Back in the late ’90s and the early 2000s, superhero movies weren’t a part of mainstream cinema. But then came Sam Raimi with his web-slinging friendly neighborhood superhero and took the world by storm. 2002’s Spider-Man started a revolution that really laid the groundwork for Marvel Cinematic Universe and its rival DC Universe.
The movie soon turned into a trilogy and very few would argue against the fact that Spider-Man 2 is the best superhero movie. But then something changed, the third movie, in an attempt to outdo its predecessors ended up disappointing the fans, there was so much happening that the plot got confusing and the franchise ever so loved for its simplicity, lost that very essence.
Sam Raimi shares what went wrong with Spider-Man 3
Marvel Cinematic Universe was still years away from starting its reign to take over the world of cinema when Sam Raimi directed Spider-Man came out and became a blockbuster. The movie earned $825 million at the box office over a budget of $139 million. It was new and different, Spider-Man had always been a relatable superhero and to watch him adapted on screen so well was a treat for the fans of the web-slinger. With a villain like Green Goblin and Willem Dafoe acing the character, it sure turned into an evergreen movie we love to watch even now.
Then came 2004’s Spider-Man 2 with its complex yet beautifully portrayed theme, where our superhero struggles to find a balance between his life as an 18-19-year-old boy just starting college and a superhero with “great responsibilities.” Tobey Maguire‘s Spidey against Alfred Molina’s Doc-Oc was a battle of known and unknown, and obviously having to fight his best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco) who thought he killed his father was another challenge. The movie made $789 million over a $200 million budget.
Now, with the third movie came the challenge to outdo its predecessors. But in that attempt, Raimi accepts it all went wrong. The director shared,
“I messed up plenty with the third Spider-Man, so people hated me for years – they still hate me for it. It’s a movie that just didn’t work very well. I tried to make it work, but I didn’t really believe in all the characters, so that couldn’t be hidden from people who loved Spider-Man.”
The director shared that in trying to include all the classic villains in the plot, the plot got messy. In Spider-Man 3 we saw Venom and Sandman, while James Franco’s Goblin was still around. It was too many villains and even the director did not believe in all of them. He further went on to reveal that he “didn’t really have creative control,” hinting that the studio meddling with the story affected it. The movie did make more than its predecessors with $895 million at the box office but did have a bigger budget of around $350 million.
Though it was a commercial success, it wasn’t really loved by the fans or the critics. This made Raimi step away from the franchise and we never saw Tobey Maguire don the suit again till Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Spider-Man’s return without Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi
After the duo stepped away from the franchise, we have seen two different versions of Spider-Man and all of them together as well. After Sam Raimi’s franchise ended after the bad reception of Spider-Man 3, Andrew Garfield donned the suit and became The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012 (five years after critics and fans bashed Spider-Man 3), though the Andrew Garfield movies failed to garner the same response as Maguire’s, his Spider-Man was loved for its accuracy. But the series was cut short too with only two movies, due to the alleged fallout between Garfield and Sony.
Then came MCU’s Spider-Man, with Tom Holland donning the suit this time. He was first introduced to us in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War and was praised for the casting accuracy, as Holland really suited the character of a young teenager stuck in bigger battles, with his movies Homecoming and Far From Home, though not as loved as the Sam Raimi’s movies, were appreciated by fans for the way they showcased a teenager trying to impress his heroes and join them in their big battles as he struggles to keep his identity hidden, making a lot of bad decisions on the way.
And then happened the mega-event, when all three became a team. No Way Home was a major hit, not just because of the nostalgia but how amazingly it was served, doing it all without doing too much. It earned over $1.4 billion and was a major blockbuster.
As for Sam Raimi, he stayed away from the superhero genre till 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This movie too received mixed reviews, earning $955 million at the box office.
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy is available to stream on Disney+.
Source: Far Out
