This weekend you—yes, you—are invited to journey across the Spider-Verse with the new animated feature Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The sequel to the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a guaranteed box office hit that critics have hailed for its clever story structure and its “diverse, agile, breathtaking animation.”
While the wider culture has, if ever-so-slightly, begun to question its hunger for more ever more superhero stories (DC Studios is regrouping after the release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom this December, and many of the post-Endgame Marvel movies haven’t really connected with audiences, no matter how much money they’ve made) none of that applies to our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Indeed, people of their own free will are ingesting these repulsive-looking red hamburgers, just because Spider-Man is involved. The last live-action Spider-Picture, Spider-Man: No Way Home, earned $1.9 billion, and didn’t even open in China.
Part of that massive film’s appeal lay in its Spider-Summit: the movie brought together Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, all of whom have played Peter Parker in live action films. (This weekend’s animated picture has a different hero, Miles Morales, voiced by Shameik Moore.)
After No Way Home, many in the Spider fandom realized they had underrated Garfield during his run as the character. (We present as evidence essays from esteemed sources like ScreenRant, CinemaBlend, and Inverse.) But with that reevaluation in the past, I’d like to go one step further: Sam Raimi’s 2007 film Spider-Man 3—which, at the time of its release, was considered a franchise-killer—isn’t merely “better than you may remember it.” The movie is straight-up good.
Raimi’s Maguire-led first Spider-Man film, released in 2002, is a fondly-remembered classic. It and 2000’s X-Men can be credited (or blamed) for creating the superhero craze that has dominated society for closing in on 25 years. (It’s also one of the finest mass culture evocations of New York City’s post-9/11 vibe ever put to film.) Spider-Man 2 was even better—the transformation of Doc Ock is one of the purest examples of visual storytelling in the history of cinema. It’s a strong candidate for the “sequel is better than the original” argument.
So obviously anticipation was sky high for part three. And … sure, by the standards of the first two, Spider-Man 3 doesn’t quite compare. But what bugs me—and should bug anyone with an appreciation for the four-color art!—is that the primary criticism the movie usually receives is bogus.
Spider-Man 3 is not hindered with “too many villains,” as Roger Ebert wrote, a sentiment echoed by The New York Times, The Guardian, and Slate. It is enriched by them.The overstuffed, indirect route taken in the third movie — Peter Parker tussles with Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman, James Franco’s “New” Goblin, and Topher Grace nuisance Eddie Brock, as well as the interplanetary black goo that transforms both Parker and Brock into the rampaging id-being Venom—accurately represents what it’s like to read a comic book. I’d go so far as to say that Spider-Man 3 is one of the most true-to-comics comic book movies ever produced.
Snooty-pants types like to talk about graphic novels—but the backbone of this entire medium is the flimsy, floppy, more-expensive-than-they-should be funnybooks released every month. A particular author and/or illustrator’s run can last years. And while comics marketing will try and hook you to buy in with “it’s all been leading to this” ads, the truth is that a lot of the time, following a title through its many twists and turns can feel a little desultory. But we true fans know to rejoice in the wheel-spinning. It’s in the crevices of loosey-goosey storytelling where we truly bond with the characters.
Spider-Man 3 brings this into sharp relief via the many not-always-plot-driven moments that crowd its 129-minute run time: scenes with Ursula, Parker’s landlord’s daughter (played by Mageina Tovah), or the vaudeville schtick between J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) and Betty Brant (Elizabeth Banks). Did you remember that Bryce Dallas Howard is in this movie as Gwen Stacy? If so, don’t feel bad. I think I may have, too.
