Editorial: Comparing the Spiderman Franchises

Sony has churned out five Spiderman movies over two different franchises in the last 12 years. Some of the films have been great, others not so much. So I thought I would throw my two cents in and compare the two franchises. Expect SPOILERS from all Spidey films. Let us begin...

1. Better Peter Parker/Spiderman: Andrew Garfield

Why?: After seeing two full movies with Garfield as Spidey, I can confidently say that he is the Superior Spiderman. He nails Spidey's fun loving and joking nature, while also being able to portray  Peter Parker's more dramatic moments. Garfield's Peter Parker has also cries less, which is a plus. The original trilogy had Maguire openly weeping more than cracking jokes. That is not Maguire's fault, but his Spiderman feels a lot less like the comic character than Garfield's.

2. Better Love Interest: Emma Stone/Gwen Stacy

Why?: This was the easiest decision of the bunch. Emma Stone's Gwen is the far better love interest of Peter Parker. Gwen was able to help Spiderman defeat his villains in each of the Amazing Spiderman films, while Kristen Dunst's MJ would always find her way to cause problems for Peter. Gwen is smart, beautiful, and understanding. She has a natural likability to her that Dunst's MJ was just unable to achieve.

3. Better Villains: The Original Trilogy (Doc Ock, Gobby, etc.)

Why?: Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus almost single handedly won this category for the original trilogy. The beef I have had with all the villain's of the Spidey franchise is that have been sympathetic foes with voices in their heads. For that reason I am excited to see where Dehaan's Goblin goes from the ending of Amazing Spiderman 2. He has been the only villain out the 8 (I am not counting Paul Giamatti's Rhino because he is a total clown) in the franchise not to have a voice in his head. Perhaps with Gobby's growth and Sinister Six and Venom films on the horizon the Amazing franchise will have better villains down the road. Until then though, Raimi's baddies get the nod.

4. Best Fight Sequence: Doc Ock vs. Spidey on the Train

Why?: The Amazing series better showcases Spiderman's fight style especially the use of his webbing in battle, but the train sequence from Spiderman 2 is the most iconic fight of any of the films. Spidey must fight Ock while protecting the citizens on the locomotive. This leads Spidey to use all his strength to stop the moving train. An easy feat for Superman, but for Spidey not so much.

5. Better Director: Sam Raimi

Why?: Raimi's first two Spiderman films are fun, tight knit, and well executed. While Webb's ventures with Spidey had it's moments, but have been overstuffed. What Webb really excels at is the romantic scenes between Peter and Gwen, but then he almost tries to make these popcorn film too indie. I would be interested in seeing what Webb has left on the editing room floor from his two flicks maybe the deleted scenes would have worked better to make his films less clunky. Raimi's first two films are just much more well rounded and get the nod. 

6. Better Supporting Cast: The Original Trilogy

Why?: This was a very tough choice. The Original Trilogy wins by a nose because of having the most perfect cast character of any of the films in J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. Sally Field and Martin Sheen's portrayals of Ben and May are excellent, but just not enough to topple JJ. 

7. Best Stan Lee Cameo: Amazing Spiderman (Librarian)

Why?: The Godfather of comics and the creator of Spiderman Stan Lee has made a cameo in all the five films. The most memorable by far is his turn as the obvious librarian. Spidey and the Lizard battle it out as Stan the Man is too busy to notice. Classic.

Bonus Catergories: 

A. Best Comic Book Moments from each Franchise:

Amazing: The Death of Gwen Stacy

The Original Trilogy: Death of Goblin by Glider

Two deaths as the best moments. Tells you a lot about me.

B. Worst Moments from each franchise:

Amazing: The Uncle Ben Responsibility Speech and Death

The attempt to be different failed. Uncle Ben stumbled through a crappy speech and was killed because Peter wanted chocolate milk.

The Original Trilogy: Spiderman 3's Dance 

Words cannot explain. WTF was everyone on this movie thinking?

Best Spiderman Film: Spiderman 2 (2003)

Worst Spiderman Film: Spiderman 3 (2007)

Finally Tally: Original: 4 vs. Amazing: 3

The leads of the Amazing Spiderman series are an improvement over the originals. I actually prefer the fighting style in the new films as well. But when push comes to shove the Original trilogy still has a slight edge over the newbie franchise. The original films are fun and well executed. They also sport the best villain of the series so far, Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus. Now while I picked the Original Trilogy in more categories, I actually like the Amazing Spiderman movies more myself. I believe they are more accurate to the character of Spiderman from the comic books. What really hurts this newer franchise is it's need to be different from the original. The Amazing Spiderman's attempt to have a different origin was a failure. Spiderman nailed the origin of Spidey and the deviation to be different made the beginning of the movie feel like a crappy retread. Now trying to set up future films and characters is what really hurt Amazing Spiderman 2. For all that movie got right, it was just too damn overstuffed. Taking all of that into account, I still think the future of Spiderman franchise is bright. Garfield is excellent. Just a top notch Spiderman. And I am hopeful for these spin-off villain films will be successful and start a new niche in the comic book movie genre. Peter Parker will never give up and never will his movies.

Best Spidey Suit by Far

Thanks for reading! What do you think of the Spidey films? Which is your favorite? Sound off in the comments. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter @Caped_Informers or follow me @cstrand73 to catch up on all things comics.