Now that Spider-Man: No Way Home has made us nostalgic for the earlier Spider-Man films, it’s worth taking a look back at the movies that built up to the most iconic team-up moment in Spider-Man’s cinematic history. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films played a big part in the early success of superhero movies taking over the box office landscape. Since Spider-Man, dozens of superhero movies and television shows have followed, many with huge successes of their own. They showed film studios that these comic-book characters could highly engage with millions of movie-goers all over the world. In turn, fans have become emotionally invested in many of these characters and will likely continue to do so for a long time.

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Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 3 was not as well-received as his previous two Spidey films. There are some valid reasons why. The film didn’t take itself as seriously as the previous movies, especially with the temporary introduction of an “Emo” Spider-Man, which broke from viewers’ expectations. The first two films built Peter’s friend Harry up to become the main villain of the third film, but, instead, Harry was reduced to a smaller role when both Sandman and Venom are introduced. Spider-Man 3 also added Gwen Stacy to the Spidey cinematic universe. Most comic book fans know that Gwen Stacy was Peter’s love even before MJ was in the picture. Therefore, adding her here for Peter to try and make MJ jealous (especially at this late stage in the trilogy) seemed like an unnecessary move. Not to mention, MJ, who’d been a bigger part of the first two Spider-Man films, was once again thrown into a damsel in distress role. In short, many fans would probably agree that too much was trying to be accomplished for one film and the overall story suffered because of it.

That being said, there were a lot of good things that came from this film as well. Here are 5 reasons Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 3 wasn’t that bad.

It is a Visually Impressive Film

     Sony Pictures

Out of the three Spider-Man films up to that point, this one overall looked the best. There are outstanding special effects for the time period it was made in, spectacular sets, and well-choreographed fight sequences. By 2007, CGI graphics had improved and this was on full display here. Updates in technology have led to even further advancements in more recent Spider-Man movies. Plus Spider-Man 3 took in nearly 900 million dollars at the box office, a very impressive number. It still ranks 3rd out of all 9 Spider-Man films in worldwide income all-time.

The Film Scored a 63% With Critics, Still a Respectable Number

     Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, and Laura Ziskin Productions

The first two Spider-Man films were so well-liked, it was inevitable this one wouldn’t live up to those lofty expectations. At the end of the day though, it was still liked more than it was disliked. As time has gone on, other Spider-Man films have also had silly dialogue and character development, too. Plus it still was an entertaining movie, even if it didn’t give the payoff many people were ultimately expecting. Let’s also not forget, while people loved The Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 also did not live up to fan or studio expectations. At least this version of the Spider-Man story was given three films to work with. Many fans are currently petitioning for an Amazing Spider-Man 3.

Spider-Man 3 Gives More Possibilities For Future Multiverse Appearances

While Spiderman: No Way Home has re-introduced many Spidey characters, there are still even more characters to work with in the future due to this film’s existence. Topher Grace as Venom has yet to make a re-appearance. The same goes for Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard’s version from Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man’s Emma Stone). James Franco’s version of Harry (and Goblin 2) is still available to bring back as well. This could lead to additional future Spidey scenarios and potentially give further redemption to this film in the process.

Spider-Man 3 Was Originally Going to Set up a Spider-Man 4 and Not a Reboot

     Sony Pictures Releasing

If you look at this film in the context that it wasn’t initially supposed to be the last one of the Tobey Maguire series, then it would have put less weight on the finality of this movie. Things that didn’t work in Spider-Man 3 could have been given better storyline explanation in the 4th film. It wouldn’t have changed people’s reaction to Spider-Man 3 necessarily; however, it may have better justified some of the choices that were made in this movie.

If Spider-Man 3 was Outstanding, We Likely Wouldn’t Have Tom Holland’s Spider-Man

     Sony

Perhaps things ultimately turned out for the best? If Spider-Man 4 had happened, it would have thrown off the timeline of all future Spider-Man films. Does Tom Holland even become Spider-Man then? Does Spider-Man still join The Avengers? No one can say for sure. If only for this reason, the reaction to Spider-Man 3 may have been a blessing in disguise in the long run.