Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp. Based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, it is the first film in Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), and stars Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, and Rosemary Harris. The plot follows the timid teenager Peter Parker (Maguire), who gains superhuman abilities after being bitten by a genetically engineered spider. He adopts the masked persona "Spider-Man" and begins to fight crime in New York City, facing the malevolent Green Goblin (Dafoe) in the process.
Development of a live-action Spider-Man film began in 1975, but stalled for nearly 25 years due to licensing and financial issues. Columbia Pictures finally licensed the project for a worldwide release in 1999. Koepp was hired to create a working screenplay, which was eventually rewritten by Scott Rosenberg and refined by Alvin Sargent. Various directors were considered before Raimi was hired in 2000. Filming took place in Los Angeles and New York City from January to June 2001. Danny Elfman composed the musical score, while Sony Pictures Imageworks handled the visual effects.
Spider-Man premiered at both the Fox Westwood Village Theater and the Bruin Theater in Los Angeles on April 29, 2002, and was released in the United States on May 3, by Sony Pictures Releasing. It received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success, becoming the first film to reach $100 million in a single weekend, as well as the most successful film based on a comic book at the time. With a box office gross of $826 million against its $139 million budget, it was the highest-grossing superhero film, the sixth-highest-grossing film overall at the time, and third highest-grossing film of 2002. It garnered nominations for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects at the 75th Academy Awards, among numerous other accolades.
It was followed by two sequels, both directed by Raimi: Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). Maguire and Dafoe later reprised their roles in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which explores the concept of the multiverse and links the Raimi trilogy to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Plot
On a high school field trip, Peter Parker visits a Columbia University genetics laboratory with his best friend, Harry Osborn, and his crush, Mary Jane Watson. There, he is bitten by a genetically engineered spider, and falls ill upon returning home. Meanwhile, Harry's father Norman tests a performance-enhancing chemical on himself in an attempt to secure a military contract for Oscorp, the company he founded. The chemical gives him superhuman strength but causes him to go insane and kill one of his scientists.
The next day, Peter develops spider-like abilities, including enhanced strength, senses, agility, and speed; organic webbing in his wrists; and the ability to cling to walls. Hoping to buy a car to impress Mary Jane, Peter enters an underground wrestling event and wins his match, but is swindled out of his earnings. When the wrestling organizer is robbed, a bitter Peter steps out of the way, allowing the thief to escape. Soon after, Peter's Uncle Ben is killed by the same thief. Peter pursues the thief, who eventually falls to his death. Meanwhile, a crazed Norman sabotages a product test by an Oscorp rival and kills several people.
Upon graduating, Peter begins using his abilities to fight crime, donning a costume and adopting the alias Spider-Man. J. Jonah Jameson, the publisher of the Daily Bugle newspaper, hires Peter as a freelance photographer, since he can provide high-quality images of Spider-Man. When Oscorp's board of directors decides to oust Norman and sell the company, Norman uses a disguise to assassinate them during the Unity Day festival. As Spider-Man, Peter fends off Norman and rescues Mary Jane. Afterwards, Jameson bestows the name "Green Goblin" upon the mysterious masked killer.
Norman offers Peter a place at his side, but Peter refuses. They fight, and Peter flees after being wounded. Peter's aunt May invites Mary Jane, Harry, and Norman for Thanksgiving dinner. Norman notices Peter's injury and deduces that he is Spider-Man. Later, Norman attacks and injures May, who is hospitalized. Peter is still unaware of the Goblin's identity, but realizes that the Goblin is targeting his loved ones. While visiting the hospital, Mary Jane confesses to Peter her infatuation with Spider-Man, who has rescued her twice. Harry, who is dating Mary Jane, sees her holding Peter's hand and assumes she has feelings for him. A distraught Harry tells his father about Peter's infatuation with Mary Jane.
That night, Norman captures Mary Jane and a Roosevelt Island Tramway car full of children. He tells Peter to choose whom to rescue, then drops them both from the Queensboro Bridge. Peter saves everyone, then lowers them onto a nearby barge for safety. An enraged Norman throws Peter into a nearby abandoned building, then brutally beats him. After Norman reveals his intentions to kill Mary Jane, Peter finds the strength to fight back. Norman reveals his identity and begs forgiveness, discreetly preparing to impale Peter with his glider. Warned by his spider-sense, Peter dodges the attack, and the glider fatally skewers Norman instead. Before dying, Norman begs Peter not to reveal his identity to Harry. Peter takes Norman's body to the Osborn house, where Harry confronts him, but Peter escapes.
At Norman's funeral, Harry vows revenge on Spider-Man, who he mistakenly believes killed his father. Mary Jane then confesses to Peter that she loves him. However, Peter feels he must protect her from his enemies, so he hides his true feelings and tells her they can only be friends. As Peter leaves, he recalls his uncle's words: "With great power comes great responsibility."
Cast Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: A high school student who is bitten by a genetically engineered spider. He gains spider-like abilities and begins fighting crime as a masked vigilante. Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn / Green Goblin: A scientist who becomes a costumed terrorist after injecting himself with a chemical formula. He is the founder of Oscorp and the father of Harry Osborn. Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson: Peter's love interest, who is dating Harry. James Franco as Harry Osborn: Peter's best friend, Mary Jane's boyfriend, and Norman's son. Cliff Robertson as Ben Parker: Peter's paternal uncle. Rosemary Harris as May Parker: Peter's paternal aunt. J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson: The Daily Bugle publisher, who considers Spider-Man a menace.
Joe Manganiello plays the bully Flash Thompson, while Michael Papajohn appears as The Carjacker who kills Ben Parker. Ron Perkins portrays Dr. Mendel Stromm, Norman's head scientist, while Gerry Becker and Jack Betts play the Oscorp board members Maximillian Fargas and Henry Balkan, respectively. Stanley Anderson appears as General Slocum, and K. K. Dodds portrays Norman's assistant Simkins. Bill Nunn, Ted Raimi and Elizabeth Banks play the Daily Bugle employees Joseph "Robbie" Robertson, Ted Hoffman, and Betty Brant, respectively. Tim deZarn and Taylor Gilbert portray Philip Watson and Madeline Watson, respectively. Randy Savage appears as Bonesaw McGraw, Bruce Campbell portrays the Ring Announcer, Octavia Spencer plays the Ring Receptionist, John Paxton plays Bernard Houseman, the Osborn family's butler, and Macy Gray appears as herself. Stan Lee, the co-creator of Spider-Man, has a cameo appearance at the World Unity Fair.
Production
Development
Beginning in 1975, Marvel Comics made plans to bring its characters to films. By the early 1980s, the company was in negotiations with producers to bring its flagship character Spider-Man to the big screen, a process which was influenced by the critical and commercial success of Superman (1978), which was based on rival DC Comics' flagship character Superman. The producer Roger Corman was the first to hold an option on the Spider-Man property, and began to develop the film at Orion Pictures. Stan Lee, the co-creator of Spider-Man, was brought in to write a screenplay which featured Cold War themes and Doctor Octopus as the primary antagonist. The project did not come to fruition following budgetary disputes between Corman and Lee, as well as the critical and commercial failure of Superman III (1983), which made film adaptations of comic books a hard sell in the industry.
The film rights were then acquired by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus of The Cannon Group for $225,000 in 1985. Golan and Globus were not familiar with Spider-Man and mistook him for a werewolf-like character. Leslie Stevens, creator of The Outer Limits, was hired to write a screenplay based on this concept. Stevens' script depicted Peter Parker as a photographer who is subjected to a mad scientist's experiment, which transforms him into a human tarantula. Tobe Hooper, who was preparing to shoot The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Invaders from Mars (both 1986) for Cannon, signed on to direct. Lee despised the horror route the studio was taking with the character and demanded that a new script be written that was closer to the source material. By 1985, a new screenplay was being developed by Ted Newsom and John Brancato. In this version, Peter receives his spider-like abilities from a cyclotron experiment. Doctor Octopus served as the antagonist and was written as Peter's mentor-turned-enemy. Barney Cohen was brought in to do a rewrite, which added humor, additional action scenes, and a supporting villain. Newsom and Brancato had John Cusack in mind for the part of Peter Parker.
Cannon hired as director Joseph Zito, who had previously directed the commercially successful Invasion U.S.A. (1985) for the studio. Cannon considered Tom Cruise for the role of Peter Parker, while Zito was interested in casting the actor and stuntman Scott Leva, who had previously done promotional appearances as Spider-Man for Marvel. Bob Hoskins was considered for Doctor Octopus while Lauren Bacall and Katharine Hepburn were considered for Aunt May, while Gregory Peck and Paul Newman were considered for Uncle Ben. Lee expressed his desire to make a cameo appearance as J. Jonah Jameson in the film. The project was tentatively titled Spider-Man: The Movie and was budgeted between $15–20 million. Following the critical and financial failures of two 1987 Cannon films—Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Masters of the Universe—the budget for Spider-Man: The Movie was cut to $7 million. Zito was unhappy with the lower budget and stepped down as the director. He was replaced by Albert Pyun, but the project was cancelled following Cannon's acquisition by Giancarlo Paretti and Golan's departure from the studio.
Golan extended his option on Spider-Man during his tenure as CEO of 21st Century Film Corporation. By 1989, he was attempting to revive the project using the script, budget, and storyboards developed at Cannon. In order to receive production funds, Golan sold the television rights to Viacom, the home video rights to Columbia Pictures, and the theatrical rights to Carolco Pictures, where James Cameron signed on to write and direct the film.David Hughes. The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made Cameron had previously met with Stan Lee to discuss a possible X-Men film, but Lee convinced Cameron that he would be a good choice to direct a Spider-Man film.