Re-Reviewed: Spider-Man takes a big swing on the silver screen

When it comes to main event talent in Marvel Comics, look no further than Spider-Man, their most popular character by far.

As such, seeing Spider-Man in other media forms is no surprise. He is Marvel‘s mascot, for all intents and purposes. But movie rights issues made it problematic to get the character into the almost unfathomably popular MCU for a long time.

But years before Nick Fury appeared in a post-credits scene to talk to Tony Stark, there was Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man movie. And it gave fans their first real taste of a live-action, big screen Wall Crawler web swinging his way through New York.

Spider-Man becomes an icon

Going into Spider-Man’s full comic book history isn’t really necessary at this point. Even people who have never read a comic know his story thanks to multiple movies, animated TV series and an endless number of video games.

It is still worth mentioning that he made his comic book debut in 1962, and has been incredibly popular for decades. Spider-Man has become a worldwide phenomenon on the same level as Superman and Batman, and as big a media giant.

Unlike Superman and Batman, the web swinger took a lot longer to find big screen success with a live action movie. The Man of Steel and the Dark Knight had been mainstays of that specific medium for years before Spider-Man made the jump.

For some reason, it took a while to formulate the circumstances to have Spidey appear on the silver screen. A lot of it likely had to do with SFX getting to a point where it could handle the visuals. And when it finally got there, the wait was more than worth it.

Spider-Man hits theaters

In 2002, Spider-Man hit movie screens for the first time. It was not only the debut of Tobey Maguire as the titular character but it was also the debut of Sam Raimi as the director of this big budget blockbuster movie. This was a new type of film for both of them.

Prior to this, Tobey Maguire was better known for starring in more dramatic films. They were the kind of films that people in the business start talking about during Oscar season. Raimi, on the other hand, was better known for the Evil Dead movies and TV series like Xena and Hercules.

It was an interesting combination to say the least, one that paid off in a big way. Spider-Man was the first film to pass $100 million at the box office in a single weekend. To this day, it remains the 36th highest grossing film of all time in the U.S., and was the start of a franchise.

Critics also loved Spider-Man, giving it mostly great reviews. It was also nominated for several awards, managing to take home more than a few trophies. More importantly, it still holds up almost 20 years later.

It’s still a web swinging good time

Keeping in mind that there have been several Spider-Man movies since then as well as a couple of reboots, Spider-Man is still a great movie that’s a lot of fun to watch. While Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi had a lot to do with that, they weren’t alone in their efforts.

Willem Dafoe’s portrayal of Norman Osborn/Green Goblin was intense and perfect for the movie. He provided the character with the right balance of insanity and charisma, enough so to make him the perfect villainous foil to the wall crawler.

Even more important was J.K. Simmons’ now iconic portrayal of Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. He stole every scene he was in, and has even gone on to portray the character in the current MCU adjacent Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland.

While there are a few dated moments in the movie, 2002’s Spider-Man absolutely holds up as it approaches its 20th Anniversary. This is a movie that’s always worth going back to, even as the modern franchise continues to grow.

Have you seen Spider-Man? Did you enjoy it? Let us know in the comments below!