It’s time for the Bookstr team to answer the long-standing question: Who is the best Spider-Man? While we may never have a universally accepted answer to that debate, we can definitely take a look at our favorite Spider-Man portrayals and highlight what makes them special to us. We’re also looking at our favorite love interests and villains. So, let’s check out the Bookstr Team’s Spidey Trifecta!
The Amazing Spider-Man characters for the win!
I adore Spider-Man so much! My favorite Spider-Man is Andrew Garfield from The Amazing Spider-Man because of his spider-like techniques to fighting crime (the scene of him making a spider-web in the sewers to catch The Lizard… spectacular!), and he portrayed Peter Parker’s charm, wittiness, and awkwardness very well. He’s also the Spider-Man I grew up on, so I might be a bit biased! Subsequently, my favorite love interest is Gwen Stacy because she had a fun, captivating personality and so much chemistry with Garfield’s Peter Parker. I also just love a good tragic love story and was deep into the Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone lore. My favorite villain is Willem Dafoe’s iconic Green Goblin! Although The Lizard frightened me as a child and Mysterio’s illusion scene in Far From Home was mind-boggling, Green Goblin still gives me the creeps!
— Laura Mariné, Editorial
I love Spider-Man! He’s definitely my all-time favorite superhero. Whenever I would go to my cousins’ house growing up, we would always watch The Amazing Spider-Man, so I have a lot of good memories attached to those movies. This might be a little controversial, but Andrew Garfield is my favorite Spider-Man; he’s so funny in the role, and he had great chemistry with Emma Stone, who is also my favorite love interest. I always thought Gwen Stacy was so cool for doing research at Oscorp, even though she was only in high school. Although my favorite Spider-Man and love interest come from The Amazing Spider-Man movies, my favorite villain would have to be Doc Ock from Spider-Man 2. Alfred Molina plays the role so well.
— Abby Worthington, Editorial
A little bit of everything…
Spider-Man has always been my favorite superhero! I had such a major crush on Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man growing up, and would rewatch his trilogy of movies over and over. That was where my love of nerdy guys began! His transformation from being a regular high-schooler to a full-blown superhero feels the most genuine, and I love that he really stayed true to himself (aside from his little villain arc in Spider-Man 3…we don’t talk about it).
My favorite villain would also have to be from that trilogy; Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin is everything. I love how believable his acting is, and he killed it in No Way Home too! However, my favorite love interest would have to be Gwen Stacy from The Amazing Spider-Man movies. I feel like she was given more personality than Mary Jane, unfortunately (at least in the movies). A close runner-up is MJ from the MCU’s Spider-Man movies (mainly because of Zendaya)!
— Cassondra Flanery, Social Department
I can’t pick just one favorite Spider-Man because they all bring something to the table! My favorite Peter Parker is Tom Holland because he plays the awkward, nerdy character very well. My favorite Spider-Man is Andrew Garfield because he plays the sarcastic part of Spider-Man to a T. Tobey Maguire is such a great combination of the two. Lastly, my favorite love interest is Gwen Stacy because she always matches Peter’s energy, but I also love Spider-Gwen.
— Daleney Teske, Outreach and Marketing
Venom!
I don’t have a lot of hard opinions on Spider-Man tbh! It was cool growing up with the comic books (though I was more of an X-Men girl), and all three movie franchises; I saw Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man opening weekend in high school. My favorite iterations are the Miles Morales Spider-Verse movies simply because the animation style is so ridiculously inventive. But when it comes to favorite characters, I only have two: Eddie Brock and Venom.
As a kid, it was one of my first media exposures to a queer romantic relationship. They’ve teased it in the Venom movies, but Eddie and Venom in the comics are explicitly romantic: they hold hands in a movie theater, call each other “darling” and “my love,” raise a child together, etc. It was something I really hadn’t seen between two masc characters before at the time (Venom is canonically agender, but presents as masc with he/him pronouns), and it was something that opened my eyes to the presence of queer media, especially in comic books.
— Cara Broel, Editorial and Outreach
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Want to discover which Spider-Man villain you are? Take this quiz!
Looking for book recommendations? Browse our Bookstr Team Recommendations collection on Bookshop!
