2002’s Spider-Man stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. He’s a high school student
living with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, he’s best friends with Harry Osborn, he’s bullied
by Flash Thompson, and he’s harboring a crush on Mary Jane Watson.
During a school trip to a genetics lab, Peter is bitten by a radioactive spider that gives
him superpowers. He has accelerated reflexes, increased strength, he can climb walls, sense
danger, and even shoot webs from his wrists. Peter uses his newfound abilities to beat
up school bully Flash, causing his Uncle Ben to give him the infamous “With great power
comes great responsibility” speech.
When Peter fights in a wrestling match to win some money to buy a car, the fight promoter
cheats him out of his winnings. And when a thief robs the promoter, a spiteful Peter
allows the thief to escape. The thief then goes on to kill Uncle Ben, causing great distress
to the guilty Peter.
After graduating high school and feeling inspired by his late Uncle’s words, Peter decides
to use his newfound powers to fight crime as the masked hero Spider-Man. Peter also
gets hired by Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson to take pictures of Spider-Man, which
Jameson uses to discredit the hero.
As Peter is becoming a hero, Norman Osborn, the father of Peter’s best friend Harry,
is becoming a villain. Norman is the head of the scientific corporation Oscorp, which
is developing advanced military equipment and performance enhancing chemicals. When
Norman tests the chemicals on himself he begins to go insane. Throughout the film, Norman
descends further into madness, killing off his business rivals using his signature pumpkin
bombs, and terrorizing the city as the villainous Green Goblin. Spider-Man fights Green Goblin,
ultimately leading to Norman inadvertently killing himself. When Spider-Man takes Norman’s
body to his home, Harry sees and vows vengeance on the masked hero, unaware it was Peter under
the mask. And when Mary Jane confesses her love for Peter, Peter turns her down, fearing
that his enemies would try to use her to get to him. Peter would be taking Uncle Ben’s
words on responsibility to heart.
In Spider-Man 2, Peter is saddened to discover that Mary Jane has become engaged to John
Jameson, the son of J. Jonah Jameson. Distraught over what being Spider-Man has cost him, he
decides to throw away his suit and try again at living a normal life.
Harry Osborn has now taken over as CEO of Oscorp, who were now funding a fusion power
project by nuclear scientist Otto Octavius. Otto becomes a friend and mentor of Peter,
who has always wanted to work in science. At a public demonstration of his fusion power,
Otto uses AI-powered robotic tentacle arms to handle hazardous material. But when the
fusion reactor destabilizes, Otto’s wife is killed and the robotic arms become fused
to his back.
A distraught Otto begins to become more and more influenced and corrupted by his new robotic
arms and wants desperately to retry his fusion reactor experiment. He begins robbing banks
to fund his new venture and the Daily Bugle dubs him Doctor Octopus. Eventually, Doc Ock
turns to Harry for supplies for his new fusion reactor, which Harry agrees to give him in
exchange for the capture of Spider-Man. Thinking Peter and Spider-Man are friends, Harry instructs
Otto to question Peter about Spider-Man’s whereabouts. And so, Doc Ock kidnaps Mary
Jane and tells Peter to bring him Spider-Man. This prompts Peter to retrieve his suit and
become Spider-Man once again. Doc Ock delivers Spider-Man to Harry, but upon discovering
that his best friend Peter was under the mask, he can’t bring himself to killing his rival.
And so, Peter leaves to confront Doc Ock and rescue Mary Jane.
Spider-Man confronts Doc Ock at his new waterfront lair. The two fight, and eventually Peter
is able to get through to Otto to make him see the danger his unstable new fusion reactor
posed. Otto is able to break out of the hold his AI robotic arms have on him and sacrifices
himself to destroy the reactor. Peter then saves Mary Jane, and now with the knowledge
that he is Spider-Man, she decides to ditch her fiance on their wedding day to confess
her love for Peter.
But things will get more complicated for Peter, as Harry has not only discovered Peter’s
secret identity. He’s also discovered his father’s secret room containing all of his
Green Goblin equipment.
In Spider-Man 3, things start off pretty great for Peter Parker. He’s been dating Mary
Jane for a year and plans on proposing. He’s also being taught by a new mentor, Dr. Curt
Connors, and one of his classmates is the comic book favorite Gwen Stacy. But things
quickly go downhill when a meteor crashes on Earth and an alien symbiote assimilates
with his Spider-Man suit. The symbiote begins enhancing Peter’s worst aspects, like his
rage and ego. This fractures his relationship with Mary Jane.
And it’s not just the symbiote Peter has to worry about. There’s three new villains
on the scene to cause all sorts of problems for our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Harry Osborn forces Mary Jane to break up with Peter by threatening his life, then uses
his father’s Green Goblin gear to attack Peter, but gets his own face scarred in the
process. Escaped convict Flint Marko, revealed to be Uncle Ben’s true killer, stumbles
into an experimental particle accelerator which fuses his body with sand, allowing him
to control and reform his body with it. Dubbed the Sandman, Marko begins robbing banks to
earn enough money to pay for his sick daughter’s much needed surgery. And when Peter exposes
rival photographer Eddie Brock as faking photos of Spider-Man, Brock is fired from the Daily
Bugle and forms his own grudge against Peter.
When Peter finally realizes that the symbiote is corrupting him, he deduces that sound weakens
it and uses the ringing of church bells to help detach the symbiote from his suit. The
symbiote then attaches itself to Eddie Brock, who becomes the new host for the alien villain
Venom. Venom teams up with Sandman to kill Spider-Man once and for all. As Venom and
Sandman attack Peter, Harry discovers the truth about his father’s death and decides
to use the Green Goblin gear to help his friend. Harry sacrifices himself to save Peter’s
life, and Peter then goes on to kill both Venom and Eddie. Flint confesses to Peter
that Uncle Ben’s death was an accident that’s haunted him to this day. Peter forgives Flint
and allows him to escape in order to pay for his daughter’s surgery. Then, following
Harry’s funeral, Peter and Mary Jane reconcile.