10 Famous Acting Performances That Got Worse As Their Franchise Went On

3. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) - Spider-Man

Tobey Maguire was exceptionally cast in the role of nerdy high-schooler Peter Parker, who of course ends up becoming Spider-Man in the first act of the movie. He perfectly combined the vulnerability of his public persona with the believable bada**ery of his superhero character, and there was just enough goofiness thrown in for it to work. It's hard to argue with Maguire's work in the first two movies, though the controversial third Spider-Man movie undid a lot of the goodwill the actor had built up with fans. Maguire is obviously held hostage by the uneasy script, but he still commits the cardinal sin of wildly over-acting in any remotely corny scene, namely the widely-criticised dance sequence and emo Peter Parker interludes. It's completely at odds with the more restrained silliness of the previous films, and sadly Maguire never got a chance to redeem himself, as his tenure fizzled out and Andrew Garfield took over the role for The Amazing Spider-Man series, while we were left with the above image of the actor.