Hello friends! In preparation for the release of Spiderman: Brand New Day (July 30), I went back and rewatched the first three films to refresh my memory of where Peter Parker was and how he got there. I then decided to go all the way and rewatch the Tobey Maguire films, and watch (for the first time) the Andrew Garfield films. My world has been filled with comic book craziness for the last few weeks, and I thought I’d do a post comparing the three sets of Spidermen. And look, I HATE spiders (I squirm when they show actual spiders, lol), but I LOVE these guys! Let’s go chronologically:

Spiderman, Spiderman 2, and Spiderman 3, 2002-2007

Tobey Maguire is the quintessential original Spiderman in modern Marvel adaptations. And he couldn’t be more perfect. He’s equal parts adorable and awkward, dorky and brave, good and imperfect. He’s definitely the most “Aw, shucks!” Peter, who’s in love with the girl next door who doesn’t know he’s alive (at first). Mary Jane is the beautiful dreamer who becomes an actress/singer; his best friend Harry Osborne is the rich son of Norman Osborne, who becomes the Green Goblin. Willem Defoe knew the assignment and brought a psychotic edge to the villain, which is fun to watch.

This trilogy sets up the classic Spiderman motifs: the origin of his powers, learning to use them (and how to use them responsibly), his relationship with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, Ben’s death and Peter’s guilt for his part in it, trying to win MJ’s love (and then losing it), his complicated relationship with Harry. Putting the suit away for a while, the public’s finicky view of him (hero or villain?) all the while navigating new adulthood, making a living, going to college, fighting bad guys, and trying to (unsuccessfully) balance everything. It’s a lot, lol, and this poor kid goes through it.

The three films offer a classic character arc for Peter, with a beginning, middle and end that is satisfying to watch. It’s funny, heartbreaking, thrilling, and just plain fun.

Villains fought: The Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Sandman, Venom (and Harry’s Goblin Jr. for a time).

The Amazing Spiderman, The Amazing Spiderman 2, 2012, 2014

I think this duology is underrated and not appreciated for the wonderful job Andrew Garfield does with his more damaged Peter Parker. This series delves into what actually happened with his parents, in particular, his father Richard Parker, who was a brilliant scientist (of course) and was killed for his work on the very experiment that caused Peter to get his spidey-skills. But he didn’t know that for a long time, and was anguished about his parents’ departure and death. It generated a lot of anger. But despite this, he’s still the kind, vulnerable Peter we know, a young man given extraordinary powers and trying to figure out what to do with it; at the same time navigating through high school, bullies, and first love.

This series chose Gwen Stacy as his love interest, which (according to my googling, lol) was Peter’s first love in the earlier runs of Marvel Spiderman (called, naturally, The Amazing Spiderman). I found their relationship to be sweet, fun, and a bit more sexy than the other Peter/MJ relationships (though still PG rated, come on, kids are watching, lol). I love that Gwen is a smarty-pants in her own right and got into Oxford, though tragically, she never makes it there. And this is where this series differs from the others: while the other Peters lose some variation of their Uncle Ben or Aunt May, this one loses his love interest, and it’s devastating, and naturally he feels responsible.

All the Peters have to deal with loss and responsibility, but this one just seems especially sad to me. With the angst about his parents and the loss of Gwen, I see Andrew as the Wounded Spidey, from the very beginning. On a side note, I found Andrew Garfield reminded me a lot of a young Hayden Christensen. His looks, his acting, his voice, everything about him reminded me of a tortured Anakin, lol.

Villains fought: The Lizard, Electro, The Green Goblin

Spiderman: Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home, 2017-2021 (And various Avenger movies).

Ah, Gen Z Spidey! Marvel’s Multiverse Peter starts out a bit younger than the others at a tender fifteen years old. It doesn’t bother with an origin story, we’ve seen it before, and I think it was a good choice, though I do wonder where the heck he ran into a radioactive spider, lol. Even so, from the beginning this Peter is woven into the Avengers story, as he is discovered by Tony Stark. I love the mentoring role Tony plays in Peter’s life, and it’s fair to say it evolved into a sort of father/son relationship; Tony was the father figure he never had (he doesn’t even have an Uncle Ben in this iteration), and Peter definitely made Tony a better person.

He starts out with a crush on Liz, the daughter of his first villain, Vulture, but she quickly moves away once her dad goes to prison. He then gravitates to his friend MJ (Michelle Jones here, not Mary Jane). This MJ is smart, sarcastic, a little dark, and emotionally guarded at first, but their romance is sweet in the way only high school first loves can be. The fact that we all know Tom Holland and Zendaya are a couple in real life only makes it more endearing.

Peter’s best friend is Ned, not Harry Osborne as in the other films, and I love him, too. It’s fun that he has Dr. Strange-like powers, and even though he promises Peter he’ll never turn into a villain and try to kill him…I wonder. Now that nobody knows who Spiderman is, who’s to say what’s going to happen? I’m going to get into speculations for Brand New Day in a couple of paragraphs, so hold that thought.

This Peter is quite young and vulnerable (but still with plenty of teenage snark), and thrown into a complicated world he’s not quite ready for–kind of like Gen Z these days. And boy, does he make some of us feel old–“Do you guys know this really old movie called Empire Strikes Back?” Omg.. But he’s thrown into a massive battle for the fate of, not only our world, but the entire universe, and…they lose. He blips, disintegrating into ash in Tony’s arms. His panic guts me everytime.

Villains fought: Vulture, Mysterio, Thanos

But once he’s back, everyone knows his identity and its causing problems for his friends getting into MIT, their dream school. He gets involved with Dr. Strange’s magic, and it causes all manner of trouble and multiversal monsters. BUT–he gets to meet the other two Peters, and this is absolute magic.

When he meets them, Tom Peter has just lost his Aunt May (May keeps getting younger in these films), and he feels responsible, as they always do, but they try to comfort him. Tobey Peter is older and wiser, having gone through his shit and finding some sort of peace with that. Andrew Peter is still young, but older than Tom Peter and is still dealing with the consequences of his shit. Tom Peter is smack right in the middle of his shit. They’re the same person, but all together they’re like brothers, and Tom Peter is the little brother they’re helping out.

They fight the villains (and CURE them rather than kill them) before sending them back and burying their demons in the process. They battle Tobey Peter’s Green Goblin and Doc Ock, and Andrew Peter’s The Lizard and Electro. It was just wonderful to see all the Peters together. They say their goodbyes and then Tom Peter has to say goodbye to his friends–because of Dr. Strange’s spell. Multiverse monsters are coming through and it has to be done, but they promise to find each other afterward.

But will they? Here are my speculations, guesses, and questions for Brand New Day:

• We see Eman Esfandi (our very own Ezra Bridger from Ahsoka) playing a new love interest for MJ. Will he become another villain for Spidey to fight, or just a distraction? Or a catalyst for him to take action?
• As I mentioned earlier, Ned (and everyone else) has no idea who Peter is or that he’s Spiderman. Will Ned somehow become a villain and try to kill Spidey for whatever reason? It would be a mirror of the other Peters, whose best friends become enemies. I’d actually hate to see it, but the fact that Ned actually SAID it in the last movie seems to be some kind of foreshadowing.
• This is just an observation, but it seems that Peter’s powers are in flux, changing and getting stronger. It seems he’ll be able to release the webs straight from his wrists, just like Tobey Peter. It’s cool. And a little gross, lol.
• I don’t know who the known villains are in this one–Scorpion and The Savage Hulk (???), as well as some invisible threat no one knows yet. There’s also Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, who seems to be a friend and/or ally to Peter. I’ve never watched the Punisher, so I don’t know much about him.
• There’s a lot of speculation about who Sadie Sink’s character is going to be. Some say she’s a young Jean Gray (and could be that invisible threat?), but I’d love her to be Gwen Stacy. Probably not going to happen, but I’d love there to be a romantic rival for MJ, just to make things interesting. Or maybe she’s Ghost-Spider or Spider-Gwen? I’ve been googling the character, and I’m so confused, lol.
• Will Spiderman be in Doomsday? I think reports say no–at least, Tom Spidey. I’ve heard that Tobey Spidey might be a multiverse appearance in that one, which if so, will be cool.

As someone who doesn’t know Marvel as well as she knows Star Wars, these movies are continually fun and surprising for me, because it’s all new and I have no idea what may be coming. Suffice to say, I can’t wait for Brand New Day, and will give my thoughts on it when it comes out!