The Best Peter Parker

The year is 2002 and the Spider-Man title beams on theaters across the nation. Millions flock to see the first big movie adaptation of the beloved comic classic. And as the excited teens, nostalgic adults, and anticipatory children watch the screen, Tobey Maguire’s voice narrates a black screen: “Who am I? You sure you wanna know? The story of my life is not for the faint of heart.” And so...

If Peter Parker’s character had to be embodied by a single actor, there is no indecision as to who that should be.  Between all four portrayals of Spider-Man, to the animated Miles Morales and three live-action Peter Parkers, there has been a traditional format to create this fun-loving teenager behind a superhero mask. His formula consists of a heap of awkward nature, a tablespoon of intuition for sci...

Before he passed, Stan Lee said that with Tom Holland, “It’s as if we created a living being to be Spider-Man, and it turned out to be Tom.” This quote alone is all that is necessary to prove that Tom Holland has delivered the best cinematic portrayal of Peter Parker to date. While Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were respectively 27 and 29 when they first appeared as Spider-Man on screen, Holland was jus...