Spider-Man (film)

Spider-Man (2002) is a film directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire. It is the story of the comic book hero Spider-Man and his battle against the Green Goblin. It is one of the most profitable films ever made, with a domestic gross of $403,706,375.

Spider-Man has some significant differences from the comics. For example, in the film, Spider-Man's web shoots organically out of his own wrists, whereas in the comics he invents a web-shooting device using his knowledge of physics.

Sequels

Spider-Man 2 was released in 2004. This film saw most of the cast from the first film returning. Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) was the main villain. The film dealt with Peter Parker coping with being Spider-Man, and living a normal life.

2007 saw the release of Spider-Man 3. This film retconned the story of Peter Parker's Uncle Ben's (Cliff Robertson) murder. In the film, it's discovered that Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), who becomes the Sandman murdered Ben. Harry Osborn (James Franco), now knowing that Peter is Spider-Man decides to seek revenge for his father's death in the first film by becoming the New Goblin. However, Spider-Man 3 is best known for the introduction of Venom (Topher Grace). The story of Eddie Brock/Venom was met with heavy criticism. Sam Raimi had stated that he did not want Venom in his movies, but was forced to by Sony Pictures.

In 2008, pre-production on a fourth Spider-Man film headed by Raimi began. Names attached to the film were John Malkovich as the Vulture and Anne Hathaway as Felicia Hardy/Black Cat. There was also interest in portraying the transformation of Dr. Curt Connors (who had appeared in in Spider-Man 2 played by Dylan Baker), into the Lizard. However, in 2010, it was announced that Spider-Man 4 was cancelled.