10 Reasons Why Tobey Maguire Is STILL The Best On-Screen Spider-Man

In the beloved comic books, Spider-Man has mechanical web-shooters that aid him in his spiderly adventures, and they are a great piece of tech which Sam Raimi decided to leave out of his portrayal of the character.

While some may dislike this choice, arguing that it strays too far from the source material, it ultimately serves the function of further integrating the personas of Peter Parker and Spider-Man.

Spider-Man is special for his unique set of powers, and in the Tobey Maguire era, web shooting is added to these bodily abilities, with the sticky webbing springing directly from his wrists. This creates a correlation between Peter’s success in his crime-fighting and his mastery of his powers. His ability to triumph is a product of how he, as Spider-Man and Peter Parker, uniquely uses his innate abilities.

In the MCU’s Spider-Man, no such autonomy exists as there is too much reliance on Peter’s super Stark suit. While Maguire needs to think about how he can use his agility and speed to beat his foe, Holland can use his suit’s pre-programmed skills to get out of situations.

When watching these tools at play, audiences can’t help but feel the stakes of battle being sucked away, unconsciously certain that the abilities of the suit will carry Peter to safety.