Every Live-Action Spider-Man Unmasked, From Tobey Maguire to Nicolas Cage
Since swinging out of Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962, Spider-Man has leapt from page to screen in a string of live-action reinventions—each defined by the actor behind the mask. Here’s how the web-slinger’s on-screen identities stack up, and the moments that made them stick.
Spider- Man has been a pop-culture staple since Amazing Fantasy # 15 in 1962, which means plenty of folks have worn the suit in live action. More than most fans realize, honestly. Here are the six actors who have played Peter Parker/Spider-Man in live action, laid out in chronological order — from a silent webhead on a kids show in the 70s to Nic Cage gearing up for a noir spin.
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Danny Seagren (1974–1977 ) — PBS
Before the big-budget movies, there was The Electric Company — yes, really. The 1970s children’s educational series (the same one that put Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno, and Lee Chamberlin in front of a generation of kids) ran a recurring bit called Spidey Super Stories. Puppeteer/dancer Dan Seagren suited up as Spider-Man, never spoke, and never took off the mask. It was all physical performance, and it makes him the first person to play a live-action Spidey on TV.
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Nicholas Hammond (1977–1979) — CBS
Hammond was the first to do both halves of the role on screen: Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He debuted in CBS’s 1977 Spider-Man TV movie, which did well enough to spawn a weekly show, The Amazing Spider-Man, in 1978. The series only ran 13 episodes before getting axed, but the original TV movie and the first two episodes (later stitched into a separate feature-length release ) picked up a cult following. For a lot of Gen X kids, Hammond is their Spider-Man.
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Tobey Maguire (2002–2007) — Sony Pictures
No one had more pressure than Tobey. Blade ( 1998 ) and X-Men (2000) proved the door was open, but Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (2002) was the bet that superheroes could dominate 21st-century box office. It worked — spectacularly. The first film broke records, Spider-Man 2 (2004) soared, and Spider-Man 3 (2007) made money but stalled the franchise after studio meddling pushed Raimi and company to the brink. Spider-Man 4 was scrapped; reboot time. Maguire later swung back in for Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home, and rumor has it he might not be done — his return has even been whispered about for Avengers: Doomsday.
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Andrew Garfield (2012–2014) — Sony Pictures
Garfield had the tough job of following Maguire while Sony tried to build a separate Spider-verse outside Marvel’s rapidly growing MCU. Director Marc Webb came in hot off one indie feature (500 Days of Summer), which is not exactly the usual ramp to franchise duty. The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel did modest business, buoyed by Garfield’s lively take on Peter/Spidey and his crackling chemistry with Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy (which turned into a real-life relationship). But the sequel’s reach exceeded its grasp, and plans for spin-offs (Sinister Six, Silver & Black) and a third film fizzled. Garfield’s run now sits in that awkward middle slot — an iteration a lot of fans love, even if the bigger plans never materialized.
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Tom Holland ( 2016–present) — Marvel Studios
Third Spider-Man in under 15 years? No pressure. Holland also had to make Peter Parker work inside a bustling MCU, rubbing elbows with Avengers and a dozen other heroes. He pulled it off. He has already outlasted the previous big-screen runs and put up the biggest box-office numbers of the bunch. A fourth film, Brand New Day, is set up as a soft reset for the character’s story — and it looks like Holland’s tenure is far from over.
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Nicolas Cage (2026 –???) — Prime Video –MGM+
Cage already made his mark by voicing Spider-Man Noir in the Oscar- winning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Now he’s taking a live-action swing with Spider-Noir on Prime Video–MGM+. Here, he’s playing Ben Reilly — which, if you know your Spidey lore, is a loaded name — in a 1930s, hardboiled world where he used to be the city’s lone costumed hero, The Spider. After a major tragedy, he hung up the mask and retreated into life as a battered private eye crawling through the city’s underbelly. That ends when crime boss Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson) starts assembling an army of superpowered freaks to seize the underworld, forcing him back into the suit. Given Cage’s track record with comic-book cult favorites (Ghost Rider and his Spider-Verse turn), the role plays to his strengths. Spider-Noir premieres May 27 on Prime Video–MGM+.
That’s the roster — larger and stranger than you might expect, spanning five decades of TV and film. If you want to revisit the big-screen runs, most Spider-Man movies are streaming on Disney+ right now.