Spider-Man (2002): Cast, Plot and Ending Explained

Spider-Man (2002) follows Peter Parker, a shy high school student in Queens who becomes a masked hero after a bite from a genetically engineered spider. Peter lives with his uncle Ben Parker and his aunt May Parker, and he has a crush on his neighbor Mary Jane Watson. On a school trip to a science lab, the spider bites him, and he soon finds that he has spider like strength, agility and senses, and that he can shoot webbing from his wrists.

At first, Peter tries to cash in on his new abilities. A carjacker he chose not to stop later kills Uncle Ben, and, racked with guilt, Peter decides to use his powers to protect other people. Anyone new to the saga can begin here, because this is the first entry in the Spider-Man movies in order and no earlier viewing is needed.

In Spider-Man (2002), Peter Parker gains spider powers, loses his uncle Ben Parker, and defeats Norman Osborn's Green Goblin on the Queensboro Bridge, but he turns away Mary Jane Watson to protect her.

After the spider bite, Peter uses his powers for money at first, and he lets a thief escape. That thief later kills Uncle Ben, and the loss changes Peter's attitude completely. He builds a costume and starts fighting crime in New York as Spider-Man, while the press, led by editor J. Jonah Jameson, treats him as a menace.

Meanwhile, Peter's friend Harry Osborn is the son of Norman Osborn, who runs the weapons company Oscorp. Under pressure from his board, Norman Osborn tests a performance enhancing formula on himself. It gives him great strength but unstable behavior, and he becomes the Green Goblin. The Goblin kills members of the Oscorp board at a city festival, then turns on Spider-Man and the people close to him.

Peter's feelings for Mary Jane grow even as Harry Osborn starts dating her. The Goblin captures Mary Jane and takes her to the Queensboro Bridge, where Spider-Man fights him. Norman Osborn is killed by his own glider during the fight, and Peter keeps his rival's secret by hiding the evidence. Harry Osborn blames Spider-Man for his father's death and vows revenge. Mary Jane admits she loves Peter, but he turns her away to keep her safe, remembering his uncle's advice about power and responsibility.

Spider-Man (2002) was released in US theaters on May 3, 2002, and opened with about $114.8 million domestically, according to The Numbers and Box Office Mojo.

TMDB reports later openings in Australia on June 6, 2002 and the UK on June 14, 2002. The film went on to earn about $409 million in the US and Canada and about $402 million internationally, for a worldwide total of about $811 million against a production budget of $139 million, according to Box Office Mojo. The series level picture is on the Spider-Man box office page.

The ending of Spider-Man (2002) means that Peter wins the fight but loses the life he wanted, because the Green Goblin dies on the Queensboro Bridge and Peter chooses duty over Mary Jane.

Here is what happens. The Goblin is killed by his own glider during the fight. Peter hides the evidence and returns Norman's body to the Osborn home, where Harry finds it and swears revenge on Spider-Man. At Uncle Ben's funeral, Mary Jane tells Peter she loves him, and he refuses her because he believes he must protect the people close to him.

What does it all mean? The film is built as a loop. Ben Parker's death starts Peter's career, and the same guilt ends his romance, so the hero is shaped twice by the people he cannot save. The opening movement shows a Peter who walks past a carjacker to cash in on his powers. The closing movement shows a Peter who walks away from Mary Jane at a graveside to keep her safe. The first choice is selfish and the second is selfless, and both cost him someone.

The villain's death matters as much. Norman is killed by his own glider rather than by Spider-Man, which lets Peter keep his hands clean while still carrying a secret that Harry will not forgive. In my opinion this is the film's sharpest decision, because it turns a victory into a debt. Norman's arc mirrors Peter's: both men are pushed by guilt or pressure into a transformation, one by the loss of Ben and the other by his board at Oscorp.

The ending also does practical work for the series. It sets Harry up as an enemy in later films, which is why Spider-Man 2 can pick up the friendship with a grudge already in place, and why Spider-Man 3 has a Harry who already blames Spider-Man to build on. Compared with those two sequels, this is the only entry of the three that closes on a pure origin: the hero accepts the role, and the cost is still unpaid.

Spider-Man (2002) is set in New York, and its story moves between Peter's home in Queens, a city festival and the Queensboro Bridge, where the final duel with the Green Goblin takes place.

Queens matters because it grounds Peter as a neighborhood kid rather than a billionaire or a soldier. Oscorp and its board belong to the corporate side of the city, and the press, led by J. Jonah Jameson, covers Spider-Man from the newsroom. The festival, where the Goblin kills members of the Oscorp board, is the first time the film puts the two halves of the city, the street and the boardroom, in one crowded public scene.

In my view the bridge is the right place for the finale. It links the borough where Peter lives to the city that sees him as a menace, and it is where the Goblin forces him to choose between Mary Jane and his own safety. Later entries such as Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 also keep the action in New York, but this film is the one that establishes Queens as the hero's home ground.

Sony pulled the teaser trailer and teaser poster for Spider-Man (2002), which showed the Twin Towers reflected in Spider-Man's eyes, after the September 11 attacks, according to Salon.

• The trailer came out of theaters about four months after the teaser premiered, and Sony said the trailer's scene was a standalone story that was never meant to be in the film.
• Avi Arad and Stan Lee, the comic book co-creator, were executive producers on the film, according to the TMDB crew list.
• "Hero" by Chad Kroeger featuring Josey Scott was written for the film, and the 19 track companion album was released on April 30, 2002, according to a Sony Music press release.
• The album opens with "Theme From Spider-Man", and a new interpretation by Aerosmith closes it.

To see how this film compares with its successors, the Spider-Man movies ranked page has the full ranking, and the Spider-Man timeline page shows where it sits in the story.