Spider-Man 3 Revisited: 5 Awesome Moments You Always Overlook

5. Sandman

Thomas Haden Church is absolutely wonderful as Flint Marko (AKA Sandman) and he doesn't get enough praise for his work in Spider-Man 3.

Allegedly, before Avi Arad forced the square-shaped peg that was Venom into the round-shaped hole that was this movie, Raimi was convinced that Sandman being the film's dominant antagonist was the right move. And you know what? It probably was. Because some of the very best parts of this film are when the Sandman storyline is put front and center.

That all-CGI origin scene where he's turned into bits of sand only to literally put himself back together? It's flat-out phenomenal. The scene where Marko returns to his home to see his sick daughter before going back on the run? It's surprisingly touching. Hell, honestly, even the retconned story of Marko being the real person who shot Uncle Ben works really well for the first two-thirds of the film as it challenges Peter as a character in a deeply personal way.

The film may lose sight of the character and flub his arc in the final act, but that doesn't make what came before it any less impressive.