Spider-Man, a superhero character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for American comic books published by Marvel Comics, has appeared in virtually every form of media, including film since the 1970s. CBS's television film pilot for the program The Amazing Spider-Man in 1977 represents the first Spider-Man live-action adaptation. Marvel Comics spent the 1980s pursuing plans for a feature film, in a tumultuous development involving multiple directors, writers, and financiers. After protracted litigation over the Spider-Man copyrights, Sony Pictures and its subsidiary Columbia obtained the film rights for $7 million from Marvel in 1999.
In the 2000s, Columbia developed a trilogy of films starring Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man, which includes Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007). The original film, in particular, greatly influenced Hollywood's conception of superheroes. This was followed by a reboot series featuring Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, consisting of The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Sony then licensed the rights to Marvel Studios in a renewed agreement, yielding a succession of films that incorporated the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The MCU features a version of Spider-Man played by Tom Holland, beginning with Captain America: Civil War (2016). The animated Spider-Verse centers on a cast of Spider-Men led by Miles Morales, the main protagonist voiced by Shameik Moore. Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) operates with a loosely shared continuity to all existing Spider-Man film franchises but does not explicitly feature the character. Amateur films about Spider-Man explore a range of interpretations from ordinary people.
The mainstream Spider-Man films have been highly successful and make up the second highest-grossing film franchise of all time, collectively grossing over $13 billion worldwide. Critical opinion of films skew positive, and some have garnered Academy Awards recognition for achievement in visual effects and animation.
Early adaptations TV films
Spider-Man is the superhero persona of high school student Peter Parker, a character created by Marvel Comics writer-editor Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962 to entice teenage readers. In the 1970s, Marvel partnered with CBS to produce a TV adaptation of the character. The Marvel–CBS partnership yielded three Spider-Man TV films starring Nicholas Hammond for the live-action program The Amazing Spider-Man, which aired sporadically for thirteen episodes. The first film, Spider-Man (1977), follows the character's quest to thwart an extortionist's plot to kill a group of civilians with a mind control device. Two sequels, Spider-Man Strikes Back (1979) and Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge (1981), were composites of individual episodes of The Amazing Spider-Man. Each film received minor distribution in theaters outside of the United States.
A Japanese Spider-Man adaptation was conceived in the same period. Part of a four-year licensing deal with Marvel, Toei Company developed a theatrical film, Spider-Man (1978), as a spinoff to the live-action tokusatsu series of the same name, commonly referred to by its Japanese pronunciation Supaidāman. The film's origin story is a significant departure from the source material, portraying Spider-Man as the alter ego of a motorcyclist seeking to avenge his deceased father with powers inherited from Garia, the lone survivor of the extinct Spider Planet.
Feature film development
After the success of Superman (1978), Marvel began a concerted effort to produce feature film projects. They abandoned several early Spider-Man proposals, including a musical and another concept culminating in a battle against Nazis and a 100-foot robot. By 1982, Roger Corman, an experienced producer of low-budget B films, optioned the rights to develop an adaptation with Orion Pictures from Lee's film treatment. Lee's original treatment featured Doctor Octopus as the primary antagonist and a subplot of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. However, Lee and Corman ended their collaboration when they could not agree on a budget.
The Cannon Group executives Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus acquired the film rights to Spider-Man for $225,000 in 1985, with a provision that would restore ownership to Marvel should a film not be made within five years. They brought on Tobe Hooper to outline an origin story with screenwriter Leslie Stevens, the result being one depicting Spider-Man as a literal spider. Lee, upset with the changes, persuaded Cannon to discard the work and begin anew. Joseph Zito replaced Hooper as director, and a script was concocted from a pitch developed by Ted Newsom and John Brancato. In total, Cannon spent $2 million on a script and subsequent rewrites, but financial woes and disputes over the artistic direction frustrated the development.
After Pathé Communications purchased Cannon, Golan and Globus split, and the Spider-Man film rights transferred to Golan's 21st Century Film Corporation through a severance package, before being sold to Carolco Pictures for $5 million in 1988. Carolco hired James Cameron as director and screenwriter with a stipulation that granted him authority over the distribution of producing credits, similar to his contract for Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), another Carolco production. Cameron's scriptment, which was about 57 pages long, concentrated on Spider-Man as a morally ambiguous character. In the meantime, Carolco extended Cannon's original deal with Marvel to May 1996, but the total cost of production rose to $50 million from its initial $15 million budget, leading the company to abandon the project by 1992.
Protracted litigation ensued over the disposition of the Spider-Man copyrights, with Golan suing Carolco in 1993 over the claim that it had violated his contractually guaranteed credit as producer in the Cannon–Marvel agreement. Carolco then sued Viacom and Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures over the syndication and home video rights, which Golan had sold them in separate sales, and the two studios countersued in lawsuits that, additionally, disputed Marvel's ownership stakes. 20th Century Fox, though not a main party in the litigation, contested Cameron's participation with a claim of exclusivity on his services as a director. By the mid-1990s, Carolco, 21st Century, and Marvel filed for bankruptcy, complicating the dispute. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) purchased all 21st Century-owned assets and Carolco's film rights during the proceedings, and instigated another lawsuit alleging fraud in the Cannon–Marvel deal. According to a 2002 report from the Los Angeles Times, legal inquiries found that Marvel's licensing agreements overlapped, sometimes on dubious terms.
After Marvel reemerged from bankruptcy in 1998, the courts ruled that the rights sold to Golan had expired, reverting the rights to the company. The studios spent the following year settling the remaining lawsuits, owing in part to soaring attorney fees. Marvel settled with Sony in a merchandising joint venture that conveyed the rights to produce film, television, and sequels to Sony and subsidiary Columbia for $7 million. At the same time, MGM compromised with Sony by surrendering its claim to the Spider-Man film rights in exchange for rights to Casino Royale (2006) and the global distribution rights to all subsequent James Bond films. Sony's ownership is perpetual provided that they release a new Spider-Man film at least once every five years.
Sam Raimi trilogy
Spider-Man (2002)
Columbia began developing Spider-Man after their rights acquisition in 1999. Sam Raimi was not an immediate favorite to direct the film, but producers appointed him director because they were impressed with his enthusiasm. Screenwriter David Koepp was hired to write the Spider-Man script, expanding on ideas introduced in Cameron's treatment. The script was revised under Scott Rosenberg and again by Alvin Sargent to improve dialogue. Columbia signed Tobey Maguire to a three-picture, $3–4 million pay-or-play contract as Peter Parker in July 2000, which stipulated greater compensation for subsequent films. Maguire was Raimi's preferred choice based on his performance in The Cider House Rules (1999). Leonardo DiCaprio, Freddie Prinze Jr., Heath Ledger, Scott Speedman and Wes Bentley were among the actors Columbia considered to star.
Spider-Man explores Peter's struggles adapting to his newfound superpowers, which he acquires from the bite of a genetically engineered spider. After the death of his uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), Peter vows to contain crime in New York, climaxing in a confrontation with the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). Spider-Man was shot from January to June 2001, and released in May 2002 after Sony extended the post-production schedule. It emerged as the third highest-grossing film of 2002 with $825 million globally, and was nominated for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound at the 75th Academy Awards. Spider-Man was a catalyst in the rise of superhero film and greatly influenced Hollywood conception of superheroes.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
A sequel to Spider-Man was announced by Columbia in April 2002. The studio re-hired most of the filmmaking crew responsible for the creation of the original film. The completed script coalesced from a draft conceived by Koepp, Alfred Gough, and Miles Millar, with Sargent credited as the lead screenwriter. Maguire received an upfront salary of $17 million after months of negotiations for a new contract. The actor complained of persistent pain in his back sustained while shooting Seabiscuit (2003), and Columbia fired him as they considered his behavior disruptive. The studio reversed its decision when Ronald Meyer, the then-president of Vivendi Universal and Maguire's father-in-law, intervened.
The Spider-Man 2 plot was partially inspired by the "Spider-Man No More!" story arc in The Amazing Spider-Man comics. Peter's powers become impotent as a result of strife in his daily life, forcing him to repudiate his duties as Spider-Man. Meanwhile, his mentor Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) conducts a nuclear experiment that corrupts the tentacled contraption fused to his spine and then his mind, transforming him into Doctor Octopus, a mad scientist committed to creating a fusion reactor to destroy New York. Filming occurred in 2003, and Spider-Man 2 premiered in theaters in June 2004. The film won Best Visual Effects at the 77th Academy Awards.
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Because the studio wanted to commence soon on a sequel, Raimi and his brother Ivan spent about two months preparing a treatment while Spider-Man 2 ran in theaters. Sargent returned to write a screenplay following the direction of the Raimi treatment. The filmmakers were interested in resolving the character arcs with a tale of redemption and forgiveness. They also developed the script with an emphasis on Peter's evolving relationship with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). Spider-Man 3 sees Peter facing multiple threats, including Flint Marko / Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), an extraterrestrial symbiote that nearly consumes him, and Edward "Eddie" Brock Jr. / Venom (Topher Grace). Filming took place from January to July 2006, and the film was released in May 2007. Despite ending the theatrical run grossing $890.9 million, Spider-Man 3 drew mixed reviews in the media.
Cancellation of Spider-Man 4