What are the Spider-Man movies?

In this post I am going to provide a list of every Spider-Man movie to date. I will first list the movies in production/release order and then break them down into subcategories for ‘best viewing order’.

So, if you have landed on this post by accident, or you have come here seeking Spider-Man film knowledge, then stick around. By the end of this post you will know what Spidey movies you can watch, and in what order to watch them in.

But before I begin, what is a Spider-Man movie?

______

Defining the Spider-man movies

To ensure we are on the same page (so to speak) I am classifying a Spider-man movie as a feature film which either stars Spider-man or stars someone who is considered a Spidey-related character. This could be a villain – as in the case of Venom (2018) or Morbius (2022) – or a Marvel Cinematic Universe character, as in Captain America: Civil War (2016).

I hope that makes things clear. Now let me run through a list of all the Spider-Man movies, beginning with some often-forgotten films.

______

The Spider-Man movie order

While most people presume the Spider-Man movies originated during the 2000s with a collection of films starring Tobey Maguire, the movie series actually began during the 1970s.

In 1977, CBS began airing a live-action television series, called The Amazing Spider-Man. The series starred Nicholas Hammond in the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and ran for 13 episodes.

While The Amazing Spider-Man was a television show – with a television budget – the pilot episode was deemed suitable for a theatrical release oversees. So, audiences outside of the United States were able to watch the pilot episode – retitled Spider-Man (1977) – in cinemas, making it the first Spider-Man movie.

The idea of repackaging the television series as a movie continued in 1978 with an edited version of the two-part story, The Deadly Dust. The Deadly Dust was released theatrically as Spider-Man Strike’s Back.

A third film arrived in 1979, called Spider-Man: The Dragon’s Challenge. This was an edited version of the two-part story, The Chinese Web.

While this US television series produced three ‘films’, over in Japan another Spider-Man television series was also entertaining viewers and producing a movie in the process. The Japanese series – which was very loosely based on Spidey – was called Spider-Man (Supaidāman).

Spider-Man ran for 40 episodes and one theatrical ‘movie’. This movie – which ran for around 24 minutes – was also titled Spider-Man (1978).

The next time Spider-Man appeared on the big screen was via the Sam Raimi directed film, Spider-Man (2002). The film starred Tobey Maguire as Spidey, Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane and Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin.

Spider-Man was a huge hit with both critics and audiences alike and led to a sequel – 2004’s Spider-Man 2. Both Maguire and Dunst returned for the sequel, with Alfred Molina joining as Doctor Octopus, and Sam Raimi back in the director’s chair.

In 2007, a third and final entry in this particular Spider-Man film series arrived in the shape of Spider-Man 3. This instalment introduced the Sandman – as played by Thomas Haden Church – and Venom, who was played by Topher Grace.

Collectively, the three Spider-Man movies, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, form a series known as the Sam Raimi trilogy.

Spider-Man next appeared in cinemas via 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man. This film was a reboot of the series, with Andrew Garfield taking on the role of Spider-Man, alongside Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans as the Lizard.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) followed two years later, with both Garfield and Stone reprising their roles. The villains of this film included Electro – played by Jamie Foxx – and Green Goblin – played by Dane DeHaan.

In 2016, Spider-Man made his next appearance on screen in Captain America: Civil War. Tom Holland took on the role of Spider-Man, in what was a new take on the character as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Spider-Man would continue to appear the MCU via additional movies – sometimes as bit parts and sometimes as the star of his own film. These movies include: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).

In 2018, Sony Pictures launched its own Spider-Man-related cinematic universe called the Sony Marvel Universe. The first official entry in this series was Venom (2018).

Venom did not feature Spider-Man, but was based on a character who had previously appeared in comics and on screen in Spider-Man 3. However, this was a new take on Venom, with Tom Hardy in the title role.

The next film in the Sony Marvel Universe was Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) – a sequel to Venom. This was then followed by the vampire movie, Morbius (2022) – another movie based on a Spider-Man-related character.

All of the above movies have been live-action adventures, however, Spider-Man has also appeared in animated form, most notably via the Academy Award-winning feature-length tale, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

This movie introduced a new Spider-Man in the shape of Miles Morales (as voiced by Shameik Moore). Morales was joined by a number of different Spider-Men and Spider-Women from across the Spider-Man multiverse.

This film was followed by two sequels: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part 1 (2023) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part 2 (2024).

In addition to the above movies, a number of Marvel super heroes have appeared in animated ‘short’ movies, including Spider-Man. The Lego films which have included Spider-Man are Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload (2013), Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Avengers Reassembled! (2015) and Lego Marvel Spider-Man: Vexed by Venom (2019)

OK, so that is a rundown of each movie. Now for ease of use here is a list of the Spider-Man movies in production order:

• Spider-Man (1977)
• Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978)
• Spider-Man (1978) – The Japanese film (Supaidāman)
• Spider-Man: The Dragon’s Challenge (1979)
• Spider-Man (2002)
• Spider-Man 2 (2004)
• Spider-Man 3 (2007)
• The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
• Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload (2013)
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
• Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Avengers Reassembled! (2015)
• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Venom (2018)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
• Avengers: Endgame (2019)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
• Lego Marvel Spider-Man: Vexed by Venom (2019)
• Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
• Morbius (2022)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part 1 (2023)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part 2 (2024)

So, do these movies need to be watched in a specific order?

Yes, to a certain extent these films are best viewed in a specific order.

Some of these films are connected and follow on from each other and some do not. If you wish to watch them in an order then it is best to break them down into subcategories, as follows:

The Spider-Man TV movies

• Spider-Man (1977)
• Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978)
• Spider-Man: The Dragon’s Challenge (1979)

______

The Japanese Spider-Man movie

• Spider-Man (1978) (Supaidāman)

______

The Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy

• Spider-Man (2002)
• Spider-Man 2 (2004)
• Spider-Man 3 (2007)

______

The Amazing Spider-Man movies

• The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

______

The Marvel Cinematic Universe

• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Avengers: Endgame (2019)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2022)

The Spider-Man movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are part of a wider universe which also includes a wealth of Marvel movies which date back to Iron Man (2008).

If you want to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the beginning you can, however Spider-Man does not make an appearance until Captain America: Civil War. If you only wish to follow Spider-Man’s story, you do not need to watch any of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies before this time.

______

The Lego Spider-Man movies

• Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload (2013)
• Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Avengers Reassembled! (2015)
• Lego Marvel Spider-Man: Vexed by Venom (2019)

______

The Spider-Verse

• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part 1 (2023)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part 2 (2024)

______

Sony’s Marvel Universe

• Venom (2018)
• Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
• Morbius (2022)

______

Thanks for stopping by Don’t Tell Harry – The Spider-Man movies blog. I hope this information about the Spider-Man movies has proved useful. If you would like further details about Spider-Man films, be sure to take a look around this blog.

Read more: