The original Spider-Man trilogy may be kind of embarrassing, but it's also kind of amazing.
There are plenty of Spider-Man content in the world, and more on the way--Miles is headed to his very own PS5 game this holiday season. but while we may be living in the golden age of web-slingers thanks to the MCU and animated hits like Into The Spider-Verse, it's important to remember exactly where we came from. Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man trilogy from the early 2000s may be one of the most embarrassing superhero movie franchises ever--but it also gave us some of the best Spider-memes of all time, so credit where credit is due.
It was with that in mind that we went back and revisited the Raimi trilogy for the best-worst moments--you know, those scenes that are just so bad they punch right through the veil and become great? We found 14 stand-out moments--and no, they're not all from Spider-Man 3.
Peter Parker's Mournful Crowdsurfing
Spider-Man 2 is, objectively, a very good superhero movie no matter how dated it might seem now, and one scene, in particular, stands out in just about everyone's memory as one of the best: Peter Parker, unmasked, stopping a train full of New Yorkers with every last bit of his strength and passing out promptly afterward. The citizens lift Peter's unconscious body up and basically crowd surf him to safety--all respectfully refusing to look too closely at his unmasked face out of respect.
The intent of the scene is actually pretty beautiful, but the execution punches right through the melodrama veil and directly into "camp" territory. It's so over-the-top and so completely absurd that it actually winds up working.
Eddie Brock's Everything
Look, Topher Grace tried his best, okay? We can't pick just one Eddie Brock scene for this list, so we're picking all of them. We may have Tom Hardy as Venom these days, but it's important to remember our roots--and at the very, very least, giving mid-transformation Topher those little fangs was a good design call. Also, who could forget "It's Edward Brock Jr., sir, and I'm dating your daughter."
Evil Peter's Sexy Dance Walk
Don't tell us you didn't see this one coming, after all, it's the moment that launched a thousand memes. At the time, "Evil" Peter's awkward strut around New York was nothing but cringe-worthy, but over time, it's come to be one of the most beloved, totally stupid Spider-Man moments ever.
Bonesaw Is Ready
Of all the scenes from the first Spider-Man movie to become memes, this one is definitely one of the best. Peter, in his homemade wrestling costume, preparing to go up against Bonesaw McGraw--aka "Macho Man" Randy Savage. It's completely ridiculous, right down to Macho Man's character catchphrase, the growled "Bonesaw is ready," and it is completely perfect.
Norman's Green Goblin Transformation
Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn is up there with the greatest live action super villains of all time, and his completely absurd Joker-flavored transformation into the Green Goblin really just cements it. You'd never see a sequence like this--part '80s horror, part '70s sci-fi, part Dafoe's scenery-chewing gusto in a modern superhero movie. We're probably better off for it now, but that doesn't mean this isn't a perfect little time capsule of what came before.
Peter and Flash's Fight
Just about everything involving Peter discovering his spider-powers in Spider-Man 1 deserves to go on this list, but his fight with Flash Thompson in school is something special. Not only are both Peter and Flash clearly adult men--Toby Maguire was in his late 20s while filming this movie, playing a high school senior--but there's also the full-on Power Rangers flavored stunt choreography to take in. This whole moment feels like it escaped from a mid-90s kids TV show and, really, that's what we love about it.
Go web!
If there's one scene that really sums up the original Spider-Man trilogy and all its charming ridiculousness, it has to be Peter using different hand positions, trying to figure out how his web shooters work. Go web!
All Those Visual Effects
Of course, the visual effects technology of the early 2000s wasn't exactly on par with today's standards, but some of the shots in these movies are downright hilarious. In the first Spider-Man, when Peter catches Mary Jane and swings with her, there's an insert that is clearly Kirsten Dunst holding onto a Spider-Man mannequin. To make things even goofier, her hair is blowing the opposite way of the swing--someone put the fan on the wrong side of the green screen.
The Jazz Club
Cool Guy Peter's Jazz Club meltdown is honestly, probably the best thing about Spider-Man 3. "Now dig on this."
Mary Jane's Love Triangles
Spider-Man 2 does a lot of things right, but handling Mary Jane's weird love triangles definitely isn't one of them--at least, not for the reasons the movie hopes. Having her engaged to J. Jonah Jameson's astronaut son only to leave him at the altar on their wedding day is one of the most bizarre, totally unnecessary subplots in any Spider-Man movie, but it did give us some totally amazing shots of Kirsten Dunst scampering around Runaway Bride style in a massive wedding dress, so points for that.
Enter Sandman
Maybe one of the best things about this particular Spider-Man universe is just how many insane scientific experiments are going on in the suburbs of New York. What do you mean you've never seen a molecular scrambling device sitting outside of Queens for any random convict to stumble into?
Harry's Amnesia
Spider-Man 3 has plenty of moments that feel straight out of a daytime soap opera, but Harry's accident and short term memory loss has to take the cake in that arena. Not only is it the goofiest way to (temporarily) deal with Harry and Pete's whole conflict, but it also feels like a totally unnecessary side plot with everything else going on in the movie. But somehow, that's what makes it sort of endearing.
Bruce Campbell's Restaurant Scene
Sure, Bruce may have had a cameo in every one of Raimi's Spider-Man movies, but this one absolutely takes the cake, from the weird French accent to constant "who's on first" misunderstandings. Seriously, what is even happening in this scene? How can we not love this?
Omelet Dancing
What do you mean you've never made omelets with your boyfriend's amnesiac best friend while dancing to The Twist?
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