Every Spider-Man Movie Ranked Worst To Best

2. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

If Sony and Marvel's agenda can be measured only in terms of making a Spider-Man film like nothing we'd seen before, they succeeded. They delivered on the promise to make a John Hughes-inspired high-school movie that also happened to be a superhero movie; they managed to use Tony Stark (and the shadow of the rest of the MCU) in a smart, non-cynical way; and they offered a Peter Parker who built on the incredible promise of his debut in Civil War.

The tone is perfect, with excellent balance between the humour (best embodied by Jacob Batalon's Ned), heart and spectacle, and the key performances are all exceptional. Michael Keaton's layered Adrian Toomes is a particular stand-out, but it's the youthful cast who really capture the heart of the film. It's on their shoulders that the high-school story thrives and crucially they offer massive promise for sequels set in school.

Ironically for a film seemingly over-shadowed by its connections to the Avengers, the fact that it refuses to pull the trigger on that relationship too sharply is one of its brightest selling points. And while there was absolutely no need for Sony and Marvel (most likely the former, rather than the latter) to spoil so much of it.