5 Best Spider-Man Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes

We've been subjected to a lot — and I mean a lot — of Spider-Man movies over the years. First, starting in 2002, we got Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, which stars Tobey Maguire as the titular teenaged webslinger and masked vigilante and casts Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson; thanks to Raimi's clever visuals and Maguire's central turn as Peter Parker, the Spider-Man movies that hit theaters between 2002 and 2007 helped define the current era of superhero movies in a big way. (Also, remember when people made entire movies with such little turnaround time? What an era.) In 2012, the franchise was inexplicably rebooted under the supervision of director Marc Webb, who brought Andrew Garfield on board as Peter and swapped out the canonical love interests, adding Emma Stone into the mix as Gwen Stacy in "The Amazing Spider-Man." After a sequel in 2014 effectively ended that burgeoning new Spider-Man franchise, the character made its way back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe just in time for a young British dancer named Tom Holland to don the costume. We also have an animated franchise that's earned near-universal acclaim, so put a pin in that; we'll definitely be circling back.

When it comes to which Spider-Man movie is best, mileage is going to vary. I'm sure there's one person who's not Garfield who rides hard for "The Amazing Spider-Man" out there, just as I'm sure that there are people who won't accept Holland as the superhero because they love Maguire's version too much. That's why we're bringing Rotten Tomatoes into the fray. Without further ado, here are the five highest-rated "Spider-Man" films using the critical scores on Rotten Tomatoes, from "hey, this is good!" to "wow, this is a phenomenal 'Spider-Man' movie."

Even though Tom Holland's Peter Parker was technically introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 2016 crossover event "Captain America: Civil War," his first standalone film came one year later with "Spider-Man: Homecoming," directed by Jon Watts and written by a whole team (Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who came up with the story, alongside Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers). After meeting Peter in "Civil War" as a Queens high-schooler who lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei, a sort of younger, yassified version of the character), we really get to know him in "Homecoming," which also features Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark as Peter's mentor figure. (He's also, incidentally, the guy who gives him a souped-up Spidey suit.)

"Homecoming" is also the only Spider-Man origin film to not feature a spider bite; by the time it starts, Watts, Goldstein, and Daley make the wise decision to dispense with that part of the context assuming that we all basically know the deal. They're right, and getting rid of the "spider bite" sequence of older Spider-Man movies helps "Homecoming" move right along in a fun, snappy way as Peter meets his own Michelle Jones-Watson, or MJ (Zendaya) after dating his crush Liz (Laura Harrier), who just so happens to be the daughter of this movie's main villain Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), also known as the Vulture.

Thanks to Watts' steady hand and a winning central turn from Holland, "Homecoming" is one of the highest-rated Spider-Man films in the pack with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 92% and a critical consensus that calls it "a colorful, fun adventure that fits snugly in the sprawling MCU without getting bogged down in franchise-building." So what beat it out?

Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man film, 2002's simply-titled "Spider-Man," is pretty great — and it's ranked eighth on the Rotten Tomatoes list. Its sequel, "Spider-Man 2," earned the fourth spot and catches up with Tobey Maguire's take on Peter Parker, now a young man trying to make enough money to survive in New York City while also capturing criminals as a masked vigilante by night. As he attempts to stop his widowed Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) from getting evicted and refuses to get into a romantic entanglement with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) for fear that she'll be attacked, Peter struggles under the weight of his responsibilities ... and as Mary Jane gets engaged to Peter's estranged best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco), Peter's relationships begin to splinter.

As if that's not enough to deal with, Peter meets nuclear scientist Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) at Oscorp, where he works for Harry (as a reminder, Harry's father Norman, portrayed by Willem Dafoe, was killed by Peter during the first film). During his work on a tentacled harness that uses artificial intelligence, Octavius refuses to remove the harness and basically becomes possessed by it, turning into Doctor Octopus and creating a new mess for Peter to clean up in New York City.

"Spider-Man 2" is fresh, fun, and a genuinely great sequel ... and critics agree with me, because it's still sitting pretty with a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a critical consensus that says it's "a nimble sequel that improves upon the original." Plus, technically, this movie is anti-AI, so that's pretty great!

After 2017's "Spider-Man: Homecoming" received critical acclaim and made a small fortune at the box office, Marvel happily continued the Tom Holland-centered version of its Spider-Man franchise with "Spider-Man: Far From Home" in 2019 (which, incidentally, is ranked sixth on the Rotten Tomatoes list). After that, we got 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home," which follows up on the climactic events of "Far From Home" and explores the ramifications of the multiverse opening up in this Peter's world.

Obviously, this is the Spider-Man movie with all the Spiders-Men in it. (I like to imagine that it's "Spiders-Men," like "attorneys general.") Because of the rift in the multiverse, Holland's Peter is forced to fight villains like Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus, Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, and Rhys Ifans' Lizard, just to name a few ... before Holland's Peter gets acquainted with the other live-action Peter Parkers portrayed by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Along the way, Holland's Peter has to deal with his personal life — because his identity as Spider-Man has been revealed to the public, Peter, his girlfriend MJ, and their best friend Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) all had their acceptances to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology revoked, and Peter asks Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell that makes everybody forget that Peter is Spider-Man.

This all sounds convoluted and complicated when you write it all out in such a clinical way, and "No Way Home" is, despite the shamelessness of its fan service, a total delight from start to finish. That's why it's maintained a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes across the years ... and is the third-highest ranked Spider-Man film to date.

In 2023, the massively successful "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" got its long-awaited animated sequel "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" — and it did not disappoint. Co-directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson and written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham, "Across the Spider-Verse" reunites audiences with the plucky hero Miles Morales, voiced by Shameik Moore, who wears this particular Spider-suit in a world where Miles is constantly encountering Spider-Men, Spider-Women, and other Spider-people (and Spider-creatures, actually) from all sorts of multiverses. In this sequel, Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), living on Earth-65, is attacked by the Vulture (Jorma Taccone) and brought into another universe with the help of allies Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac) and Jess Drew (Issa Rae), who moonlight as Spider-Man 2099 and Spider-Woman, respectively.

On Earth-1610, Miles is, like so many Spider-Men before him, struggling to maintain a work-life-vigilantism balance that proves challenging when he tangles with the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) before aligning himself with Gwen. The entire Spider-Verse franchise is a total delight, between its innovative animation style, killer soundtracks, and stacked voice cast, which, in this film, also includes Brian Tyree Henry, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni, Daniel Kaluuya, and a whole host of others — which is why "Across the Spider-Verse," called "just as visually dazzling and action-packed as its predecessor," has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is really great, but it simply can't beat its 2018 predecessor "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." The inaugural big-screen take on Spider-Man that's animated — and animated with an innovative mix of 2D and 3D images to boot — introduces Shameik Moore's Miles Morales, who lives with his overprotective police officer dad Jefferson Davis (Brian Tyree Henry) and his overworked mom Rio Morales (Luna Lauren Vélez) in New York. Despite his dad's wishes, Miles loves nothing more than to go on potentially illegal adventures with his uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali), but during one of those adventures in an abandoned subway tunnel, Miles gets bitten by a spider ... and you know exactly how things unfold from there.

The great thing about "Into the Spider-Verse," though, is it adds such a fun twist to Miles' origin story — specifically, that there's already a Spider-Man, Chris Pine's heroic Peter Parker, swinging around New York and catching criminals (infuriating Jefferson at every turn). When this Spider-Man dies, though, we meet another one ... Jake Johnson's exhausted, aging Peter B. Parker This is where the Spider-Verse of it all comes in as Miles and Peter B. meet some of their brethren and team up to fight bad guys like Olivia Octavius (Kathryn Hahn) and Wilson Fisk, also known as Kingpin (Liev Schreiber).

"Into the Spider-Verse" isn't just the best Spider-Man film according to Rotten Tomatoes — it's also just one of the most delightful animated films ever made and one of the best superhero movies ever made. Go check out this one for yourself and learn why it's remained at a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.