It might be hard to believe, but director Sam Raimi‘s first Spider-Man film turns 20 Tuesday.
It technically wasn’t the first hit film to star a Marvel movie superhero and usher in the still-going wave of cinematic comics-based adventures — that honor, most experts agree, belongs to 1998’s Blade.
X-Men followed in 2000, but Raimi’s first of three Sony Pictures-produced Spidey films in 2002 became a benchmark — so much so that Tobey Maguire reprising his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Willem Dafoe returning as Norman Osborne/The Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home helped push that film far past the billion-dollar mark worldwide.
Kirsten Dunst starred as Parker’s long-pined-for classmate, Mary Jane Watson, in Raimi’s trilogy. The original Spider-Man also gave fans Oscar-winner JK Simmons as Spidey-hating newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson — the latter another characterization so beloved it was brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Spider-Man went on to earn $825 million and set up Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 in 2004, which may have earned less but is widely considered by fans to to be the best of the trilogy, and one of the best comic movies ever made.
While Raimi’s 2007 Spider-Man 3 was a financial success, the critics were less than kind — including Raimi himself, who recently called it “awful.” The director stepped back from the genre after that film, until recently, when Marvel Studios hired him for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. That film, which opens Friday, is so far receiving very positive reviews.
Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Related Posts
Music notes: Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and more
May 16, 2024
Did you watch The Idea of You on Prime Video and come away from it wishing the film's boy band was…
Ed Sheeran surprises college students, performs alongside them
May 16, 2024
ABC/Paula LoboOne of Ed Sheeran's favorite things to do is drop in on schools unexpectedly and meet…
Blake Lively is Lily Bloom in first trailer for ‘It Ends with Us’
May 16, 2024
Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images via Getty ImagesThe trailer for the upcoming film adaptation of…
Stephen Sanchez records new original song for soundtrack of Disney+ Beach Boys documentary
May 16, 2024
Mercury RecordsStephen Sanchez is putting his retro sound to good use. The "Until I Found You"…
Olivia Munn speaks on her breast cancer journey in first TV interview since surgeries
May 16, 2024
ABC NewsOlivia Munn is opening up in her first TV interview since revealing her most recent…
Kelly Clarkson recalls doing karaoke with Amy Winehouse years before Amy was famous
May 16, 2024
Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversalWhen Amy Winehouse died tragically in 2011 at age 27, she was a global…
Adam Driver reteams with Jim Jarmusch for new film with Cate Blanchett
May 16, 2024
Brent N. Clarke/FilmMagic via Getty ImagesAdam Driver is reteaming with Jim Jarmusch for his…
New songs by Benson Boone, Jelly Roll & more featured on soundtrack for new movie ‘Twisters’
May 16, 2024
Atlantic RecordsThe upcoming movie Twisters, described as a "current-day chapter" of the 1996 film…