Marvel StudiosIf you were to create a Mount Rushmore of superheroes based exclusively on their cultural impacts, it would, earnestly, probably lean pretty hard in DC Comics’ favor. Two of the spots would undoubtedly go to Superman and Batman just for being the foundations for the contemporary superhero archetype, and a third would probably go to Wonder Woman for being the most influential female superhero ever created. For as popular as Captain America and Iron Man have become in the last 20 years, they really can’t compare to the widespread influence and recognizability of those three — but there’s one Marvel character in particular who can.It’s pretty inarguable that Spider-Man is Marvel Comics’ most famous creation, probably owing to the everyman ubiquity that makes him such a relatable character. Unlike a billionaire tech genius or the monarch of a wealthy African nation, Peter Parker was a high-school nerd who just happened to stumble into superpowers, and his turn to heroism is one born out of a selfish mistake that any one of us could have made. The ease with which viewers can see themselves in Spider-Man is undoubtedly one of the elements that drives his continued popularity in wider culture — alongside a comic book history spanning more than 60 years, the character has had his own newspaper comic strip, countless live-action and animated TV shows, multiple video games, and of course, several film series.Just by nature of being the first, Tobey Maguire provided the benchmark for what cinematic depictions of Spider-Man should strive for. | Sony Pictures EntertainmentSpider-Man’s history on the big screen stretches back as far as the 1980s, and multiple filmmakers like Roger Corman, Tobe Hooper, and James Cameron each tried to bring the character to theaters with their own interpretations. However, it wasn’t until the year 2002 that the Wall-Crawler finally swung his way into cinemas, in an adaptation directed by The Evil Dead’s Sam Raimi — it was a massive success and led to not only two sequels but an entire multimedia franchise sustained by multiple reboots, with the final one inevitably leading to the character’s integration into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In a little more than a month, yet another Spider-Man movie is landing in theaters: Brand New Day, the fourth film starring Tom Holland as the superhero, which means now is the perfect opportunity for fans to revisit the character’s entire cinematic history starting at the beginning.How To Watch The Spider-Man Movies In Release OrderAndrew Garfield in the Amazing Spider-Man movies. | SonyFor a little more than 20 years, each Spider-Man reboot was wholly unconnected to what came before, not unlike the James Bond franchise. That all changed in 2018, when the acclaimed animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (which explores the origins of Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino teen who becomes the new Spider-Man) introduced the concept of a cinematic Spidey multiverse. That concept was expanded even further when 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home united Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Mans, using the MCU’s own multiverse as the catalyst. ITSV’s sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, brought all these developments full circle by using archival footage from Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man movies to confirm the fact that each cinematic Spider-Man, either live-action or animated, exists somewhere within the larger multiverse. That knowledge now makes every Spider-Man movie important, both in terms of being an original take on the character as well as another piece of the character’s interconnected cinematic patchwork — which is more than enough of a reason to dive back into his legacy on the big screen.Here’s the release order for every theatrically released Spider-Man movie:Spider-Man (2002)Spider-Man 2 (2004)Spider-Man 3 (2007)The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)How To Watch The Spider-Man Films In Order, Including Other AppearancesTom Holland’s Spider-Man already made history with the character by being the first theatrical version of the hero to cross over with other superheroes. | Marvel StudiosAlong with his current films taking place in the MCU, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is also the only version of the character to appear in non-Spider-Man films. Since the MCU’s canon is tightly linked, these appearances are just as relevant to the hero’s journey in the larger franchise, and are worth revisiting before Brand New Day releases in theaters.Here’s the release order for every Spider-Man cinematic appearance: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)As of right now, there aren’t any plans for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to appear in the animated Spider-Verse movies, but stranger things have happened — Sony’s Venom movies, themselves existing in their own separate universe, have crossed over with the MCU Spider-Man films, which opens the door for in-house Sony Spidey projects to mingle with Holland’s depiction. There have also been conversations for quite some time about the MCU introducing its own version of Miles Morales into the franchise, which would open a whole other door of multiversal complication considering that animated Miles has already encountered alternate versions of himself. Considering that Brand New Day will be the start of a new trilogy for Holland’s depiction of the character, one more Spider-Verse sequel is still on the horizon, and Spider-Man will certainly appear in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday (perhaps along with the Maguire and Garfield versions as well), fans can rest assured that Marvel’s most popular superhero will continue to enjoy a continuous legacy in theaters.Spider-Man: Brand New Day releases July 31, 2026.