Garfield? Maguire? Holland? Or Moore? Across 10 Spiderman films, including one nostalgic crossover introducing the multiverse packed with Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland’s Spiderman. Fans everywhere flocked together to see the movie that united them all. Following shortly after, the animated Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse came out exploring the multiverse of Spiderman, or Spiderverse. This animated film introduced several new Spidermen, most notably Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy. These characters made a second appearance in the Spiderverse sequel, Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse. Where we were introduced to Miguel O’Hara, Pavitir Prabhakar, and Hobart Brown. Despite being different versions of Spiderman, they each have unique personalities and inspired many artists to create their Spiderverse characters better known as “Spidersona”. However, the question remains, Who is the best Spiderman?
Many would argue that Tobey Maguire is the best Spiderman; being the first to officially portray Peter Parker’s film. Fans often credit his performance of Spiderman rather than Peter Parker as a whole character. Maguire also carries an older fanbase who grew up with him as their Spiderman, making him potentially the most nostalgic Spiderman.
Andrew Garfield who starred in the middle franchise between Maguire and Holland, has been credited by the better known for his performance as Peter Parker. Digging further into Peter’s history and inner turmoil than any other Spiderman. With Peter’s many losses, Garfield plays an emotional yet driven Peter Parker.
Wrapping up the No-Way Home trio, Tom Holland. His performance has been often credited as the best overall portrayal of Peter Parker and Spiderman. His many interactions with other characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, complex morals, and unique villains challenge his character and allow for the most development.
However, many fans have found themselves resonating with the complexity of personalities and identities in the animated Spiderverse series. Whether it’s the stained sweatpants of Peter B. Parker or Gwen Stacy’s musical talent there is a Spiderman whose personality matches yours. As well as a diversity of personalities there was a variety in identity. Rather than another white male from New York, we were given diversity in gender, culture, race, and character. We follow Miles Morales through this complex web of the multiverse, as he defines what makes him Spiderman. Stan Lee, creator of the original Spiderman character, once said, “One of the greatest things about Spiderman’s outfit, his costume? He is completely covered. So any kid could say he’s Spiderman because no color of his skin shows. He could be black under that, he could be red, he could be yellow, he could belong to any race”, and in Spiderverse, we see that. The greatest Spiderman is anyone that you create because Spiderman can be any gender, any race, any age, or any ability.
