Spider-Man

Storyline

Spider-Man, directed by Sam Raimi, is the seminal, culture-shifting 2002 blockbuster that ignited the contemporary 21st-century superhero renaissance and established comic-book cinema as Hollywood's dominant cultural force. The origin saga introduces Peter Parker, an orphaned, bookish, and socially ostracized high-school senior living in Queens with his loving Uncle Ben and Aunt May, harboring an unrequited, lifelong adoration for his neighbor Mary Jane Watson. During a school field trip to a Columbia University genetics lab, Peter is bitten by a genetically altered super-spider, awakening the following morning with superhuman agility, spider-sense clairvoyance, wall-crawling capabilities, and organic wrist-webbing. Initially seeking to exploit his powers for quick cash in an underground wrestling ring to purchase a sports car, Peter callously allows a thief to escape after being swindled by an unscrupulous promoter—a moment of selfish indifference that reaps devastating consequence when that same criminal murders Uncle Ben moments later. Meanwhile, eccentric billionaire industrialist Norman Osborn tests an unstable performance-enhancing chemical vapor upon himself, fracturing his psyche into the psychotic, glider-riding Green Goblin. As Goblin rains terror upon Manhattan and kidnaps Mary Jane, Peter must embrace his tragic calling and confront the monstrous alter-ego of his best friend's father. Featuring the unforgettable upside-down rain kiss and timeless moral resonance, Spider-Man remains an immortal classic.