Throughout April, we’re counting down to the release of Marvel’s Iron Man 3 with our picks for the Greatest Comic Book Movies of All Time; here’s #8….
Spider-Man 2, 2004.
Directed by Sam Raimi.
Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, Donna Murphy, Daniel Gillies, Dylan Baker and J.K. Simmons.
Considering the phenomenal success of Spider-Man in 2002, it was inevitable that a sequel would soon follow; indeed, director Sam Raimi had been hard at work on Spider-Man 2 from before Tobey Maguire’s wall-crawler had first swung into cinemas, and the follow-up would arrive just two years later as the friendly neighborhood web-slinger went up against another iconic Spidey villain in Alfred Molina’s Dr. Otto Octavius, a.k.a. Doctor Octopus.
Although Spider-Man 2 didn’t quite manage to match the box office performance of its predecessor, it still proved to be a huge hit with audiences, pulling in over $783 million worldwide (as opposed to the $821 million haul of Spider-Man) and quickly cemented its place as one of the finest superhero movies ever put to film. It was also nominated for three Academy Awards and received the Oscar for Best Visual Effects – the first time that the Academy had honoured an original Marvel character.
Following Spider-Man 2, Raimi would reunite with the cast again in 2007 for Spider-Man 3, and while the threequel raked in the cash once more (delivering a franchise high of $890 million), it failed to come anywhere close to the standard of the first two movies. Despite Sony announcing that Raimi would be back for Spider-Man 4 (as well as giving the green light to Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6), the director eventually decided to withdraw from the project due to concerns over his ability to meet the studio’s planned release date. As a result, the series was rebooted in 2012 with Andrew Garfield taking over from Maguire for the Marc Webb-directed The Amazing Spider-Man, while The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is currently shooting ahead of a release next year.
Spider-Man 2 marks the third – and highest – appearance for Marvel’s wall-crawler in our countdown of the Greatest Comic Book Movies, with The Amazing Spider-Man coming in at #48 and the first Spider-Man featuring at #41.
Keep up to date with our entire countdown here.
Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen – Available now via Amazon.co.uk
Originally published April 18, 2013. Updated November 30, 2022.
