Spider-Man Actors Ranked from Worst to Best

| December 18, 2021 |

Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland, and Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man — *Photo: Sony Pictures*

This article contains Spider-Human being: No Way Home spoilers.

Who's your favorite Spider-Human being? This loaded question often says as much about the age of the person answering information technology every bit it does the actual functioning they're praising. Millennials of a certain historic period, besides every bit younger Gen-Xers, might swear on their lives it never got meliorate than when Tobey Maguire locked lips with Kirsten Dunst upside down in the rain. Withal if you grew up (or are growing upwards) in the age of the Curiosity Cinematic Universe, is there really any other answer except Tom Holland?

It'southward obviously a skewed and entirely subjective debate. Nevertheless, we here at Den of Geek have decided to attempt and answer for proficient and all who is the best Peter Parker to ever spin a web, and who's run might've just been a tangled mess. We take polled our editorial staff, also as fifty-fifty you, dear readers, in order to come up with a clear and definitive ranking. With that said, polls closed before Spider-Human being: No Way Home came out. Since then we've all been given reason to think the virtues of each of the 3 live-activeness cinematic Spideys…

Andrew Garfield as The Amazing Spider-Man

3. Andrew Garfield

While watching Spider-Homo: No Way Dwelling , we couldn't help just muse what might've been. Consistently mannerly and funny throughout the tertiary human activity of the MCU sequel, Andrew Garfield was able to portray the passion for Peter Parker he always spoke so eloquently of in the press. Frankly, he stole the movie from the other two and hinted that he could've been the best Spider-Homo with a different set of circumstances.

Unfortunately for Garfield, he's mostly going to be judged past the two movies he did lead in as the just wallcrawler: The Astonishing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man ii (2014). Saddled with bad scripts and worse studio notes on both films, Garfield was forced to play a Spidey who was intended to be arbitrarily different from the popular Tobey Maguire version from a few years earlier. Sure, this meant (finally) getting consistent wisecracks. Yet even Garfield'due south taunts, like much else with his brooding Peter, came off as mean-spirited and grim.

Throughout both Garfield movies, the new Peter is asked to exist a rebel all the same alo the comic book nerd; a melancholic loner and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. The tonal dissonance between those elements left him every bit the to the lowest degree constructive version of the graphic symbol. All the same, in moments where his own enjoyment could just crepitation through—frequently when sharing tender scenes with co-star Emma Rock—you could see what Garfield was going for.

Simply hey, at least No Way Home allowed Maguire to tell him, "You're amazing," and for the first time everyone believed information technology.

two. Tobey Maguire

There is a scene midway through Spider-Human 2 where Tobey Maguire's Peter volunteers to Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) what really happened on the dark Uncle Ben died. For years, he'd subconscious the truth that he let the man who'd proceed to murder Ben become. But at present on this fateful 24-hour interval, he realizes his aunt too has endured years of guilt over Ben's absence. So standing by his uncle's grave, Peter makes a hard choice. The correct option. He'll alleviate May'south burden by exposing his ain, besides as exposing himself to her judgment. And equally Maguire recounts the events of the commencement film, his doleful blueish eyes never glimmer, even every bit they weep.

It'southward i of the smaller moments in the whole Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Homo trilogy, however it's likewise 1 of the manager'due south favorites. That'due south because information technology's indicative of everything Maguire brought to the office. More of an introspective character actor than a traditional leading human being, Maguire might take lacked Parker's motormouth snark, but he innately conveyed the character's often tortured sense of duty, and innate determination to always, in the end, exercise what is correct. Even if it leaves him all the lonelier.

It's not quite the comic book Spider-Man, but information technology gets to the essence of the character's core noble appeal, and the sometimes melodramatic longings of youth. While later Spideys would accept more naturalistic scripts, and youthful countenances, they seemed to carelessness the hostage wonder and despair of beingness a young kid torn in opposite directions due to the desperation of growing up. Maguire got that implicitly, which is what made the moments where his character truly soared, with either a swing over a train or a buss in the rain, seem similar hard won victories.

i. Tom Holland

If there'due south one abiding reason why Tom The netherlands easily tops the list as our favorite Spider-Mans, information technology's simply that for the first time, the character and actor are both age-appropriate. Maguire and Garfield, both of whom had their strengths, were nevertheless clearly older than the loftier school senior they were meant to be portraying. So is Holland, just just by a handful of years (he was 19 when he made his debut, while Maguire and Garfield were 27 and 29, respectively), and it makes a difference.

In the same vein, Kingdom of the netherlands's Peter is written every bit a immature, naïve, bad-mannered teen, and the combination of the writing, Holland'southward physicality, and his 18-carat acting talent bring him closer in appearance and energy than anyone else to the grapheme first envisioned by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

The netherlands'due south piece of work in his half dozen appearances to date (including No Way Home ) is heartfelt, warm, emotionally strong, and dramatically powerful. He makes you remember that despite his nifty power, Peter Parker is even so simply a teenager, and you believe in the thought that this kid can exist both a superhero and a teen who'south bewildered past girls, schoolhouse, adults, and life in general. If Holland sticks effectually, it might be fascinating to watch him evolve into an adult Peter Parker—merely even if he doesn't, he'll remain the definitive Spidey for a long fourth dimension to come.