Some adaptations have been great and some totally missed the mark. In honor of this iconic character, we've ranked every version of Spiderman from worst to best.
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00:00Spider-Man Homecoming stars the third live-action Spider-Man since 2002, and that barely even
00:06begins to scratch the surface of how many Spider-Men have appeared on screen over the
00:10years.
00:11So, how do they stack up?
00:18Here's a look at the major versions of Spider-Man from TV and movies, and the actors who played
00:22them, ranked from worst to best.
00:2570s live-action Spider-Man
00:28It isn't actor Nicholas Hammond's fault that nobody remembers the short-lived, amazing
00:32Spider-Man TV show from the late 1970s.
00:36He just didn't have that much to work with.
00:38There were no supervillains, no supporting cast from the comics except J. Jonah Jameson
00:43and a single appearance by Aunt May, and Hammond never looked, talked, or moved like anything
00:48other than a random guy you'd run into at Comic-Con.
00:50Spider-Man Unlimited
00:59Spider-Man Unlimited was basically an effort to extend the 90s animated series past sell-by
01:04date by sending Spider-Man to an alternate Earth.
01:08Voice actor Rino Romano just did his best impression of Christopher Daniel Barnes, who
01:12preceded him in the role.
01:13Great!
01:14Not only am I carting around my worst nightmare, it's leaking!
01:18The costume, derived from the Spider-Man 2099 comics, is memorable, but it probably
01:24would have worked even better if they'd just made a Spider-Man 2099 cartoon.
01:2960s animated Spider-Man
01:31Considering Spider-Man had only existed for four years when this show started, relatively
01:36few viewers had a clear idea of just what Spider-Man should be like.
01:40Paul Soles as Spider-Man sounds the way 1960s cartoon viewers expected a superhero to sound,
01:46which means he sounds exactly like Superman.
01:49I once swore never to turn my back on anyone, and I'm not starting now.
01:53This Spider-Man is best remembered today as the star of many animated GIFs and memes,
01:58and of course for its awesome theme song.
02:00Spider-Man!
02:01Spider-Man!
02:02Does whatever a spider can!
02:091981 animated Spider-Man
02:11The 1981 Spider-Man animated series wasn't bad by any means.
02:16The animation was solid for the time, and it brought in a lot of spider villains from
02:21the comics who'd never gotten TV time before.
02:23The weirdest thing about this show is that it was immediately overshadowed by another
02:28Spider-Man cartoon, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, which premiered the same day.
02:33The two series also used the same character designs, which kind of made this series feel
02:38like a run of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends in which he has no friends and talks a little
02:43funny, thanks to the vocal talents of Ted Schwartz.
02:46Oh no!
02:47I'm going to miss my lunch date with Betty!
02:51The Electric Company
02:52Spider-Man's first live-action appearance, interestingly enough, was on The Electric
02:57Company, a 1970s educational series that ran on PBS.
03:02This Spider-Man, played by Danny Segrin, didn't talk, but his simple adventures were the perfect
03:06vehicle for teaching kids basic language and math skills.
03:10But the highlight of the show?
03:12The narration, which was provided by a pre-fame Morgan Freeman.
03:16"...and he's found it.
03:20A rubber glove sandwich."
03:24Spider-Man the New Animated Series
03:26Two things are distracting about 2003's Spider-Man the New Animated Series.
03:32The first is the combo 2D and 3D animation.
03:35The second is that every time Spider-Man talks, you can't help but hear Neil Patrick Harris.
03:41This is so not Spandex!
03:43Not that Harris is a bad choice for Spider-Man, but come on, isn't he more suited for villainy?
03:49Japanese Spider-Man
03:51The 1978 Japanese Spider-Man live-action TV series has a cult following in the U.S., even
03:57though it's never been officially released there.
04:00In this version, Spider-Man is a motorcycle driver who gets his spider powers from a super
04:05bracelet from the planet Spider.
04:08The show's a lot of fun, and the actors do a great job.
04:11But it just feels wrong to rank them any higher when they're not playing the same Spider-Man
04:15as everybody else.
04:172,000's Spider-Man movies
04:28In the early days of 21st century superhero movies, Tobey Maguire got the job done.
04:34He got in great physical shape for Spider-Man, but he still had the softness to play nerdy
04:38Peter Parker.
04:39Punch me, I bleed!
04:42While he never quite seemed like a kid in the way an origin story Spider-Man should,
04:47he was still young enough to be believable as a teenager, making him a solid version
04:52of the web-slinger.
04:54Ultimate Spider-Man
04:55Disney's first animated Spider-Man series, after it purchased Marvel, some of the production
05:00decisions for Ultimate Spider-Man didn't sit well with longtime fans, especially the
05:05decision to hire Drake Bell of Drake & Josh to voice the title character.
05:10You don't know how that feels!
05:12I do, actually.
05:13Someone important was taken from me, too.
05:17But if you look past the bad buzz, Bell is actually a pretty great animated Spider-Man,
05:22and he also comes through in the darker moments that require a more emotional Peter Parker.
05:28Amazing Spider-Man
05:29The biggest problem with Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker is that he was already too
05:33old for the part when he starred in The Amazing Spider-Man.
05:37He never seems like an awkward teen, and yet the rebooted franchise offered another origin
05:42story set in high school.
05:44Still, his slim build looked good in the suit, and his comic timing made him a natural fit
05:49for the rhythms of the character's constant wisecracks.
05:52What the?
05:53Stop!
05:54Get off, man!
05:55No!
05:5690s animated Spider-Man
05:59For a lot of millennials, Christopher Daniel Barnes was the definitive voice of Spider-Man
06:04throughout their childhood.
06:06While this Spider-Man has aged a little awkwardly, it was the first TV version of the character
06:10to really draw on the comic's storylines in a nuanced way, introducing concepts like the
06:15Venom suit, the Secret Wars crossover, and even Daredevil.
06:20This series skipped the origin and began with Peter Parker already in college.
06:24Within that context, Barnes is perfect in the part, balancing the jokes and emotional
06:28baggage that are both so central to Spider-Man.
06:31Spider-Man's in danger!
06:35Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends
06:37For those a little older, Dan Gilvezan was the Saturday morning Spider-Man of choice.
06:42He voiced the central hero on Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends from 1981 until 1986.
06:48His Spider-Man had the lightness that earlier versions of the character had been missing,
06:52while still seeming more grounded than the goofier Iceman.
06:55Oh, no!
06:58Oh, yes!
07:00This cartoon seems pretty silly by today's standards, but this was the first time Spider-Man
07:05really seemed like Spider-Man, and that's worth something.
07:08The Spectacular Spider-Man
07:10The Spectacular Spider-Man was basically the perfect Spider-Man cartoon, and one that ended
07:15too soon.
07:17It ran for two seasons in 2008 and 2009, and was being considered for a third when Disney
07:23bought Marvel and reacquired the television rights to Spider-Man, leaving this Sony-produced
07:28series unable to continue.
07:30Voice actor Josh Keaton played the youthful Spider-Man with the earnestness of a kid trying
07:35to do his best, and it really worked.
07:37It's just a shame there couldn't be more of it.
07:39Uh, Yoo-hoo!
07:40Excuse me!
07:41Can I come in this way, or do I have to break my own window?
07:44Spider-Man!
07:45MCU Spider-Man
07:48As the third live-action Spidey in under a decade, Tom Holland may finally be the perfect
07:53choice.
07:54He comes across like a young teenager with a surprising amount of power, and his youthfulness
07:58stands out perfectly in contrast with all the adult heroes running around in the MCU.
08:02Are you an Avenger?
08:05Yeah, basically.
08:07Spider-Man Homecoming presents him as a nerdy high school student who might be in way over
08:11his head, and that's exactly what Spider-Man should be, especially within the context of
08:16a larger, Avenger-centric setting.