The return of formerSpider-Manstars Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, along with the likes of Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx inSpider-Man: No Way Home, has created a huge surge in rentals and streaming numbers of olderSpider-Manmovies released by Sony in the last two decades. While Spider-Man’s most recent appearances have all beentied to the larger MCU story, pre-2016, Spider-Man’s outings were very linear and contained affairs and for that reason, there are a lot of people who have either never seen them or at least haven’t seen them for a long while. The wider impact ofreleasing such a big movie clearly means big financial rewardsbeyond the movie itself.
Spider-Man: No Way Homepicks up directly after the events of 2019’sSpider-Man: Far From Home, with Peter Parker’s identity as Spider-Man now public knowledge and his life changing completely. To try and solve his problems, Parker visits Doctor Strange, who agrees to perform a spell that will make everyone forget who Peter Parker is. When the spell goes awry, instead of making people forget who he is, it begins pulling in everyone who knows that Peter Parker from across the multiverse. This includes the Green Goblin, Doc Ock and Sandman from the original Sam Raimi trilogy, along with Electro and Lizard from theAmazing Spider-Manmovies, andVenomfrom the current run of Tom Hardy movies.
When the extent of the crossovers inSpider-Man: No Way Homebecame apparent towards the end of the summer, Sony’s previousSpider-Manmovies began creeping into the Top 100 on iTunes. In the first week since the arrival ofNo Way Homein cinemas,Spider-ManandVenommovies shot up the rental chart to dominate the top ten and beyond as can be seen in their positions at the time below, perComicBook.com.
2.Venom: Let There Be Carnage(2021)
3.Spider-Man: Far From Home(2019)
5.Spider-Man: Homecoming(2017)
6.The Amazing Spider-Man(2012)
10.The Amazing Spider-Man 2(2014)
17.Spider-Man(2002)
22.Spider-Man 2(2004)
23.Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse(2018)
25.Spider-Man 3(2007)
34.Venom(2018)
Unlike the current run of Tom Holland movies, which have only seemed to grow more and more popular, Tobey Maguire’s era came to an end whenSpider-Man 3became a bit of a mess when it tried to be something bigger than it could manage to pull off. Andrew Garfield’sAmazing Spider-Man 2also saw fans losing interest in the franchise, even if all of the movies still performed well at the box office compared to any other movies out there at the time.
So the question many fans are now asking is will we see either “old”Spider-Managain, and depending on which rumors you want to believe, there is a possibility ofMaguire and Garfield getting their own separate movies, or appearing in the rumoredSecret Warsmovie which will end the multiverse saga a few more years down the line, or perhaps they are both done with the roles now. All will no doubt be revealed in time, but if nothing more, then fans are certainly enjoying reliving the past right now and that is something that streaming has made much easier.
