Best Spider-Man?

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Kyle Fernandez, Reporter

In the past 20 years, there have been 3 actors who have suited up in the classic spidey suit. Though these actors have had their fair share of time in the suit in different time periods, there is a debate on who is the best when playing the role. 

Tobey Maguire was the first to take up the challenge in 2002 when Sam Raimi brought the web-slinging superhero to big-screen cinemas with Spider-Man. His reign ended with Spider-Man 3 in 2007. 

Andrew Garfield was next to step into the role, which started in 2012 with the release of The Amazing Spider-Man and ended in 2014 with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (both directed by Marc Webb)

And then in 2016, Marvel struck a deal with Sony to use Spider-Man in the MCU, which brought us another iteration of the character. Tom Holland stepped up and continues to be the current Spider-Man as of this writing. 

Performance as Peter Parker

Throughout all the comics and different iterations of the character, one thing has always stayed true: a guy given extraordinary power who just wants to do the right thing.

Maguire’s Peter Parker best represented Uncle Ben’s mantra of “With great power comes great responsibility.” He was nerdy, endlessly apologizing for being late, and knew that he couldn’t have the things he wanted most because of his duty to the mask.

Garfield’s Peter Parker was more reckless, more willing to risk the things around him, and didn’t have the same handle that Maguire had on the Great Responsibility. However, this more edgy version of Peter Parker was charismatic in a charming way.

Holland understands the geeky side of Peter Parker. He knows he isn’t popular at all, but he can lean into it because he has great friends around him. He’s fully aware of the Great Responsibility, and has help from mentor figures like Tony Stark and Nick Fury.

Performance as Spider-Man 

When Peter Parker puts on his suit, he is truly free from the restraints as Peter Parker and swings from building to building to do what is right. 

Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man had a measure of fun to him, but there always seemed to be a seriousness that underpinned the more carefree aspects of the web-slinger. That said, he was a hero in every sense of the word, and was never scared of any challenge

Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man was more of an extension of his Peter Parker, just dialed up to eleven. He was more arrogant, but watching him have fun with low-level criminals was in the essence of Spider-Man. He had a hero factor to him, but to a lesser degree.

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is the most rounded. He’s funny, joyous, and has the most fun when he’s in the suit. His actions are not always the right ones, but he always rectifies his mistakes because of his unflappable moral compass.

Heroic Moments

The grandest points of any Spider-Man movie are the “hero moments”—the ones where you’re sitting on edge, wondering how he’s going to make it out of this one, only for the Web-Head to pull off an incredible feat and turn the tables on the bad guys.

Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man had a few great moments, ranging from his removal of the symbiote to his final fight against Green Goblin, but his most heroic moment is when he stopped the runaway subway in Spider-Man 2. Everything about that scene was epic and iconic.

Andrew Garfield’s most heroic moment came at the very end of his tenure as Spider-Man. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, after he gave up the mantle because of Gwen Stacy’s death, he ultimately decides to take it back up because it’s his responsibility.

Tom Holland has a far longer list of heroic moments because he’s had more screen time as Spider-Man. But his best moment comes in Spider-Man: Homecoming when he leaves Liz at the dance to go stop Adrian Toomes and ends up having to free himself from a building that fell on top of him. It’s a moment straight out of the comics, and it was a representation of everything Spider-Man is about.

Conclusion

Out of all the Spider- Man’s that have been displayed on the big screen, who is the best one? One thing for sure is that they all portrayed certain aspects of both the teen and the hero with the mask to the best of their abilities.