10 Worst Defences Directors Had For Bad Movie Moments

There's no more infamous scene in Spider-Man 3 than the "Emo Peter Parker" (Tobey Maguire) montage, where after being corrupted by the symbiote, Peter adopts a more arrogant, self-confident personality, to the point that he struts down the streets of New York City, much to the visible discomfort of everyone in his midst.

Now, there's no mistaking that we're supposed to find Peter's behaviour cringe-worthy and offputting, but that doesn't prevent audiences from still finding the scene overbearingly corny and tough to watch on repeat viewings.

For his part, director Sam Raimi's only defense for the widely-mocked sequence is that it was supposed to be funny. In a recent interview with Fandom, he said:

"Well, we meant it to be funny, actually. It was Peter Parker’s version - this lame kid - of what it must be like to be his evil self. But he's so whipped. He's so out of it that that's his take on it. And that didn't go over well with the audience. But that's what we were trying to do."

The intent is clear from watching the scene, yet it's ultimately more embarrassing than funny.