Netflix Losing Iconic Superhero Trilogy, Stream Before It’s Gone

It was 2002, and Marvel movies were becoming cool again. While the next year would put Ben Affleck into Daredevil’s suit and toss some sais into the hands of Jennifer Garner’s Elektra, 2002 was all about the first installment of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. Starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, the film reinvigorated the love of superheroes and breathed life into a series of films that have gone down as classics.

In the first movie of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Tobey Maguire’s (The Cider House Rules), Peter Parker gets bit by a radioactive spider, loses Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) and begins to develop his powers. Audiences are also introduced to Willem Dafoe’s (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) version of Norman Osborn, aka Green Goblin, and Peter’s best friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco).

Kirsten Dunst (Civil War) starred opposite Maguire as Peter’s dream girl, Mary Jane Watson, with Joe Manganiello (Magic Mike) as Flash Thompson, Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games franchise) as Betty Brant, and J.K. Simmons (Jennifer’s Body) as J. Jonah Jameson – a role that the actor most recently reprised in 2022’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

While nowadays, audiences are more than used to star-studded Marvel and DC movies, the Spider-Man trilogy was one of the first examples of such a thing, with the call sheet only continuing to grow over the next two installments. Spider-Man 2 picked up just a few years after the events of the first film and put three-time Tony Award-winning actor Alfred Molina into the villainous role of Dr. Otto Octavius, aka Doctor Octopus. The sequel also set up the villain origin story for Franco’s Harry Osborn, who would pick up the moniker of Green Goblin to avenge his father in the next movie. 

Speaking of Spider-Man 3, we’ll never forget that weird jazz club dance to the song “Fever” that Tobey Maguire did, which could be the sole reason for you to check out the third title in the Spider-Man trilogy before it leaves Netflix.

If you need more convincing, the movie also features Topher Grace (That ‘70s Show) as Eddie Brock, aka Venom, and Bryce Dallas Howard (Argylle) as Gwen Stacy, with Thomas Haden Church (Sideways) as one of the movie’s many antagonists Flint Marko aka Sandman. Out of all the movies in Raimi’s Spider-Man collection, this one is definitely the wackiest in all the best ways.

In the years since Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy came to an end following Spider-Man 3 in 2007, the film series has been reborn twice, with two different actors taking on the role left vacant by Maguire. In Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man features, Andrew Garfield appeared as the young hero, while, more recently, Tom Holland put on the suit for Jon Watts’ trilogy and a handful of other MCU films.

Right now, the future of Spider-Man is up in the air, but it seems very likely that Marvel will prioritize a follow-up to Spider-Man: No Way Home, considering how much money the feature made at the box office. However, now’s the time to throw it back to the good old days when Tobey Maguire was the only Spider-Man in town in Sam Raimi’s trilogy, now on Netflix until September 1.