Special Report

All Actors Who Have Played Spider-Man, Ranked

Courtesy of Sony Pictures

Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in Marvel comics in the 1960s. He was one of the first teenage heroes to have a leading role in comics and quickly became a big hit. 

“The Amazing Spider-Man” TV show ran from 1977 to 1981 and was the first time the character jumped from comics to live-action. Several attempts at a Spider-Man film failed in the 80s and 90s. In one, confused screen writers came up with a Spider-Man movie that had the character as more of a mutant horror monster than a human with supernatural abilities. Needless to say, Stan Lee was not impressed. However, by the early 2000s the webslinger was finally able to get his own time to shine in Hollywood.

“Spidey” is one of the most iconic superheroes of all time. The franchise has seen four iterations on the big screen and 10 different actors in the past 20 years. Each of the three live-action franchises has had its own traditional Spider-Man played by young upcoming stars. 

The release of the animated universe-bending “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” in 2018 saw several more actors take on diverse roles as different forms and iterations of the hero. (These are the 100 top grossing moving of all-time)

Spider-Man was one of the first films to kick off the modern era of the booming superhero genre with “Spider-Man.” Toby McGuire starred as the namesake hero in the 2002 blockbuster, trying to save the city and win the heart of his crush Mary Jane. 

Other movies, including “X-Men” (2000), “Daredevil” (2003), and “Batman Begins” (2005) also helped to plant the seeds for the behemoth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ranking every Marvel movie from worst to best.

Click here to see all actors who have played Spider-Man, ranked

Methodology:

To rank all actors who have played Spider-Man, 24/7 Tempo developed an index based on Google search popularity, average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator. 

Relative Google popularity for the search query of an actor’s name plus “Spider-Man” from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, a neutral period with no Spider-Man film releases, came from Google Trends and was included in the index at double weight. 

The average IMDb user rating for all Spider-Man films starring each actor was calculated using the number of votes as weighting and was included in the index at full weight. The average Rotten Tomatoes audience rating and average Tomatometer rating were also calculated using the number of votes and reviews as weights and were both included in the index at full weight. 

To distinguish and rank the eight actors who portrayed Spiderman in “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse,” an actor’s billing position in the IMDb list of top cast was included in the index.

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11. Andrew Garfield
> Appearances as Spider-Man: 2
> Top-rated Spider-Man film: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
> Avg. IMDb rating for Spider-Man films: 6.8/10
> Avg. RT audience rating for Spider-Man films: 74%
> Avg. Tomatometer rating for Spider-Man films: 62%

Garfield starred in what may be the most forgotten series on the hero, “The Amazing Spider-Man.” After the cancelation of “Spider-Man 4” with Tobey McGuire the franchise took a five-year hiatus, returning with Garfield as the main man. By normal film standards, the two movies did well at the box office but were the lowest grossing films in the live-action Spider-Man world. Since Spider-Man, Garfield has acted in several films, TV series and plays.

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10. Jorma Taccone
> Appearances as Spider-Man: 1
> Top-rated Spider-Man film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
> Avg. IMDb rating for Spider-Man films: 8.4/10
> Avg. RT audience rating for Spider-Man films: 93%
> Avg. Tomatometer rating for Spider-Man films: 97%

Taccone briefly plays a version of the hero in a post-credit scene in “Spider-Verse.” He takes on the role as Spider-Man from a 1960s version of the cartoon that has since gained viral notoriety as the meme of two Spider-Men pointing at each other (yes, that meme). Taccone is most known for his work as a comedian. He is one-third of the sketch comedy group Lonely Island.

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9. Kimiko Glenn
> Appearances as Spider-Man: 1
> Top-rated Spider-Man film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
> Avg. IMDb rating for Spider-Man films: 8.4/10
> Avg. RT audience rating for Spider-Man films: 93%
> Avg. Tomatometer rating for Spider-Man films: 97%

At one point in “Into the Spider-Verse” parallel universes begin to collide, and we are introduced to several other versions of the hero from different worlds. Kimiko Glenn plays Peni Parker, who comes from an anime inspired part of the Spider-Verse. She’s a small girl who’s proficient in robotics and fights in a Spider-Man style robot. Glenn has appeared in a number of other works including “Orange is the New Black.”

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8. Oscar Isaac
> Appearances as Spider-Man: 1
> Top-rated Spider-Man film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
> Avg. IMDb rating for Spider-Man films: 8.4/10
> Avg. RT audience rating for Spider-Man films: 93%
> Avg. Tomatometer rating for Spider-Man films: 97%

Oscar Isaac has a brief post-credit scene as a Spider-Man from some distant future. Rumors are swirling if he’ll appear in the second installment in the “Spider-Verse.” Isaac has numerous acting credits under his belt including a heralded performance in “Ex Machina.” He recently starred in the role as Duke Leto Atreides in “Dune” and has a lot more on the way, including starring in a film adaptation of the video game series “Metal Gear Solid.”

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7. Nicolas Cage
> Appearances as Spider-Man: 1
> Top-rated Spider-Man film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
> Avg. IMDb rating for Spider-Man films: 8.4/10
> Avg. RT audience rating for Spider-Man films: 93%
> Avg. Tomatometer rating for Spider-Man films: 97%

In one parallel area of the Spider-Verse exists a world of noir detective superheroes. Nicolas Cage stars in the black and white Spider-Man Noir. Cage has been dragged for many, many bad movies but he’s also played in some classics like “Leaving Las Vegas.” He’s known for his live-action acting but he’s also done a decent amount of voice work over the years.

6. Chris Pine
> Appearances as Spider-Man: 1
> Top-rated Spider-Man film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
> Avg. IMDb rating for Spider-Man films: 8.4/10
> Avg. RT audience rating for Spider-Man films: 93%
> Avg. Tomatometer rating for Spider-Man films: 97%

Chris Pine stars as the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker. However, the aging hero starts to run into problems of his own and needs a little help from other similar heroes. Chris Pine’s biggest recurring role has been as Captain Kirk in the recent “Star Trek” film series. He also played the role of Steve Trevor in “Wonder Woman” and “Wonder Woman 1984.” He’s set to star in another Star Trek film slated for release in 2023.

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5. John Mulaney
> Appearances as Spider-Man: 1
> Top-rated Spider-Man film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
> Avg. IMDb rating for Spider-Man films: 8.4/10
> Avg. RT audience rating for Spider-Man films: 93%
> Avg. Tomatometer rating for Spider-Man films: 97%

Comedian and actor John Mulaney took on a (semi) serious role as anthropomorphic pig Spider-Ham in “Spider-Verse.” He’s also reprised the role in several shorts but there’s no word on whether he and the other spiders of the spider-verse will return for the sequel. In the meantime, Mulaney has stayed busy as a writer, comedian, and actor. He worked on “Saturday Night Live” from 2008 to 2014 and is a producer and voice actor on the show “Big Mouth.”

4. Jake Johnson
> Appearances as Spider-Man: 1
> Top-rated Spider-Man film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
> Avg. IMDb rating for Spider-Man films: 8.4/10
> Avg. RT audience rating for Spider-Man films: 93%
> Avg. Tomatometer rating for Spider-Man films: 97%

Jake Johnson plays a version of Spider-Man who, after 22 years, is now down on his luck. His relationship with Mary Jane has fallen apart and now he’s living as a depressed and penniless middle-aged man. Besides the webslinger, Johnson has starred in the TV comedy “New Girl” alongside Zoey Deschanel. He’s also acted in a range of other movies including “Jurassic World” and the 2017 edition of “The Mummy.”

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3. Shameik Moore
> Appearances as Spider-Man: 1
> Top-rated Spider-Man film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
> Avg. IMDb rating for Spider-Man films: 8.4/10
> Avg. RT audience rating for Spider-Man films: 93%
> Avg. Tomatometer rating for Spider-Man films: 97%

Shameik Moore voices Miles Morales in “Into the Spider-Verse.” Morales is a normal NYC kid until one day he’s bitten by a radioactive spider. However, Spider-Man already exists in his world and things start to get a bit strange when experimental science weakens the fabric between parallel universes. Moore is a musician, dancer, and actor whose first big role was in the Netflix movie “Dope.” He’s once again taking on the lead role as Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse sequel.

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2. Tobey Maguire
> Appearances as Spider-Man: 3
> Top-rated Spider-Man film: Spider-Man 2 (2004)
> Avg. IMDb rating for Spider-Man films: 7.0/10
> Avg. RT audience rating for Spider-Man films: 66%
> Avg. Tomatometer rating for Spider-Man films: 82%

The man who started it all. Tobey Maguire was the first Spider-Man on the Hollywood big screen. After three Spider-Man films, Maguire hung up the tights. He hasn’t been as active in recent years but also starred in “Seabiscuit” during the height of his fame. He’s slated to appear in the upcoming film “Babylon,” which will star Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie.

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1. Tom Holland
> Appearances as Spider-Man: 5
> Top-rated Spider-Man film: Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
> Avg. IMDb rating for Spider-Man films: 7.4/10
> Avg. RT audience rating for Spider-Man films: 90%
> Avg. Tomatometer rating for Spider-Man films: 91%

The current face of the franchise, Tom Holland first appeared as Spider-Man in “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016. From there he got to take on the lead role of the hero in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” He then appeared as Spidey in two more Avengers movies and another self-titled one. His next film, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is set to be released on Dec. 17, 2021. Holland got his start in movies voice acting for the British English dub of the Japanese animated film “The Secret World of Arrietty.”

 

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