9 Sci-Fi Movie Sequels That Insulted Great Characters

8. Peter Parker - Spider-Man 3

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Sony Pictures

Yes, it was a core part of the narrative that Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker acted like a total asshat in Spider-Man 3, but Sony Pictures went so hard on that angle that the masses completely despised him.

With the Venom symbiote introduced in Spider-Man 3, there was always going to be a darker, more aggressive edge to ol' Web-head in this third outing for Maguire's Spidey - that being part and parcel of Peter's time in the black suit - yet this was comically bad in how it handled the corrupting of Parker.

The end result saw a dancing, smirking emo Peter Parker who was a total prick to anybody close to him, and even the most well thought out of redemption arcs would've struggled to have any of the Wall-crawler's nearest and dearest ever again give him the time of day.

Combine this depiction of Peter Parker with an overdone sympathetic villain angle for Sandman, a ham-fisted Venom, and a disappointing resolution for Harry Osborn, and it's no wonder that Sony eventually pulled the plug on this particular cinematic incarnation of Spider-Man. The film fell way short of the sort of quality seen in the impressive Spider-Man and the phenomenal Spider-Man 2.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.