RANKED
1. Spider-Man 2.1
The best live action Spidey movie. Raimi isn't held back and brings everything he has, including a touch of Evil Dead and Darkman. It offers spectacular action set pieces and the amazing cast bring a lot of heart, which the film isn't afraid to wear on its sleeve.
Premiere: Jun 30, 2004
2. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
It seemed destined to be another overstuffed Sony cash grab, but through unbridled creativity and passion, this brilliant creative team caught cosmic krackle in a bottle by whole heartedly embracing all the elements of animation, comics and Hip-Hop.
Premiere: Dec 12, 2018
3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
They did it again. The exponential growth of the animation has hit the point of singularity. It's creatively all-encompassing before the jarring crash back to reality that is the cliffhanger. Flawless outside of a few grubby Sony fingerprints.
Premiere: Jun 2, 2023
4. Spider-Man
This is still one of the best super hero origin stories, setting the bar for all who followed. Director Sam Raimi's unique kinetic vision builds on the legacy of the comic films that came before, while confidently capturing the whimsical tone of Lee and Ditko's classic run.
Premiere: May 3, 2002
5. Spider-Man 3 | Editor's Cut
Sam Raimi delivers the best in the genre then is rewarded with obscene studio meddling. The Peter and MJ relationship works as the emotional core of the film but New Goblin and Sandman are sidelined for the Sony mandated Venom, who mixes like oil with water.
Premiere: May 4, 2007
6. The Amazing Spider-Man
Sony seemingly chose the director based on his last name. What could go wrong? Unnecessarily retreads the origin story. A studio executive idea of what kids think is cool. Peter's mumbling mannerisms feel forced. Incredibly impressive CGI used on some confounding character designs.
Premiere: Jul 3, 2012
7. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Ditches the rom-com angle for edgy b-movie action, swapping the clean design for a look of burnt rubber. Cage is given more to chew, but it's from a bland script. Christopher Lambert briefly appears to basically reprise his Mortal Kombat role.
Premiere: Feb 17, 2012
8. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Andy Serkis' direction salvages the franchise by confidently owning the goofy tone, adding surprising depth to the character dynamics and cleaning up the action. The Carnage role was made for Woody Harrelson. Tom Hardy's mumbling performance holds it back.
Premiere: Sep 30, 2021
9. Venom: The Last Dance
It's technically better than Let There Be Carnage, but is no longer so bad it's good. It's the type of trilogy closer that literally throws the franchise in the wood chipper before turning the lights out. The highlight again is the CZARFACE banger on the soundtrack.
Premiere: Oct 25 2024
10. Ghost Rider
Nicolas Cage as Ghost Rider is a fever dream come true. The monkey paw catch? It's directed by Daredevil's Mark Steven Johnson. The few unhinged moments we get are doused by a flood of generic Hallmark Halloween TV movie level cheese. Truly a Faustian bargain.
Premiere: Feb 16, 2007
11. Venom
A rushed throwback to the dark ages of early 2000s comic movies like Ghost Rider. Tom Hardy's performance is muddled and uncharacteristic. The villain is an obligation devoid of any merit. Feels as if written by its target age demographic. The character design is great though.
Premiere: Oct 5, 2018
12. Madame Web
These Spider-Man spinoffs remain stuck in the dark ages of comic movies, so the early 2000's setting fits. The young cast have chemistry and their costumes look great, but that's about all that works. Dakota Johnson was a mistake, but the embarrassment should be on Sony Pictures.
Premiere: Feb 14, 2024
13. Morbius
Sony clearly hasn't learned anything over their 20 years of making comic movies. They are just feeding off any vitality they can get from the MCU. You can feel chunks bitten out in editing and the FX team desperately trying to revive the action in post with particles and motion blur.
Premiere: Mar 30, 2022
14. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Emma Stone is great as Gwen and Andrew Garfield has grown into the role. Their chemistry really helps sell the pivotal scene. Unfortunately, everything around said scene is bafflingly terrible. Its overstuffed with villains channeling heavy Schumacher Batman energy.
Premiere: Apr 16, 2014
