Spider-Man: No Way Home swung into movie theaters as the most anticipated Spidey film of all time, and it hasn’t disappointed. It’s not just the buzz from moviegoers, where the fan-pleasing epic currently sits with a 99% fresh score – the highest audience score in MCU history. Industry insiders are projecting box office returns that would have been impressive before the global pandemic.
Sony Pictures Entertainment owns the Spider-Man film rights, and the studio has regularly produced films starring the web-slinger since 2002. In 2015, Sony signed an unprecedented deal with Marvel Studios that allowed Spider-Man to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). That was good news for both studios and the fans. Since 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, the reciprocal arrangement allowed Spidey to swing in to help the Avengers in the MCU’s biggest films. It’s also meant that MCU characters have popped across to cameo in Spider-Man’s standalone films, too, including Tony Stark, Nick Fury, and most recently, Doctor Strange.
Sony Pictures’ rights include Spider-Man and supporting characters, which leaves options for hundreds of potential spin-offs and franchise expansions. 2018’s Venom started Sony’s renewed push at a Spider-Man Universe. A month after No Way Home’s release, Morbius will be joining the universe in Jan. 2022. The studio’s plans are looking strong. To keep the rights to their New York poster boy, Sony Pictures’ have to produce a Spider-Man film every five years. That condition is behind the number of films starring the wall-crawler over the past two decades but also the three reboots the studio has overseen (and come to a head on-screen in No Way Home).
Spider-Man has always been a healthy performer at the box office, especially considering the number of times the web-slinger has dropped into cinemas. In the past 20 years, Spider-Man has headlined eight movies and featured in eleven. That’s an impressive feat, only beaten by the fact that those eleven have earned a spider-sense triggering combined gross of over $12 billion worldwide.
Not bad for Peter Parker, a slightly awkward student from Queens.
Which Spider-Man movie made the most money?
Here are the Sony Spider-Man films, ranked by worldwide gross
8. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) – $376 million
7. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) – $709 million
6. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) – $758 million
5. Spider-Man 2 (2004) – $789 million
4. Spider-Man (2002) – $825 million
3. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) – $880 million
2. Spider-Man 3 (2007) – $895 million
1. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) – $1.132 billion
So there we have it, Spider-Man: Far From Home has made the most at the worldwide box office. After the slight box office disappointment of the Amazing Spider-Man era, Sony Pictures’ deal with Marvel Studios worked wonders in pushing their flagship Spider-Man franchise over the $1 billion mark.
While Into the Spiderverse ranks far below its live-action counterparts, its disconnection from the main series and animation makes that an impressive figure for the animated feature. It’s entirely possible that its two sequels, the first of which is due next year, will exceed the first film’s gross and take Spider-Man’s animated adventures over a billion.
Joining the MCU
If you ranked the films where Spider-Man appears, it’s a slightly different story. Pulling in the MCU films made possible after Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures 2015 deal proves just how mighty the Avengers are. The top three Spidey-starrers would be:
3. Captain America: Civil War (2016) – $1.153 billion
2. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) – $2.048 billion
1. Avengers: Endgame (2019) – $2.792 billion
How will Spider-Man: No Way Home affect these rankings? Spidey’s latest film is performing strongly, with its debut projected to exceed $220 million. That would make it one of the biggest domestic openings of all time – impressive before the pandemic, but incredible considering the rising worries over the Covid Omicron variant. No Way Home has set records in international markets on the way, including Sony Pictures’s highest ever opening in the UK and India.
Signs are more than good for the ninth Spidey film in 19 years. It’s estimated that its opening will be over 70% more than Spider-Man: Far From Home. These figures suggest that, by the end of its run, No Way Home will take the top spot as Sony Pictures’ highest-grossing Spider-Man film yet.
One thing is for sure, Sony isn’t going to let their favorite neighborhood Spider-Man swing away from them anytime soon.