Exactly 18 years ago, Spider-Man 2 starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco, premiered in theaters on June 30, 2004. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that June 30 is a national holiday — although it definitely should be. Even with the technological advancements and boundless capabilities of the modern age, there has yet to be a Marvel film that compares to Raimi’s action-packed sequel. Likewise, there has yet to be a Spider-Man as entertaining and outrageous as Tobey Maguire, even with the addition of Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland.
Spider-Man 2 picks up where its predecessor left off; Peter Parker — having gained two years of valuable experience as a crime-fighting arachnid — is estranged from his ex-lover Mary Jane Watson and his former best friend, Harry Osborn. Besides that, Maguire’s Spider-Man is suffering infrequent ‘power outages’ in dire situations and temporarily loses his spider-sense and web-shooting talents. When famous nuclear scientist Dr. Otto Octavius’ brain is overtaken by malicious AI tentacle arms, Peter must face an intellectually superior enemy: Doctor Octopus.
Marvel fans can’t quite believe that 18 years have flown by and Raimi’s rip-roaring trilogy has since lived in the shadow of Jon Watt’s reboot trilogy for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a collective multiverse established four years after Spider-Man 2 with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man (2008). Technically, Raimi’s Spider-Man was the inspiration for the MCU and the Sony collaboration remains untouchable in its widespread acclaim and popularity. As the various tweets below have proven, the overwhelming love for Raimi’s trilogy far outweighs the modern Spider-Man installments. Sorry, Tom Holland.
If that doesn’t make you feel old, nothing will. We all remember turning on the television as tykes and being awe-inspired by Tobey Maguire’s Spidey. Does anyone else remember jumping around on the couch, pretending to web-swing and fight bad guys? No? Just me?