Man had natural webs. That's one of the main attributes of a spider and a relevant power. Tobey's Spider-Man (directed by Sam Raimi) definitely set the standard and will always be remembered fondly.

Put some respek on Andrew Garfield's Spiderman!

The Amazing Spider-Man (directed by Marc Webb) was a very different Spider-Man. It was much more mysterious, dark and angsty.

*Indie Wire

Notably, this is the only Spider-Man to allude to what happened to Peter's parents. It attempted to connect the dots between the spider that gave Peter his powers, Oscorp, and his parent's secrets/death. I still want the tea.

Thanks to No Way Home, Andrew’s Spider-Man is finally getting the respect he deserved back in 2014 (along with redemption for Gwen's death). People were saying he was the worst Spider-Man, that his movies were trash, etc. Now people thirsting all over him on the timeline.

His movies weren't bad, they were just dark. Gwen and Peter are the best couple out of the three franchises. Despite their on-again, off-again relationship that occurred against Gwen's father's wishes, they made a lot of sense together. Their chemistry was so natural (I know they were dating in real life) and they worked together well as a team. She was more than a damsel in distress and was very headstrong.

Uncle Ben and Aunt May are still important figures in Peter's life. Aunt May even had a line that stuck: "Secrets have a cost, Peter. They're not for free."

*Game Rant

This franchise had the fanciest Oscorp and the most emo Harry (who I wanted to see more of). Andrew's villains were very gross - Dr. Connors turning into a lizard, Harry as the Green Goblin, and even Electro's original design - so nasty! I'm glad they changed Electro's design in No Way Home; Jamie looked tf good! And he was asl funny both times!

Fans are here for another Amazing Spider-Man, and so is Andrew Garfield. Now, the ball's in Sony's court!

Tom Holland did not come to play

*Variety

The latest live-action Spider-Man franchise stars Tom Holland, who so far has not been the traditional neighborhood Spider-Man. While he embodies Peter Parker's friendly persona, his superhero side has had to deal with shit other Spider-Men have not, such as fighting aliens in space, working with the avengers, being Iron Man's protege, etc.

We also met him as a sophomore, while the Spider-Men in the first two franchises were finishing high school by their second films. In this franchise we get love interests of color, the youngest and yassified version of Aunt May, a quick overview of the spider bite and Uncle Ben's death, and lots of overlap with other MCU heroes.

While I love all three Spider-Men, after seeing No Way Home, Tom Holland has the best installation.

Critics and fans alike are raving about the latest Spidey film (directed by Jon Watts). It made a killer at the box office even amidst the pandemic, topping numbers from Infinity War. There's so much in this film: a glimpse into the multiverse, old villains, new problems, three spidermen, romance, death, redemption, growth and PAIN. This movie will make you laugh, cry, sigh, gasp, feel all the feels there are to feel! I for one did not leave the theater happy. I left matured.

It took Tom Holland's Spider-Man three films just to get his full origin story - now we're about to get into the more traditional Spider-Man story lines, as Tom is rumored to have three more movies on the way.

Overarching themes & similarities

Spider-Man wouldn't be Spider-Man without a few of these themes that have been present in each of the installations:

• Pain- Each version of Peter has been through a lot, and experienced a lot of loss

• Peter is always smart, always a nerd, always into science

• The villain is always someone Peter knows personally, and often someone in the science field that he looks up to

• Peter always has trouble balancing school, love life, career and superhero activities

• In all three installations, the actor who played Peter and his love interest have dated in real life. In fact, for the last two franchises, the executive producer encouraged the actors not to date. Hence, they didn't listen.

• Optimism and hope - Peter will always be kind, no matter what he's been through. He's always trying to help, always has a positive outlook, even if he needs to grieve for awhile

Don't forget about Miles Morales

*Vulture

There's one more Spider-Man that I love, who also delves into the multiverse: Miles Morales. This animated version of Spider-Man is an Afro-Latino teenager from Brooklyn navigating his new Spidey powers when he joins with Spider-Men from several other worlds to defeat the Kingpin. He accomplished a lot in the little time he had with his powers.

This was easily one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. The animation is truly stunning. I can't wait to see Miles return in another film. Maybe he'll cross paths with MCU Peter one day.

The latest Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, is in theaters now.