Spider-Man: How to watch Marvel's wall-crawler movies from the MCU to the Spider-Verse in release and chronological order
With great power comes great rewatchability with Marvel's Spider-Man movies
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Who knew that making billions of dollars across multiple movies fell under the perview of doing "whatever a spider can?"
You would know, of course, if you are fan of Marvel's most ubiquitous and finally successful hero, Spider-Man. And with thirteen films spanning over two decades, it's easy to count yourself as one of those fans.
What's not as easy, however, is assembling a list of those movies for a webhead watchathon. But if you want to dive into Spider-Man’s filmography, and aren’t sure how to navigate it all, we’ve got you covered! Popverse's Spider-Man watch order will guide you through the movies based on your preferences and answer frequently asked questions so you can get started on your Spidey film journey.
Enjoy!
How do I watch every Spider-Man film in release order?
- Spider-Man (2002)
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- Spider-Man 3 (2007)
- The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
- The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story (2024)
- Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2024)
Popverse has assembled everything you need to know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from our MCU watch order to a guide to upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows. Plus, we've taken the time to rank the entire MCU and compile the biggest outstanding questions from Marvel's connected films. Enjoy.
Pretty simple, yes? The only thing is that, plot-wise, these movies don’t connect (not for a while anyway). And if what you’re hankering for in a Spidey cinematic safari is story, then you might want to think twice before just tracking the series by date. If that describes you, then there’s a question you’re going to get answered before you dive into the overarching story of the films, and that is…
How are all the Spider-Man movies connected?
The tricky part about this question is that, prior to 2018, the Spider-Man movies weren’t connected at all. Sony and eventually Marvel Studios produced not one but three different Spider-Man continuities, and before we can talk about they eventually coalesced, we’ve got to define them. Here’s a quick recap of the Spider-Man movies, pre-convergence:
The Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire Trilogy
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In 2002, Spider-Man finally came to the big screen after years of false starts and development hell. The Sam Raimi directed trilogy featured Tobey Maguire in the title role. The trilogy dominated the box office, making Spider-Man one of the first big comic book movie franchises of the 21st century. If you want to watch the Raimi/Maguire Spider-Man trilogy, here is the chronological order.
- Spider-Man (2002)
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The Marc Webb/Andrew Garfield Series
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In 2012, the Spider-Man film series was rebooted, with Marc Webb serving as director, and Andrew Garfield suiting up as Peter Parker. Webb’s films put a new spin on the mythos, telling a different kind of story than what was seen in Raimi’s films. There was a larger focus on the mystery of Peter Parker’s parents. The films also leaned into the love story between Garfield’s Peter Parker and Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy. If you want to watch the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man films, here is their release order.
- The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
The Tom Holland/MCU Series
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In 2015, Sony Pictures announced a partnership with Marvel Studios for the next phase of Spider-Man movies, which would allow Spidey to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tom Holland was cast as Peter Parker, making his big screen debut as Spidey in Captain America: Civil War (2016). Holland went on to star in his own Spider-Man movie and, afterwards, play a pivotal role in the battle against Thanos. If you want to watch Tom Holland’s Spider-Man films, pre-convergence, here is their chronological order.
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
We won’t spoil the ending of Avengers: Infinity War (though you really should have seen it by now), but we will say there is a major change for Holland’s Spider-Man at the end of that film. However, even that change pales when stacked next to what was coming just a few months after Infinity War’s release. Spider-Man was about to appear on screens again, animated rather than live-action, and introduce the world to a connected, unified Spider-Man timeline. Or as Miles Morales knows it…
The Spider-Verse
We won’t extoll each of the amazing things about 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse here (we doubt we have the space), because for the purposes of this list, the most important thing it did was bring together the timelines of every single Spider-Man movie. Though it wouldn’t be until 2021 that the live-action Spider-Men met on screen, it was Spider-Verse that produced the idea of a connected web of Spider-People, forever binding together what was once disparate adaptations of Marvel’s wall-crawler into one overlapping multiverse.
With the timeline distinctions covered, it’s time to arrange these movies in a way that puts the events of Spider-Man’s world ahead of the movie release events of ours. In other words, it’s time to ask…
How do I watch every Spider-Man film in chronological order?
In order to make this list as accurate as possible, I’m going to be putting the ones we’ve discussed above into categories, then listing them in bold. Remember, though these films have their own chronology, it doesn’t matter in which order you watch each series, so long as you view them all before Into the Spider-Verse. Without further ado, here’s Popverse’s chronological watch orders of the Spider-Man films:
The Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire Trilogy
- Spider-Man (2002)
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The Marc Webb/Andrew Garfield Series
- The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
The Tom Holland/MCU Series
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Where are Venom and Morbius in the Spider-Verse timeline?
Sony has the motion picture rights to Spider-Man, and that deal includes many of the villains and allies in Spider-Man’s world. With the rise of superhero films at the box office, Sony has tried to create their own Spider-Man cinematic universe. As of this writing three spin-off films exist in that universe, with plans for more on the way.
While Morbius and the Venom films have connections to the world of Spider-Man, they are not considered Spider-Man movies. Spider-Man does not appear in any of the films, except as a piece of news footage during the end credits of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. For that reason, it’s hard to justify classifying them as Spider-Man films and putting them on the master list at the beginning of the article.
However, these movies do set some seeds that might play out in future Spider-Man films. The post-credits scene from Morbius features the return of Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes, and hints at the formation of the Sinister Six. The credits scene for Venom: Let There Be Carnage also sets up Tom Hardy’s cameo during the post-credits scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
There is also a question of continuity. Morbius and Venom seem to take place in a different universe than the one inhabited by Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. However, the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home seem to have broken the barriers between the universes, allowing characters to crossover. This could lead to some fun in future Tom Holland solo movies.
If you’re interested in watching the Spider-Man spin-off films, here is their viewing order.
What about the Japanese Spider-Man film from 1978?
The Toei Company Spider-Man television series is one of the weirdest chapters in the Webhead’s career, but it’s also one of the most fun. It would be an understatement to say that the live-action Japanese television series took some liberties with the source material. The character is called Spider-Man, and he wears his iconic costume, but that’s about it. Instead of photographer Peter Parker, he’s a motorcycle racer named Takuya Yamashiro. Instead of a science demonstration on radiation, Takuya’s powers came from an alien from Planet Spider.
The series also gave Spider-Man a giant fighting mecha, which is probably the show’s most lasting piece of pop culture influence. The popularity of Spider-Man’s mecha Leopardon led to the Toei Company including giant fighting robots in their Super Sentai series. In other words, the Power Rangers had a Megazord because Spider-Man had Leopardon.
In 1978 the Toei Company produced a Spider-Man film (simply titled Spider-Man) for Japan’s Toei Manga Matsuri film festival. The film was only 24 minutes long, which makes it hard to consider it a true movie. For that reason, it has been left off the master list at the beginning of the article. Film or not, the Japanese version of Spider-Man is still a fun piece of media that every Spidey fan should experience at least once.
Didn’t Nicholas Hammond have his own Spider-Man trilogy?
From 1977 through 1979, Nicholas Hammond played the title role in the live-action The Amazing Spider-Man television series. Although the series didn’t feature any of Spider-Man’s iconic villains and very few members of his supporting cast appeared, the series entertained Spider-Man fans in an era where superhero shows had smaller budgets and shorter runs. Nicholas Hammond is also fondly remembered for the way he embodied a more mature Peter Parker.
Interestingly for our purposes, the pilot for the series was a television movie, which was common practice at the time. The 1977 television pilot movie was simply called Spider-Man. It was later given a theatrical run outside of the United States. However, because it was initially written, shot, and released as a television production, we’re not counting it as an official movie. Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978) and Spider-Man: The Dragon’s Challenge (1981) soon followed.
Both had theatrical releases outside of the United States, but both of those movies were repackaged versions of episodes of the television series. In fact, Spider-Man: The Dragon’s Challenge came out two years after the episodes had already aired, and the series was already cancelled. For this reason, they’re not considered true Spider-Man movies, and that’s why they aren’t included on the master list at the beginning of the article. However, that doesn’t mean they have no entertainment value. If you want to check out Nicholas Hammond’s Spider-Man television trilogy, here is the watch-order.
- Spider-Man (1977)
- Spider-Man Strikes Back (1979)
- Spider-Man: The Dragon’s Challenge (1981)
And speaking of TV…
Are shows like Spectacular Spider-Man connected to Spider-Man movies?
To date, there have been ten animated Spider-Man shows to air on television. In order of release, they are:
- Spider-Man (1967)
- Spider-Man (1981)
- Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981)
- Spider-Man (1994)
- Spider-Man Unlimited (1999)
- Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003)
- The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008)
- Ultimate Spider-Man (2012)
- Spider-Man (2017)
- Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2021)
While it's tempting (and maybe even logical) to assume that all of these shows connect to the Spider-Verse simply because they star a Spider-Man, we've got to work with what we can prove. If there aren't pictures, it's not real, as J. Jonah Jameson might say.
Fortunately, there are at least three Spider-Man shows that are proven to connect to the Spider-Verse, as their Spider-Men appear in one or more of the Spider-Verse movies. The designs for Peter Parker in the 1967 Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, and Spectacular Spider-Man all appear in the Spider-Verse movies, and though their cameos may be short, it's enough to certify them with connectivity.
One quick note before moving off the topic: the very first story that examined a connected multiverse of Spider-Men comes from an episode of the animated Spider-Man of the 90's. That, and the best Peter Parker civilian outfit of all time.
The future of Spider-Man movies
As you can see, Spider-Man’s film career has been quite busy, but he’s just getting started. More live-action movies, animation features, and spin-off films are in the works. As of this writing, we know for a fact that a new Spider-Verse film is on the way, titled Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. Beyond that, future Spider-Man movies are all but speculation. Though Tom Holland told Entertainment Weekly that he'd "love to tell another story," plans for a fourth MCU Spider-Man solo outing have not been made official.
Still, that's not stopping Sony from making more Spidey spinoffs; Madame Web, Kraven the Hunter, Venom 3 and more are on the way from the studio, which you can read more about via Popverse's article on Marvel's upcoming film offerings. After you check that out, keep your eyes on our site as we continue to cover Spidey’s future films, into the Spider-Verse and beyond.
Is there a new Spiderman movie coming out in 2024?
There's only one announced live-action Marvel Studios film in 2024 - Deadpool & Wolverine. And while we can't completely say a Spider-Man wouldn't show up there, what you're probably thinking of for a 2024 Spider-Man movie is the third Spider-Verse animated movie.
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse was announced to hit theaters March 29, 2024, but due to production delays in the previous film - compounded by the writer's strike, thatt film has been removed from the release schedule. It's possible it could be re-added with a 2024 release date, it's doubtful.
Is Tom Holland's Spider-Man getting a 4th movie?
Tom Holland is set to reprise his role as MCU's main Spider-Man in a fourth film. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said in 2023 a script was in development.
Curious about what other superhero movies are headed to theaters? Read up on the upcoming superhero movie release dates for Marvel, DC, and more.
