Peter Parker (Sam Raimi film series)

Peter Parker
Sam Raimi's Spider-Man character
File:Toby-maguire-Spider-Man.jpg Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man in Spider-Man 3 (2007)
First appearance	Spider-Man (2002)
Last appearance	Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Portrayed by	Tobey Maguire
Voiced by	Tobey Maguire (movie video games) Neil Patrick Harris (The New Animated Series) James Arnold Taylor (Friend or Foe)
Information
Nickname(s)	Spidey
Aliases	Spider-Man Peter-Two
Species	Human mutate
Gender	Male
Family	May Parker (aunt) Ben Parker (uncle)
Nationality	American

Peter Benjamin Parker is a fictional character and secret identity of Spider-Man in the films, adapted from the comic-book character of the same name created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko; portrayed by Tobey Maguire and films created by screenwriter David Koepp. This rendition of Spider-Man follows the Sam Raimi trilogy of Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3, also appearing in video game adaptations derived from each film.

Peter is depicted as an intellectually-gifted and academically bright high school student in his senior academic year. However, his quiet, introverted nature, studious demeanor and meek disposition, along with being bullied and outcasted by his high school peers, lead him to developing into a social outsider. After being bitten by a genetically-mutated spider in a school field trip to a scientific laboratory, which grants him with spider-like superpowers, Peter initially decides to use his new-found abilities for his own selfish desires and wants. However, after his irresponsibility and new-found spitefulness leads to him refusing to stop an escaping armed robber in a chance encounter, who later ends up murdering his adoptive foster-father/uncle: Ben Parker, in an attempted armed robbery, a guilt-ridden Peter is left reconsidering the use of his powers and after realizing the true meaning of his uncle's last words that "with great power comes great responsibility"; a motto which would come to influence Peter for the remainder of his life and which his uncle recounted to Peter during their final conversation, before his subsequent murder. Inspired by his uncle's words, Peter decides to use his spider-powers for a more noble purpose and to help others, in an effort to atone for his partial role in his uncle's death, by undertaking vigilantism. In doing so, Peter chooses to sacrifice his chance for a normal life, instead opting to help others under the guise of his new masked identity of "Spider-Man".

The narrative of Raimi's trilogy focuses on Peter Parker's growth from high school to college, and his troubled relationship with his childhood best friend Harry Osborn, as well as his relationship with Mary Jane Watson, Peter's childhood crush and future girlfriend. The narrative follows his struggles with his dual life as a college student and young adult, often to the disappointment of his avuncular college teacher Dr Curt Connors, as well as his job as a freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle, under snarky, abrasive and sassy-mouthed editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson, who despises Parker's vigilante persona and constantly prints defamatory articles and news printings against Spider-Man. Parker's secret life as a vigilante would lead to many encounters with various super-human criminals/psychopaths, who looked to threaten the peace and lives of civilians in Parker's home of New York City. These include the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, New Goblin, Sandman and Venom; all of whom Peter would discover are linked to his civilian life in some shape or form.

Maguire was chosen by Raimi, although receiving doubts from several executives. Maguire was cast as the eponymous lead following his screen test, as well as acknowledging performances from his previous films. Maguire began his physical training for the role of Spider-Man, and even sought to learn the typical movements of spiders in his spare time. Costume designer James Acheson began forming several concepts for Spider-Man's suit designs, but decided on a final version soon after. Acheson claimed that the suit left Maguire feeling claustrophobic, preferring only to wear the suit if a scene did not require him to put on the mask. Maguire's portrayal of the character received largely positive responses from critics and fans alike, with many even claiming him to be the best theatrical/live-action adaptation of Stan Lee's original comic character, along with receiving praise from his live-action successors: Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland. A number of video game adaptations were attributed to the character from Raimi's movies, alongside an animated series that would act, on the surface, as a nominal sequel to the trilogy of films.

Creation and conception

Execution

File:Tobey Maguire by David Shankbone crop.jpg

Tobey Maguire at the premiere of the third film, 2007

David Koepp is the original screenwriter of the character outside of many attempted scripts to bring to life a Spider-Man film. Maguire was cast as Peter in July 2000, having been Raimi's primary choice for the role after he saw The Cider House Rules. The studio was initially hesitant to cast someone who did not seem to fit the ranks of "adrenaline-pumping, tail-kicking titans," but Maguire managed to impress studio executives with his audition. The actor was signed for a deal in the range of $3 to $4 million with higher salary options for two sequels. Maguire was trained by a physical trainer, a yoga instructor, a martial arts expert, and a climbing expert, taking several months to improve his physique.

Following the success of the first film, 2003 saw disparaging scenes between lead actor Tobey Maguire and the executives of distributor company Sony, as Maguire was close to being released from his contract following a dispute between the pair. Maguire had finished filming a now multi nominated Oscar production in the form of Seabiscuit, and had complained of the physical strain during his last two films. Sony executives believed that this was merely "part of Maguire's negotiating tactics", as a last attempt to bargain for a more lucrative paycheck; a statement quickly dismissed by Maguire's publicist.

Remaining a constant in all the rewrites was the "organic web shooter" idea from the Cameron "scriptment." Raimi felt he would stretch the audience's suspension of disbelief too far to have Peter invent mechanical web shooters.

Costume design

Although Spider-Man's suit wound up being faithful to the Spider-Man comics, many designs were made. One concept that costume designer James Acheson became fond of was the idea of having a red emblem over a black costume. Another, which would eventually lead to the final product, featured an enlarged logo on the chest and red stripes going down the sides of the legs. To create Spider-Man's costume, Maguire was fitted for the skintight suit, being covered with layers of substance to create the suit's shape. It was designed as a single piece, including the mask. A hard shell was worn underneath the mask to make the shape of the head look better and to keep the mask tight while keeping the wearer comfortable. For scenes where he would take off his mask, alternate suit where the mask was a separate piece. The webbing, which accented the costume, was cut by computer. The mask's eye-lenses were designed to have a mirror look. Dykstra said the biggest difficulty of creating Spider-Man was that as the character was masked, it immediately lost a lot of characterization. Without the context of eyes or mouth, a lot of body language had to be put in so that there would be emotional content. Raimi wanted to convey the essence of Spider-Man as being "the transition that occurs between him being a young man going through puberty and being a superhero." Dykstra said his crew of animators had never reached such a level of sophistication until giving subtle hints of making Spider-Man feel like a human being. When two studio executives were shown shots of the computer-generated character, they believed it was actually Maguire performing stunts.

Costume designer James Acheson made numerous subtle changes to Spider-Man's costume in Spider-Man 2, although keeping the design relatively the same. The colors were made richer and bolder. The spider emblem was given more elegant lines and enlarged, the eye-lenses were somewhat smaller, and the muscle suit underneath was made into pieces, to give a better sense of movement. The helmet Maguire wore under his mask was also improved, with better movement for the false jaw and magnetic eyepieces, which were easier to remove.

In Spider-Man 3, Peter has two variations of his suit: his traditional one and one colored in black that forms due to an alien symbiote bonding to him. Whereas the symbiote suit worn in the comics by Spider-Man was a plain black affair with a large white spider on the front and back, the design was changed for the film to become a black version of Spider-Man's traditional costume, complete with webbing motif. As a consequence of this, the suit Topher Grace wore as Venom also bore the webbing motif; as producer Grant Curtis noted, "it's the Spider-Man suit, but twisted and mangled in its own right." Additionally, the motif gave a sense of life to the symbiote, giving it the appearance of gripping onto the character's body.

Themes and analysis

See also: With great power comes great responsibility

"The most important thing Peter right now has to learn is that this whole concept of him as the avenger or him as the hero, he wears this red and blue outfit, with each criminal he brings to justice he's trying to pay down this debt of guilt he feels about the death of Uncle Ben. He considers himself a hero and a sinless person versus these villains that he nabs. We felt it would be a great thing for him to learn a little less black and white view of life and that he's not above these people."

—Sam Raimi, on how the character of Peter Parker developed in Spider-Man 3

The first film characterized Peter Parker as an intelligent, bookish, and level-headed yet lonely and isolated teenager; focusing on his personality as a shy and bashful outsider; before he gained his powers and subsequent struggles of accepting his new-found abilities. From overcoming these struggles, Peter eventually uses his abilities to help people, after his uncle was murdered by a car-jacker during a grand theft auto, for which he was partially responsible. Peter is constantly tormented by this event, after initially attempting to use his abilities for personal gain. As a result, he is motivated to use his super-human abilities for a more noble cause, under the persona of a masked vigilante: "Spider-Man", in order to atone for his uncle's death. However, even after taking up the persona of Spider-Man, Peter still retains his socially-inept, awkward and dorky, yet endearingly good-hearted nature, and develops a sarcastic and witty sense of humour in his Spider-Man guise. Peter deals with all his personal struggles, all while wrestling with his feelings for his childhood crush and close friend Mary Jane Watson and handling his close relationship with his best friend Harry Osborn.

In Spider-Man 2, director Sam Raimi felt that the film had to thematically explore Peter's internal conflict with his personal wants against his responsibility, the positives and negatives of his chosen path, and how he ultimately decides that he can be happy as a heroic figure. Raimi stated the story was partly influenced by Superman II, which also explored the titular hero giving up his responsibilities. The sequel's story is mainly taken from the comic book series The Amazing Spider-Man No. 50, "Spider-Man No More!" According to Raimi, Peter Parker's story is about "a life out of balance". Peter is caught between a life where he tries to help people and atone for his uncle's death with his Spider-Man alter-ego and another where he tries to balance his studies, occupation as a photographer and his relationship with his family and friends. Peter acknowledges that he cannot be with Mary Jane without endangering her, due to his Spider-Man alter-ego; fearing that if his enemies would ever find out about his true identity, they would target his loved ones. As a result, Peter distances himself from Mary Jane, but eventually rekindles his relationship with her after she finds out about his dual life, and struggles he has faced.

In Spider-Man 3, Raimi intended to further develop Peter's character with the planned film focusing on Peter learning that he is not a sinless vigilante and that there can also be humanity in those he considers criminals, especially as the Venom symbiote brings out the darker aspects of Peter's personality upon bonding with him. Raimi himself quoted: "The most important thing Peter right now has to learn is that this whole concept of him as the avenger or him as the hero, he wears this red and blue outfit, with each criminal he brings to justice he's trying to pay down this debt of guilt he feels about the death of Uncle Ben. He considers himself a hero and a sinless person versus these villains that he nabs. We felt it would be a great thing for him to learn a little less black and white view of life and that he's not above these people." Raimi based his ideas out of the original comic books.

Following the release of the third installment of the series, and its subsequent success at the box office, the now billion dollar franchise had been put into disarray, after director Sam Raimi had become unhappy with the script, leaving the movie to fall past its projected May 2011 release date. Further details were released after a statement made by Raimi explaining "the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job". Later reports confirmed that both Maguire and Raimi had left their respective roles. Sony proceeded with a reboot of the series titled The Amazing Spider-Man, starring Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. The reboot was released in the United States on July 3, 2012.

Film appearances

Template:Long plot summary

Spider-Man (2002)

Main article: Spider-Man (2002 film)

As Peter provides overwrought narration during the first few minutes of the film, he is introduced as a shy, bespectacled outsider at Midtown High School in New York City struggling to catch up to a school bus, before his next door neighbor and crush Mary Jane Watson gets the driver to stop. Prior to a school field trip to Columbia University, Peter meets up with his best friend Harry Osborn, who introduces him to his father Norman, the CEO of Oscorp whom Peter idolizes. Norman immediately takes a liking to Peter due to his evident scientific prowess. As Peter, Harry, Mary Jane, and their classmates tour a genetics laboratory at the university, Mary Jane notes one of 15 genetically modified spiders in an exhibit missing. The spider in question drops onto Peter as he takes a picture of MJ for the school newspaper and bites him. Peter apparently falls ill upon returning home and passes out in his room.

The next morning, Peter finds he is no longer near-sighted and his body has metamorphosed into a more muscular physique. At school, he finds that he can shoot webs out of his wrists, and that his quickened reflexes let him avoid injury during a confrontation with bully Flash Thompson, Mary Jane's boyfriend, and Peter knocks Flash out with one punch, though he later apologizes to Mary Jane for the confrontation. Peter discovers he has developed superhuman speed and strength, the ability to stick to surfaces, and a heightened ability to sense danger. After noticing Flash's new car, Peter considers impressing Mary Jane with his own car. Brushing off his Uncle Ben's advice that "with great power comes great responsibility", he enters an underground wrestling tournament to raise the money and wins his first match, but the promoter cheats him of his earnings. When a thief suddenly robs the promoter's office, Peter allows him to escape. Moments later, he discovers Ben was carjacked and killed. Peter pursues and confronts the carjacker, only to realize it was the thief he let escape. After Peter disarms him, the carjacker flees but dies after falling out a window.

Upon graduating, Peter, finally taking Ben's words to heart out of guilt, begins using his abilities to fight injustice, donning a costume and the persona of Spider-Man. This does not impress J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the Daily Bugle newspaper, and he begins a smear campaign against the wall-crawler. Jameson hires Peter as a freelance photographer, since Peter is the only person providing clear images of Spider-Man. Peter moves into an apartment with Harry paid for by Norman upon starting college. He keeps his identity as Spider-Man secret from Harry, who likewise keeps his dating relationship with Mary Jane, who had broken up with Flash, a secret from Peter until she reveals it to him.

Peter is assigned by Jameson to take pictures at the World Unity Fair, which Mary Jane and Harry attend together with the Oscorp board of directors. Suddenly, the Green Goblin, who is actually Norman with a crazed second personality, attacks the fair and assassinates the board of directors with a pumpkin bomb, endangering Mary Jane and Harry. Peter changes into his Spider-Man suit, saving several civilians from the Goblin before rescuing Mary Jane after she falls from a balcony. The Goblin takes note of Spider-Man and proposes a truce to work together. Some time later, the Goblin demands Spider-Man's answer after luring him to a burning building, but the latter refuses, resulting in a fight that leaves Spider-Man with a cut on his arm.

During Thanksgiving dinner with Peter, his Aunt May, MJ, and Harry, Norman notices the cut on Peter's arm and deduces his secret identity as Spider-Man. He then attacks and hospitalizes May in an attempt to "go after [Peter]'s heart". While visiting Peter and Aunt May at the hospital, Mary Jane admits to Peter she is infatuated with Spider-Man, who saved her once again from thugs in an alley, and she asks Peter if Spider-Man had ever asked about her. As Peter indirectly reveals his feelings for her, Harry walks in on the two as they are holding hands. Devastated, Harry confides in his father that Mary Jane loves Peter, inadvertently revealing Spider-Man's true weakness. The Goblin then kidnaps MJ and holds her and a Roosevelt Island Tramway car full of children hostage along the Queensboro Bridge, forcing Spider-Man to choose whom to save before dropping them. Peter manages to save both with assistance from a tugboat as Norman is jeered by civilians who side with Spider-Man.

Norman then grabs Peter, throws him into an abandoned building, and brutally beats him. When Norman boasts about how he will later kill Mary Jane, an enraged Peter overpowers Norman. Norman reveals himself to Peter, who stops attacking, and begs for forgiveness but at the same time controls his glider to try to impale Peter. Warned by his spider-sense, Peter dodges the attack, and the glider fatally impales Norman instead. With his dying breath, Norman tells Peter not to reveal his identity as the Green Goblin to Harry. Peter takes Norman's body back to the Osborn house and hides the Goblin's suit and equipment, but Harry arrives to find him standing over his father's body. Harry seizes a gun, intent on shooting Spider-Man, but he escapes.

At Norman's funeral, Harry swears vengeance toward Spider-Man, whom he deems responsible for his father's death, and asserts that Peter is all the family he has left. Mary Jane confesses to Peter she is in love with him. Peter, however, feels he must protect her from the unwanted attention of his enemies, so he hides his true feelings and tells Mary Jane that they can only be friends. As Peter leaves the funeral, he recalls Ben's words and accepts his responsibility as Spider-Man.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Main article: Spider-Man 2

Two years after the first film, Peter struggles to maintain his personal life while serving as Spider-Man, getting fired from a second job he takes as a pizza delivery boy while simultaneously struggling with his studies at Columbia University and his finances. He is also growing distant from his two friends, Harry and Mary Jane, who have found success as the new CEO of Oscorp and a Broadway actress, respectively, and discovers Aunt May is facing foreclosure of her home after his surprise birthday party.

Harry introduces Peter to his idol Dr. Otto Octavius, whose research Oscorp is funding, prior to a demonstration of Octavius' work on fusion power. During the demonstration, Octavius dons a harness with four robotic arms and artificial intelligence. Despite a successful start, the demonstration becomes unstable. Octavius ignores Harry's demands to shut it off while Peter dons his suit to unplug it, but not before the resulting explosion kills Octavius' wife and assistant Rosalie and fuses the harness to his spine, also destroying the inhibitor chip that keeps Octavius in control of the arms.

As Peter and May go to a bank to argue against her foreclosure, Octavius, now increasingly influenced by the arms and dubbed "Doctor Octopus" or "Doc Ock" by Jameson, robs the bank in an attempt to finance a second attempt at his experiment. Peter dons his Spider-Man suit again and takes on Doc Ock as he holds May hostage. Spider-Man manages to rescue May despite letting Doc Ock flee with the money. After discovering that Mary Jane is getting engaged to Jameson's son John and getting into a fight with a drunken Harry during a party, Peter suffers an emotional breakdown over his inability to balance his life, losing his powers as a result. He decides to give up being Spider-Man after consulting with a doctor, throwing away his suit, which a garbage man discovers and sends to Jameson.

Peter begins to succeed in his studies and turn his life around, beginning to mend his relationship with Mary Jane. He also reveals to Aunt May his role in inadvertently causing Uncle Ben's death, though May forgives him after initial shock. While Peter helps May move out of her home, she advises him about the hope Spider-Man gives to the people in spite of the sacrifices he must make. This encourages Peter to attempt a comeback as Spider-Man due to increased crime in New York, though his powers remain lost.

Requiring the isotope tritium to fuel his reactor, Octavius visits Harry to demand it. Harry agrees in exchange for Spider-Man, whom he believes is responsible for Norman's death. He tells Octavius to seek Peter, who Harry believes is friends with Spider-Man, but tells Octavius not to harm him. As Mary Jane invites Peter to a café to discuss whether or not he loves her, Octavius locates Peter, tells him to find Spider-Man, and captures Mary Jane. Her endangerment leads to Peter's powers resurrecting. As Jameson admits that he was wrong about Spider-Man, Peter steals his costume back from the Bugle and goes after Octavius. As Peter battles Octavius, they fall onto a New York City Subway train. Octavius sabotages the controls and leaves Peter to save the passengers, which he does at a great physical toll. When he faints from exhaustion, the grateful passengers save him from falling and bring him into the train, seeing his unmasked face but promising to keep their knowledge hidden. They unsuccessfully try to protect him when Octavius returns to capture Peter, whom Octavius delivers to Harry.

After giving Octavius the tritium, Harry prepares to kill Spider-Man, only to be shocked to see Peter under the mask. Peter convinces Harry to direct him to Octavius' lair, as bigger things are at stake. As Peter arrives at the doctor's waterfront laboratory and attempts to rescue Mary Jane discreetly, Octavius discovers him, and they battle as the nuclear reaction swells and starts threatening the city. Peter ultimately subdues Octavius, reveals his identity, and persuades Octavius to let his dream go for the greater good. Octavius commands the tentacles to obey him, and gives his life to destroy the experiment. Mary Jane sees Peter's true identity and feelings, which he says is why they cannot be together. Peter returns Mary Jane to John, and leaves. However, MJ leaves John at the altar during their wedding and runs to Peter's apartment, declaring she is willing to accept any risks that come with being in a relationship with Peter. The two finally become a couple, and Mary Jane sees Peter off as he swings into action as Spider-Man to assist emergency services.

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Main article: Spider-Man 3

Months after the events of the second film, Peter finally finds stability and success in both his personal life and exploits as Spider-Man. He and Mary Jane are happily dating, and after attending her performance in a new play, catches up with her in Central Park. A meteor lands nearby and a goo-like alien symbiote oozes out and attaches itself to Peter's moped. After sending Mary Jane home and talking to Aunt May, who gives him the engagement ring given to her by Uncle Ben, about proposing to MJ, Peter is suddenly ambushed on his way home by a masked figure on a glider, who reveals himself to be Harry. Having utilized his father's equipment and Goblin serum, Harry attacks Peter, intent on avenging Norman's death, despite Peter desperately mentioning that Norman had in fact killed himself trying to kill Peter. An aerial chase ensues, resulting in Harry getting knocked out cold when Peter sets a trap for him. After Peter takes Harry to the emergency room, the latter wakes up the following morning having suffered amnesia and forgotten his vendetta against Spider-Man, and Harry re-embraces Peter and Mary Jane as his best friends.

Mary Jane is upset by a negative review of her performance, and Peter tries to relate to her using his experience as Spider-Man, to no avail. She later neglects to inform him when she loses her role in the play. At work at the Daily Bugle, Peter finds that a rival freelance photographer, Eddie Brock, has also begun taking pictures of Spider-Man, and Jameson pits the two photographers against each other for a staff job for the newspaper. He later finds out about a ceremony in which Spider-Man would be given the key to the city for rescuing Gwen Stacy, the daughter of NYPD commissioner George Stacy and also Peter's lab partner at Columbia University. Peter, who dons his suit and persona for the ceremony, basks in the crowd's cheers and gives Gwen an upside-down kiss reminiscent of his kiss with Mary-Jane in the first movie. This upsets Mary Jane, who is watching in the crowd with Harry, and leads to an argument later during a dinner date with Peter, who postpones his plans to propose to her at the restaurant.

Peter also encounters Flint Marko, also known as "Sandman", who disrupts the ceremony while appearing as a sandstorm and robs a bank, with Spider-Man helping out the police. Upon discovering that Marko was the one who fatally shot Uncle Ben, not the carjacker as previously believed, Peter develops a vendetta against Marko and upon falling asleep while listening to police radio, the symbiote oozes out from Peter's closet and bonds with his suit, turning it black. Empowered by the new suit's abilities and with his anger amplified, Peter decides to give his biophysics professor, Dr. Curt Connors, a sample of the symbiote to study. Peter dons the symbiote suit while confronting Marko in the subway tunnels, leading to Marko's apparent demise when a deluge of water reduces him to mud. Upon Peter telling May about Sandman's apparent death at Spider-Man's hands, May is not amused and warns him about the adverse effects of revenge, despite Sandman having killed her husband.

Meanwhile, Mary Jane spends time bonding with Harry, and after she inadvertently kisses him and rushes out, Harry regains his memory and vendetta after experiencing a flood of emotions. Experiencing another vision of his father, who entices him to go after Peter's heart, Harry blackmails Mary Jane into breaking up with Peter and claiming she had "fallen in love with another man". Harry claims to Peter he is the "other man", enraging Peter, who later confronts Harry at his penthouse while armed with the black suit. The former friends engage in a brutal fist-fight and Peter emerges on top, insulting Harry by mocking his relationship with his father. Harry then throws a pumpkin bomb in a last-ditch attack on Peter, who effortlessly slings the bomb back at Harry's face and leaves.

Peter thwarts an attempt by Eddie to claim the job at the Bugle by revealing that his photo was doctored, leading to Brock's dismissal and subsequent falling out with Gwen, whom he was dating at the time. Peter then gains the job with his own picture of Spider-Man, and under influence from the symbiote, begins to act more arrogantly. He takes Gwen to a jazz club where Mary Jane had taken up work a interrupts a song she is performing with his own dance routine. As Gwen realizes Peter is trying to make MJ jealous and leaves, the club bouncers attempt to throw Peter out, but he attacks them and inadvertently hits Mary Jane when she intervenes. Realizing what he had become when he sees a horrified MJ, Peter leaves and gets rid of the symbiote suit by utilizing church bells to stun the symbiote. This leads to the symbiote falling onto and bonding with Brock, who, unbeknownst to Peter, was at the church praying for God to kill Peter. This creates a new enemy, Venom, as Brock now knows Spider-Man's secret identity.

After Aunt May visits Peter encouraging him not to give up on Mary Jane, Venom and Sandman decide to work together to eradicate Spider-Man. The two villains kidnap Mary Jane to get Peter's attention and dangle her from a skyscraper construction site. With no other choice, Peter pleads with Harry to help him, but a broken-spirited Harry, whose face was disfigured from the bomb, refuses and tells Peter to leave. Peter encounters Venom in his regular suit and tries to free Mary Jane, but is ambushed by Sandman. As he is nearly beaten to death by Sandman, Harry, who had discovered the truth of his father's death from his butler, arrives in his New Goblin persona to aid his old friend. Peter and Harry prove to be a formidable tandem, defeating Sandman and rescuing Mary Jane, but face difficulty in subduing Venom, who attempts to stab Peter with Harry's gilder, but Harry takes the blade for Peter. Remembering the symbiote's weakness to sound, Peter weakens Venom and pulls Eddie out from the symbiote, preparing to destroy it with a bomb, but Eddie jumps back to the symbiote and is killed with it when the bomb explodes.

Marko re-emerges behind Peter and explains that Ben's death was an accident rooted in a desperate attempt to save his terminally-ill daughter's life, and that it has haunted him since. Peter forgives Marko and allows him to escape. He then swings down to a mortally-wounded Harry, who is tended to by Mary Jane. Peter and Harry forgive each other and reaffirm their friendship prior to Harry dying from his injuries. Peter and Mary Jane attend Harry's funeral with several others and later begin to repair their relationship.

Comic appearances

Mainstream continuity

Although he does not physically appear, this version of Parker is referenced in the Marvel Comics event Spider-Verse which featured many interpretations of the character from many different media. Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man is mentioned as "the guy from Seabiscuit".

In other media

Television

• After the success of Raimi's first film, a CGI animated series/spin-off was released in 2003, starring Neil Patrick Harris as the titular protagonist. This series served as a loose continuation to the first Spider-Man film, taking place 2 years before the events of Spider-Man 2, and was considerably darker, grittier, adult-oriented and mature in tone and direction, compared to other Spider-Man adaptations. It received a generally positive reception from critics and audiences.

Film

• Both versions of Peter Parker who appear in Sony Animation Pictures' 2018 CGI film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse take inspiration from this incarnation of Spider-Man. The older Peter Parker, voiced by Jake Johnson, is meant to evoke an older, more cynical version of Tobey Maguire's portrayal, outright referencing several iconic moments from these films as across his career and is generally down on his luck, while the younger Peter Parker from Miles Morales' dimension, voiced by Chris Pine, who undergoes identical escapades but is far more fortunate and successful in life, including a happy marriage with Mary Jane, while the older Peter also had this marriage, but reluctantly ended up divorced due to feeling unfit to be a father because of his risky calling.

Video games

• The video games Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3 are based on the film series for which they are named, and all three include voice acting by Tobey Maguire. The trilogy of video game adaptations found their existence through a collaborative effort between (at the time) small-time video game publisher Activision and video game developers Treyarch. The first and second installments were met with favorable reviews by a large consumer base, earned upon each of their respective releases, with 2004's Spider-Man 2 garnering great success upon its arrival "with the PlayStation 2 version becoming the seventh-best-selling title of the year in the U.S.". The third installment of the video game trilogy did not live to the expectations of its predecessors, much like its film counterpart, as the video game was met with lackluster reviews, leaving much to be desired about the title. Tobey Maguire also returned to provide voice work for the character of Peter Parker / Spider-Man in all three games.

• This version of Peter Parker appears in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, voiced by James Arnold Taylor. In an alternate timeline where all villains Spider-Man has faced managed to survive a seemingly inevitable death, he is recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury to travel to different locations around the world to recover shards from the meteor the symbiote arrived in, before they fall into the wrong hands of his enemies that are being mind-controlled.

• The suit from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy was added as a bonus suit as part of the Rhino Challenge Pack DLC in The Amazing Spider-Man movie game. The Black Suit from Spider-Man 3 was also available in-game and is unlocked if certain requirements are met, or can be immediately unlocked by taking photos of hidden spider graffiti in the city.

• The suit from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy was added as an alternate costume named the "Webbed Suit" to Marvel's Spider-Man during a free update in December 2018.

Reception

Fans and critics

"What made Maguire’s Spidey so great, though, wasn’t how he portrayed the soaring superhero, but rather the humanity and downright dorkiness that was his Peter Parker, the ['man'] half of Spider-Man.

 – The Hollywood Reporter staff Aaron Couch, Graeme McMillan, and Patrick Shanley

Maguire's portrayal of the character has received a very positive reception. The actor's performance and portrayal of Spider-Man, along with Sam Raimi's characterization of the character, was subject to much of the praise towards Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film trilogy; being cited as true to the Spider-Man mythos as through obtaining most of the socially-inept, awkward and nerdy aspects of the character's personality, along with his witty sense of humour and cheesy one-liners, underlying humanity, internal conflicts, relatability and struggles with his dual alter-ego and his normal life, praising the well-rounded, character-driven and faithful take on the titular character. The Hollywood Reporter placed Maguire's portrayal of Spider-Man as the tenth greatest superhero film portrayal of all time. Entertainment Weekly placed him as the tenth coolest hero of all time. Nick Philpott of Comic Book Resources placed Maguire's version as the 4th best take on Spider-Man, this being lower than both Andrew Garfield's and Tom Holland's take on the web-slinger, opining that he has the affect of the comic book version despite being too old for the role of the character.

File:Spiderman.JPG

Spider-Man statue at Madame Tussauds London.

Despite a positive reception towards the character and Maguire's acting, the low amount of wisecracks and humour that Maguire's Spider-Man uses on criminals and super-villains, compared to his much more motor-mouthed comic book counterpart, has been noted by many, with some praising the low amount of wisecracks used by Maguire's version of the character, while others disliked the change. Maguire's performance as the Venom symbiote-possessed Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Spider-Man 3 was met with a mixed response, which has been described by a number of critics as "embarrassing" and "comical", while others felt that the performance was fitting. However, the more darker, vengeful, less comical and abrasive portion of his performance in his serious moments received much more praise.

Accolades

Year	Film	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2003	Spider-Man	MTV Movie Awards	Best Male Performance	Nominated
		29th Saturn Awards	Best Actor	Nominated
2005	Spider-Man 2	10th Empire Awards	Best Actor	Nominated
		31st Saturn Awards	Best Actor	Won
2007	Spider-Man 3	1st National Movie Awards	Best Performance by a Male	Nominated

See also

• Peter Parker (The Amazing Spider-Man film series)
• Peter Parker (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

References

File:CC-BY-SA icon.svg The plot description and characterization were adapted from Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) and Spider-Man (film) at Spider-Man Films Wiki, which are available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license.

External links

• Peter Parker (Earth-96283) on Marvel Database, a Marvel Comics wiki