Who was the Best Spider-man

Superhero and movie fans alike can consistently find themselves in the heated debate of "Who is the Best Spider-man?". Spider-man has had three different respected actors take on the role and each actor was able to hold their own in their own franchise, making this debate extremely difficult and controversial. However if we take the time to sit back and look at each actor objectively under a specific criteria, we may be able to get a clear answer. To decide who the best Spider-man was it is important to look at:

a) Character Origins

b)Universe

c) Peter Parker

d) Movie Reviews

e) Relationships

f) Powers

g) Motivation

h) Fun

We are gonna look at how each Spider-man actor (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland) stacks up against each criteria and the best one wins a point. The most points wins the title of the best Spider-man!

ORIGINS

A good origin story is critical for fans to understand the motivation of their heroes and to overall find a reason to relate or sympathize with them. This makes the origin story of each Spider-man extremely important in determining who out of each is the best.

Tobey Maguire: Closest to the comic-book origin story and has become a very well-known and appreciated origin story for not just Marvel, but superhero movies all over Hollywood due to its fun, detailed and intense origin.

Andrew Garfield: A much darker tone of the Spider-man origin story and added a lot more mystery and drama. This origin story strayed away from the accidental spider bite to connect to the overall story line

Tom Holland: Similar to the comics and the original Tobey Maguire origins story, but does not actually portray any of it on-screen. This was a brilliant move in not boring audiences with a story they heard hundreds of times, while allowing Spider-man to seamlessly blend in with the Avenger's Universe.

Winner: Tobey Maguire; This origin story was a lot more fun and iconic. Everyone knows and thinks about Tobey Maguire's performance when thinking about Spider-man's origins.

UNIVERSE

Comic-book movies tend to do a great job in creating a universe in which audiences are able to fully immerse themselves in a way that allows them to relate to their favourite super-hero, and this is no different for Spider-man. Each Spider-man franchise has created a unique universe that perfectly embodies their web-head and can overall set a powerful tone for the audience.

Tobey Maguire: Tobey Maguire's universe was able to blend dark, light, fun, intense and dramatic tones throughout this Spider-man trilogy. This universe was very comical, but also had a somewhat realistic tone that young adults can easily relate to.

Andrew Garfield: This universe is probably the most unique of all the Spider-man movies with its dark tone, somewhat mirroring the success of Batman Begins. This caused some audiences to feel out of place in this universe as they expect their friendly neighborhood Spider-man to be a lot more fun.

Tom Holland: The Avenger's Universe has changed the game for super-hero movies in a way that seems nearly impossible to replicate and Spider-man fits perfectly in it. As Tony Stark's protege, Spider-man is a lot of fun in this universe and is something that children and adults alike can enjoy.

Winner: Tom Holland; Tom Holland has the most fun, complex and compelling universe due to the vast amount of movies and story-lines that intertwine with his. With movies like Venom and Avengers playing a major role in this universe, fans just cannot get enough.

PETER PARKER

Superman has Clark Kent, Batman has Bruce Wayne and Spider-man has Peter Parker. An alter ego is critical to a superhero, it not only adds heavily to the plot, but it is what allows the audience to understand who their heroes are behind the mask and is a difficult job for actors to get.

Tobey Maguire: Tobey Maguire did a great job portraying the nerdy kid who no one would ever assume is a super-hero in their spare-time. This trilogy worked tirelessly to balance the adventures of Spider-man with Peter Parker's relationships, problems and goals. A perfect example is his desire to balance his relationship with Mary-Jane with being a super-hero in Spider-Man 2.

Andrew Garfield: This approach to Peter Parker seemed to be a lot cooler and had a lot less drama than as Peter than the others. This Spider-man franchise had a much heavier emphasis on Spider-man rather than Peter Parker.

Tom Holland: This Peter Parker was really fun, relatable and amazing at building chemistry with other characters. Although he was a lot more different than the original, Tom Holland's take is very refreshing and fun to watch.

Winner: Tobey Maguire; Peter Parker is and always will be the nerdy kid in school who goes through a lot as a teenager, let alone a super-hero. Tobey Maguire embodies this better than any other character towear the Spidey-suit.

MOVIE REVIEWS

The performance of the movie itself can be a great representation of the actor's performance as well. A good Spider-man can carry a movie regardless of its story or supporting cast by making the movie a lot more fun to watch and by giving audiences a hero that they like and want to succeed.

Tobey Maguire: Spider-Man: Rotten Tomatoes: 90%; IMDB: 7.3; Common Sense Media: 4/5 Spider-Man 2: Rotten Tomatoes: 93%; IMDB 7.3; CSM: 5/5 Spider-Man 3: Rotten Tomatoes: 63%; IMDB: 6.2; CSM: 3/5

Andrew Garfield: The Amazing Spiderman: Rotten Tomatoes: 73%; IMDB: 6.9; CSM: 4/5 The Amazing Spiderman 2: Rotten Tomatoes: 51%; IMDB: 6.6; CSM: 3/5

Tom Holland: Spiderman: Homecoming: Rotten Tomatoes: 92%; IMDB: 7.4; CSM: 4/5 Spiderman: Far From Home: Rotten Tomatoes: 91%; IMDB: 7.;5 CSM: 4/5

Winner: Tom Holland; Not including the Avengers movies Tom Holland has an extraordinary resume in regards to his Spider-Man movies. Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man 2 does have the best reviews overall, Spider-Man 3 creates a significant drop, and the way Marvel is working, it does not seem like they will make that same mistake with the Homecoming trilogy.

RELATIONSHIPS

Spider-man has the most interesting array of villains and supporting casts in all of Marvel and they play a pivotal role in making Spider-man who he is. Every hero needs a villain, some sort of team and a motivator as this is what makes them who they are.

Tobey Maguire: This trilogy created a very interesting universe with an amazing supporting case that can really handle their own and help to make the movies a lot more fun and interesting. From Mary Jane to Aunt May to James Franco (I know, I know, Harry Osbourne) to Green Goblin and Dr. Octavius, Peter Parker and Spider-man are able to have very interesting and in depth relationships with this supporting cast.

Andrew Garfield: The Amazing Spider-man movies boasted A-list actors that were able to draw a lot of attention and box office tickets such as Emma Stone and Jamie Foxx. However, the chemistry and relationships do not seem to be effectively balanced and are overly complicated.

Tom Holland: These Spider-man movies alone boast a supporting cast that is extremely fun to watch and will always keep you laughing, but more than that the Avengers bring a really fun look at encounters between Spider-man and other fan favourite superheroes. Not to mention villains like Vulture, Mysterio and Thanos.

Winner: Tom Holland; Spider-man being an Avenger was a big move for Marvel and its ability to create the Tony Stark and Peter Parker relationship and the origins of one of the best and impact Marvel villains to date in Mysterio.

POWERS

Spider-mans powers are critical to the success of this hero. From super strength to wall crawling to web slinging. Spider-man has got a lot of skills under his belt that create a lot of fun action scenes for any movie lover.

Tobey Maguire: After being by a radioactive Spider, Peter Parker was given the normal Spider-man powers you would expect, except unlike the others he has organic webs that actually come out of his wrists other than a machine.

Andrew Garfield: Very similar to the Tobey Magiure's Spider-man except his webs come from a web shooter he created and there is a much more heavy emphasis on his strength and spidey senses.

Tom Holland: This Spider-man has the powers you would expect him to have along with his webshooter, however he has one advantage the other Webcrawlers do not, and that is Tony Stark.

Winner: Tom Holland; Tony Stark has created a lot of tools that not only make Spider-man a lot more fun to watch, but give him an edge to be able to go toe-to-toe with even the Avenger's biggest threats.

MOTIVATION

Being a superhero is a hard job and therefore requires a strong motivation to pull off. Each Spider-man has important motivations that made them who they are, but let us see who was the most influential.

Tobey Maguire: After his Uncle Ben was robbed and murdered by a mugger, Peter Parker realized his duty to fight crime in New York with his powers.

Andrew Garfield: His motivation does seem more determined as his loved ones and the mystery of his parents play an integral role in making him put on the mask.

Tom Holland: Similar to Tobey Maguire's, except with the added pressure of taking the place of his mentor, Tony Stark. Being an Avenger is a lot of motivation on its own.

Winner: Tobey Maguire; Tobey Maguire has by far the most iconic and well-known motivation. "With great power comes great responsibility".

FUN

We watch Superhero movies for fun and that is a fact. They bring us a type of joy and escape from reality that a lot of other outlets cannot replicate and Spider-man is at the forefront of these movies, but which is the most fun?

Tobey Maguire: This Spider-man had a lot of fun moments that have created many timeless memes and quotes to share with friends. Not to mention the action and drama it provided was unmatched at its time for a superhero movie.

Andrew Garfield: These movies had some great scenes, but its overall dark and gritty tone kind of sicked the fun out of a superhero that is supposed to be light-hearted and fun.

Tom Holland: This Spider-man is by far the most funny! These movies provide a lot of big laughs and have brought our favourite super-heroes and Marvels to the big screen in a way we could have never even imagined in the past.

Winner: Tom Holland; Although Tobey Maguire's Spider-man has brought a lot of people fun and laughs and amazing movie experience, a lot of the joy seems to have come after through memes and quotes, while Tom Holland's Spider-man is just a fun Spider-man to watch and makes for a great movie experience.

IN CONCLUSION

Spider-man always promises a fun movie experience for fans of all ages, however although no actor who played the web crawler was neccessarily bad, there has to be a BEST. Based on the criteria above, it seems Tom Holland is that Spider-man due to his universe, movie reviews, powers and relationships. This was decided as objectively as possible, in fact, Tobey Maguire is my favourite Spider-man, but the Avenger's Universe is really a game changer for Tom Holland.