The Best Spider-Man, Ranked – A Dad's Honest Take on Every Web-Slinger

🕷️ The Best Spider-Man, Ranked: A Dad’s Honest Take

🕷️ This guide is part of our Spider-Man Hub — the Raimi and Webb films, the MCU trilogy, Spider-Verse, the PS5 games, and the LEGO sets.

In this house, Spider-Man never left. I taped the Raimi films off TV as a kid, queued up the Spider-Verse movies for my own kids decades later, and lost an entire weekend swinging across Insomniac’s New York on the PS5. There’s a Spider-Man for every era of your life — and as a dad, that’s the whole magic of him. So here’s my honest ranking of every web-slinger worth your family’s time: no nostalgia free pass, no grading on the logo.

TL;DR – My Dadnology Picks

Made your mind up already? The full ranked list of reviews is right below. Still deciding? Stick around — I’ll explain every call.

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The single best way to actually be Spider-Man. Peter and Miles, near-perfect storytelling.

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The New #1: Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Here’s the headline: Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now the best Spider-Man we’ve ever seen, live-action or animated, and it earned that spot the hard way. Four years after No Way Home erased him from every memory but his own, Peter Parker’s evolving powers, a genuinely great Jean Grey introduction from Sadie Sink, and an unlikely Hulk-and-Punisher mentorship combine into the most mature, complete Spider-Man story yet told on screen. It’s a perfect 5/5, and it’s the film we’d point you to first now.

That doesn’t dethrone what came before it. The two Spider-Verse films are still the best animated Spider-Man, full stop. Into the Spider-Verse didn’t just rewrite what an animated superhero movie could look like — it reinvented what cinema can look like, frame by hand-painted frame. It gave us Miles Morales, the most important new Spidey in a generation, and it earned every bit of its Oscar.

And then Across the Spider-Verse did the near-impossible: it went bigger, bolder and somehow more personal. It’s one of my all-time favorite films — not just favorite Spider-Man films, favorite films, period. The art direction shifts visual language for every universe, the Gwen material is gut-punch good, and the cliffhanger ending is the most excited I’ve been to wait for a sequel in years. Both remain a flat 5/5, and if you only ever show your kids two animated Spider-Man movies, make it these.

What makes all three of these — Brand New Day and both Spider-Verse films — perfect for a family movie night is that they work on two levels at once: the kids get a kinetic, funny, gorgeous superhero adventure, and you get a genuinely moving story about growing up and living up to what you’ve become. That’s the dad sweet spot.

The Live-Action Spider-Men, Ranked: Tom Holland Is the One

Here’s where I’ll plant a flag: Tom Holland is the best live-action Spider-Man, and it isn’t especially close. He’s the only one who truly sells the teenager — the motormouth nerves, the in-over-his-head panic, the heart. Crucially, Spider-Man joining the MCU was the best thing that ever happened to the character. Suddenly Peter had Tony Stark as a mentor, the Avengers as a backdrop, and stakes that paid off across multiple films. Homecoming and Far From Home are a joyful, perfectly-pitched pair (both 5/5 for me), No Way Home (4.5/5) turned a contractual crossover gimmick into a genuinely emotional celebration of every era at once, and Brand New Day (5/5, our new #1 overall) is the best of the four — see the full review for the details.

That doesn’t erase what came before. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (2002) is the film that started the entire modern superhero age, and it still holds up as a 4.5/5 — earnest, operatic, and anchored by Willem Dafoe. Spider-Man 2 (4/5) gave us the Doc Ock train fight, one of the best comic-book set-pieces ever filmed. Spider-Man 3 (3/5) is the messy, overstuffed cautionary tale.

And don’t sleep on Andrew Garfield. His skater-cool Peter was the right actor in films that didn’t always deserve him; The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (4/5) is his divisive high point, and his return in No Way Home was pure joy. He’s underrated — but Holland is still the one I’d hand my kids first.

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (4K Ultra HD) (opens in a new tab)

A perfect 5 and an all-time favorite — the bolder, more personal half of the animated masterpiece.

The Best Spider-Man You Can Actually Play

If you’ve never picked up a controller for Spidey, you’re missing the best version of the character there is. Insomniac’s Spider-Man games are one of the best game series, full stop — and the reason is simple: the web-swinging is so good that you genuinely feel like Spider-Man. The momentum, the rhythm, the way you read the skyline of Manhattan — it’s the closest any medium has come to putting you in the suit.

What surprises people is how cinematic they are. These aren’t dumb action games with a movie skin; the stories are told with the pacing, performances and emotional beats of the films — sometimes better. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (a 5/5) lets you swap between Peter and Miles, adds the symbiote arc, and is near-perfect superhero storytelling. The original Marvel’s Spider-Man and the standalone Miles Morales are both 10s too, and Miles is the perfect, bite-sized entry point — short enough to actually finish as a busy parent.

They’re also a brilliant shared screen. Hand an older kid the controller, take turns swinging across the city, and you’ve got a co-op evening that beats most movies.

The Sony Villain Films: Genius and Madness in the Same Universe

Now the weird corner. Because Sony owns hundreds of Spider-Man-adjacent characters, they’ve built whole movies around his villains — often with no Spider-Man in sight. The quality swings violently. Venom (4/5) is gloriously unhinged buddy-comedy trash-fun and I love it for what it is; the sequels (3.5/5 each) coast on Tom Hardy’s chemistry. Kraven the Hunter (3/5) is a serviceable hard-R action film. And then there’s the bottom of the web: Morbius (2.5/5) is more famous for its memes than its film, and Madame Web (2/5) is the misfire even a die-hard can’t defend. They’re on this list because they’re part of the world — but I won’t pretend a logo makes them good.

One for the Shelf: The LEGO Daily Bugle

Not everything Spider-Man is on a screen. The LEGO Marvel Spider-Man Daily Bugle (76178) is a towering, 25-minifigure centerpiece, and honestly — it looks fantastic. It’s the rare set that doubles as genuine adult display decor and a deep cut of Spidey’s whole rogues’ gallery. If you want one physical thing on the shelf that says “this is a Spider-Man house,” this is it.

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25 minifigures and a towering display piece — the ultimate Spidey shelf centerpiece.

The Ranking at a Glance

The pattern is obvious once it’s laid out: the animated films and the games sit at the very top, the MCU and Raimi runs hold a strong core, and the Spidey-less Sony experiments drag the floor down. Quality follows the character, not the studio.

How to Start: A Dad’s Spider-Man Game Plan

If you want the single best Spider-Man film: watch Brand New Day — but start with Homecoming first if you haven’t seen the trilogy, since the emotional payoff depends on it.

If you want the best animated films: watch Into then Across the Spider-Verse. Nothing outside the MCU trilogy reaches them.

If you’re introducing the kids to live-action Spidey: start with Tom Holland in Homecoming — it’s the most kid-friendly and the easiest on-ramp into the wider MCU, building all the way to Brand New Day.

If you want to actually be Spider-Man: get Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PS5, or hand a younger player the shorter Miles Morales first.

If you’re building a collection: the 8-movie Blu-ray box covers the live-action and animated journey in one shot, and the LEGO Daily Bugle anchors the shelf.

If you’re torn about the Sony villain films: watch Venom for the fun, and feel free to skip Madame Web entirely.

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Build it: whichever Spider-Man you rank first, the Bugle is the constant — see it in brick in the LEGO Marvel Spider-Man: The Daily Bugle (76342) review.

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LEGO Marvel Spider-Man vs. Mysterio: The Daily Bugle (76342) (opens in a new tab)

The Daily Bugle in brick — the one constant across every Spider-Man era.

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Our full individual reviews appear above — every film and game ranked, each with the detailed verdict, pros, cons and buying links.

What is the best Spider-Man movie?

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, with Into the Spider-Verse right behind it. The two animated films are the most inventive, emotional and beautiful Spider-Man stories ever put on screen — both are a perfect 5, and Across is one of my all-time favorite films.

Who is the best live-action Spider-Man?

Tom Holland. He nails the awkward-teenager energy and the heart of Peter Parker, and putting Spider-Man into the MCU was the best thing that ever happened to the character. Tobey Maguire’s 2002 original is the sentimental runner-up and Andrew Garfield is underrated, but Holland is the one.

What is the best Spider-Man game?

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PS5, with the first game and Miles Morales close behind. Insomniac’s trilogy is one of the best game series there is — the swinging makes you genuinely feel like Spider-Man and the stories are told as cinematically as the films.

What is the best order to watch Spider-Man movies?

For first-timers: start with Spider-Man: Homecoming for the MCU run, then watch Into and Across the Spider-Verse as their own perfect pair. Purists can go chronologically from Raimi’s 2002 film. The Sony villain films (Venom, Morbius, Madame Web, Kraven) are optional side-stories.

Are the Spider-Man movies and games OK for kids?

The Spider-Verse films and Insomniac’s games are great for most kids, with comic-book action and very little gore. The Raimi and MCU films are fine for slightly older children. Skip the darker, hard-R Sony villain films (Kraven, Morbius) for younger kids.