Sam Raimi Spider-Man films

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The Sam Raimi Spider-Man films are a trilogy of films starring Tobey Maguire as the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man. All were directed by Sam Raimi of Evil Dead fame, which is why we call them the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films.

They were pretty highly successful in both the critical and box-office record departments (save for the third movie's mixed reviews and fan backlash). Three movies have been released. The franchise was rebooted with The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012 and rebooted again (as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe) with Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017.

The series also stars Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, James Franco as Harry Osborn, J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, and Bruce Campbell in various cameos.

The trilogy is made up of the imaginatively-named:

The following tropes are common to many or all entries in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films franchise.
For tropes specific to individual installments, visit their respective work pages.
  • Adaptation Distillation: Classic moments, images and arcs from 40+ years of Spider-Man stories are squashed down to their best bits to fuel the films.
  • Big Bad: The Green Goblin in the first film, Doc Ock in the second, and the alien symbiote in the third (with Venom serving as the Final Boss.)
  • Big No: Octavius discovering his new condition, Brock before dying.
  • Blind Without'Em: Pete before getting his powers, and when they start failing.
  • Building Swing
  • Burning Building Rescue
  • Bus Full of Innocents: A tram car in the first, a train in the second.
  • The Cameo: Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell, in all movies. Stan Lee protects a little girl in the havoc created by the Green Goblin in the first film. In the second, he pulls a woman out of the way of falling debris while Spider-Man fights Doc Ock; "Look out!" is his only line. In the third, he has a much more substantial cameo as a man who talks to Peter on the street. "Y'know, I guess it's true what they say: one person really can make a difference. 'Nuff said."
    • Bruce Campbell appears once in every film as someone who actually helps develop Peter's plot in some small way. In the first movie, he plays the ring announcer who introduces Peter as Spider-Man instead of "The Human Spider" as Peter originally wanted. In #2, he plays an usher at the theater who refuses to let Peter in because the doors have already been closed. Finally in #3, he is a french Maître d' at a restaurant who gladly helps Peter with his plans to propose to Mary Jane (though it doesn't exactly work out).
  • Cash Cow Franchise
  • Casual Danger Dialogue: The immortal "this is really heavy" in movie 2.
  • Cheap Costume
  • Chest Insignia
  • Childhood Friend Romance: Harry.
  • Civvie Spandex: Used in the second and third films. Dr. Octopus wears a trenchcoat and a suit. The Sandman, meanwhile, sticks to a pair of khakis and a green striped shirt while in Flint Marko form.
  • Clothes Make the Maniac
  • Composite Character: Mary Jane has some traces of Gwen Stacy in the first two movies.
    • Mary Jane also has a strong basis in Liz Allan. Like Allan, MJ in the movies is a classmate and longtime crush of Peter's who is much higher on the social ladder and dates Flash Thompson. In fact the only real similarities MJ has with her comics counterpart are her being Peter's neighbor, her coming from an abusive household, her brief relationship with Harry Osborn and her aspirations to be an actor.
  • Confused Bystander Interview: There are a few examples of this throughout the series.
  • Da Editor: J. Jonah Jameson.
  • Deadly Dodging
  • Death by Adaptation: Green Goblin, Doc Ock, and Venom.
    • All of whom have died in the comics, they just ended up coming back afterward.
      • To be fair, how many major comic book characters haven't died at some point or another?
  • Death by Secret Identity: Green Goblin is impaled soon after he discovers Peter's secret. In the second film, a big part of the movie marketing was that Harry would learn Peter's secret, but Harry's death wouldn't come until he made the full transition to baddie in the third movie. Peter also reveals his identity to Doc Ock, probably knowing that this trope would spell death for the doctor. In the final movie, this works against Eddie Brock/Venom, but actually leads to the redemption of the Sandman. If this trope is truly in full swing, then all those people on the subway in S2 better look both ways before crossing the street...
  • Development Gag: The second film has a couple of playful jabs at Tobey Maguire's back problems, which nearly forced him to drop out. This includes the "I'm back, I'm back! ... My back, my back!" scene, and a Freeze-Frame Bonus Bugle headline claiming link between back pain and brain shrinkage.
  • Damsel in Distress: Mary Jane gets kidnapped by the villain in all three movies.
  • Diegetic Theme Cameo: The old TV series theme appears on the first movie, being played by a very bad singer on the street.
  • Female Gaze: Well, of course. We're talking about a muscular young dude who wears a skintight outfit and is unbelievable agile.
  • Foreshadowing: In the first film Harry Osborn says of his father "If I'm lucky I'll be half the man he was". Come the third movie, we find out what exactly is meant by this. There are other foreshadowing moments involving Harry, such as the green bowtie he wears during the wedding scene in 2, and "They're my best friends ... I'd give my life for them".
  • Freak Lab Accident: Origin of all villains save Venom.
  • Girl Next Door: Mary Jane. Supplies the page image.
  • The Glasses Come Off: See Blind Without'Em.
  • Gollum Made Me Do It: Green Goblin in the first movie, the tentacle AI with Otto Octavius in the second, and Peter bonded with the symbiote in the third.
    • Although one could argue that each one could have put a stop to it at any time.
  • Harassing Phone Call
  • Heroes Want Redheads: Peter wants Mary Jane.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Doc Ock and Harry.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity
  • I Have Your Wife: Mary Jane, of course.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice
  • Ivy League: Although Peter Parker attends the fictional Empire State University (modeled after New York University) in the comics, the Raimi films make him a student at Columbia.
  • Large Ham: All the villains but Sandman. Also, J. Jonah Jameson and Bruce Campbell's cameo appearances.
    • Special mention has to go to Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin. When he is fighting Peter, he is having the time of his life, complete with evil cackles and poor one-liners.
    • Evil Is Hammy: In addition to the villains, Maguire was having FAR too much fun being Emo-Jarkass-Peter in the middle of the third film.
  • Load-Bearing Hero
  • Made of Iron: Spidey is a given; his powers allow him to shrug off huge amounts of punishment. But especially notable is Ock in the second film. He's an out-of-shape scientist who shouldn't be standing after one of the super-strong Spider-Man's punches. Even if Spidey pulls his punches, Ock takes a web-slung bag of coins to the face at one point without a mark to show for it, and also keeps fighting after being slammed through the floor when Spidey catapults himself from the roof.
  • Marquee Alter Ego: Spider-Man's mask being destroyed, Venom removing his.
  • Meaningful Funeral
  • Megane: Peter himself before he got his powers and turning back to normal. Doesn't wear glasses in the third movie.
  • Moment Killer: And how!
  • Mr. Fanservice
  • Mythology Gag: The old TV series theme.
  • Neutral Female: Mary Jane and Aunt May do some subversions.
  • Never My Fault: Harry and Eddie Brock.
  • Nice Guy / Nice Girl: Ben and May Parker.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Parts 1 and 3.
  • Ominous Latin Chanting: The trailer songs.
  • Once an Episode: Cameos by Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell, an in-movie performance of the 1960s TV show's theme.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: J. Jonah Jameson and his assistant Hoffman. Also Peter's landlord and his daughter.
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: Parts 1 and 2, and some of Part 3 in regards to the Symbiote.
  • Professor Guinea Pig: Green Goblin and Doc Ock.
  • Redemption Equals Death
  • Reflective Eyes
  • Running Gag: Jameson keeps yelling for "HOFFMAN!" who keeps appearing faster and faster as the movies progress, much to Jonah's confusion, eventually culminating in Jameson screaming his name while turning around, only to be face to face with Hoffman before he finished saying his name.
  • Say My Name: The entire trilogy could be summarized through one name: "MARY JAAAAAAAAANE!"
  • Secret Identity: Peter's secret identity as Spider-Man.
  • Shapeshifter Baggage: Where does Peter get the mass for all those webs his body produces without being an extreme Big Eater?
  • Shirtless Scene
  • Shout-Out:
    • Peter opening his shirt like Superman; Doc Ock climbing NY buildings like King Kong; "Symbiote Night Fever".
    • Shouting "Shazam!" and "Up, up and away, web!" in the first movie, which was an ad-lib by Maguire.
    • In the novelization of the first movie, the wheelchaired and bald Oscorp Board Member, Maximillian Fargas, is compared to the "professor character in that mutant movie."
    • Aunt May telling Peter that he's not "Superman."
    • When Jonah and Hoffman are discussing what to call Octavius for the paper headline:

Jonah: What are we gonna call this guy?
Hoffman: "Doctor Octopus?"
Jonah: That's crap.
Hoffman: "Science squid"?
Jonah: Crap.
Hoffman: "Doctor Strange"?
Jonah: That's pretty good... But it's taken!

Green Goblin: We are who we choose to be, now choose!


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