2012 Summer Paralympics

The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Games as organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

They were the first Summer Paralympics to be hosted by London, and the first hosted solely by Great Britain; the English village of Stoke Mandeville co-hosted the 1984 Games with Long Island, New York after its original host, the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, withdrew due to financial issues. In 1948, the village hosted the Stoke Mandeville Games—the first organised sporting event for athletes with disabilities, and a precursor to the modern Paralympic Games—to coincide with the opening of the 1948 Olympics in London.

Organisers expected the Games to be the first Paralympics to achieve mass-market appeal, fuelled by continued enthusiasm over Great Britain's performance during the Olympics, awareness of England's role in the history of the Paralympics, South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius (who had become the first double amputee to compete in the Summer Olympics alongside non-disabled athletes), and increasing media coverage and promotion of Paralympic sport (including a major advertising campaign by the Games' British broadcaster Channel 4). The Games ultimately met these expectations, breaking records for ticket sales, heightening the profile of the Paralympics in relation to the Olympics, and prompting IPC president Philip Craven to declare them the "greatest Paralympic Games ever."

A total of 503 events in 20 sports were held during the Games; events for athletes with intellectual disabilities (ID) returned to the Paralympic programme after being suspended following the 2000 Summer Paralympics, The Games were contested by a record 4,302 athletes representing 164 National Paralympic Committees, with 14 countries making their Paralympic debut. For the third Summer Paralympics in a row, China won the most medals overall, with a total of 231 (95 of them being gold), followed by Russia and Great Britain.

## Bidding process

As part of a formal agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee established in 2001, the winner of the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics was also to host the 2012 Summer Paralympics. At the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, the rights to host the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were awarded to London.

## Development and preparation

As with the Olympics, the 2012 Summer Paralympics were overseen by LOCOG and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). LOCOG was responsible for overseeing the staging of the games, while the ODA dealt with infrastructure and venues.

The Government Olympic Executive (GOE) within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was the lead Government body for co-ordinating the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. The GOE reported through the DCMS Permanent Secretary to the Minister for Sports and the Olympics Hugh Robertson. It focused on oversight of the Games, cross-programme management and the London 2012 Olympic Legacy.

England's role in the history of the Paralympics was emphasised as part of the Games: an event known as the Stoke Mandeville Games were hosted by the village of Stoke Mandeville—site of the National Spinal Injuries Centre—to coincide with the opening of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. Contested between British veterans of the Second World War, it was the first organised sporting event for athletes with disabilities, and served as a precursor to the modern Paralympic Games.

### Venues and infrastructure

The 2012 Summer Paralympics used many of the same venues as the 2012 Summer Olympics, along with two new locations such as Eton Manor for wheelchair tennis and Brands Hatch for road cycling. London's purpose-built Olympic venues and facilities, including the Olympic Village itself, were designed to be accessible as possible so they could easily accommodate the Paralympics. Some venues also contained additional accessible seating areas during the Paralympics.

### Public transport

Transport for London (TfL) operated the Paralympic Route Network (a downsized version of the Olympic Route Network operated during the Summer Olympics) to facilitate road traffic between venues and facilities. The network provided 8.7 miles (14.0 kilometres) of lanes specifically reserved for Paralympic athletes and officials. TfL continued to operate its Get Ahead of the Games website during the Paralympics, which provided updates and advice for commuters during the Games. Prior to the Games, concerns were raised by TfL commissioner Peter Hendy that London's transportation system might not be able to handle the Paralympics adequately. He feared that the end of the school summer holiday (which fell during the Games) would result in increased traffic, and that commuters might not heed traffic warnings or change their travel behaviour as they had during the Olympics.

Sevenoaks railway station was designated as the preferred station for spectators travelling to watch the cycling at Brands Hatch. Organisers chose Sevenoaks over the closer Swanley railway station because of its "existing step-free access and excellent transport links", and because Swanley did not yet have a wheelchair lift. Whilst organisers did not believe that Swanley would be able to have wheelchair lifts installed by the start of the Paralympics, the station finished their installation by early August 2012.

### Lead-up and promotion

#### Handover ceremony

The formal handover occurred during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, when Mayor of London Boris Johnson received the Paralympic Flag from Mayor of Beijing Guo Jinlong. This was followed by a cultural presentation by Britain, which was similar to its presentation during the Olympics' closing ceremony. It featured urban dance group ZooNation, the Royal Ballet, and Candoco, a physically integrated dance group, all dressed as London commuters and waiting for a bus by a zebra crossing. A double-decker bus drove around the stadium, guided by Ade Adepitan, to music composed by Philip Sheppard. The top of the bus was open and folded down to show a privet hedge featuring London landmarks such as Tower Bridge, The Gherkin and the London Eye. Cherisse Osei, drummer for Mika, and Sam Hegedus then performed, before the top of the bus folded up into its original form, sporting multi-coloured Paralympic livery. Both the Paralympic and Olympic flags were formally raised outside of London's City Hall on 26 September 2008. British Paralympians Helene Raynsford and Chris Holmes raised the Paralympic flag.

#### Paralympic Day and Super Saturday

On 8 September 2011 Trafalgar Square staged International Paralympic Day, hosted by Rick Edwards, Ade Adepitan and Iwan Thomas, to coincide with a visit to London by representatives of the IPC. The event featured showcases and demonstrations of the 20 sports that would feature during the Games, with some sessions also made inclusive to people with hearing disabilities. It also included appearances by Paralympic athletes Oscar Pistorius, Ellie Simmonds and Sascha Kindred, and the unveiling of a bronze statue of Pistorius by Ben Dearnley. British Prime Minister David Cameron and London's mayor Boris Johnson also appeared.

Two days later on 10 September, supermarket chain Sainsbury's and Channel 4 presented Sainsbury's Super Saturday, a family event at Clapham Common. The event featured showcases of Paralympic sports, and a concert featuring pop music acts including Nicola Roberts, Olly Murs, The Wanted, Will Young, Pixie Lott, Dappy, Sugababes, The Saturdays, Chipmunk and Taio Cruz.

#### Channel 4 promotional campaign

Channel 4—broadcaster of the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the United Kingdom—held a multi-platform advertising campaign to promote its coverage. The broadcaster sought to change the public perception of the Paralympics, encouraging viewers to see them as an "event in its own right", rather than as an afterthought to the Olympics. The campaign included television adverts, online content, and billboard advertising, some of which carrying the slogan "Thanks for the warm-up".

As part of the campaign, Channel 4 produced a two-minute-long trailer for its coverage entitled Meet the Superhumans, which was directed by Tom Tagholm with input from Deborah Poulton, 2012 Paralympic Project Leader and Alison Walsh, Editorial Manager of Disability, both at Channel 4. The trailer, set to Public Enemy's song "Harder Than You Think", focused on the competitive and "superhuman" aspects of Paralympic sport, while acknowledging the personal events and struggles that reflected every athlete's participation in the Games. Meet the Superhumans premiered on 17 July 2012, airing simultaneously on 78 different commercial television channels in the UK (which included rival channels ITV and Sky1).

The advert was met with critical acclaim: Adweek's Tim Nudd declared it "the summer's most stunning sports commercial", while Simon Usborne of The Independent felt it was "an act of branding genius" and "a clear bid to bring the Paralympics from the sporting wings to centre stage." The advert was seen by an estimated audience of 10 million viewers; Channel 4's marketing and communications chief Dan Brooke estimated that reaction to the advert through social media was double that of the première of the BBC's trailer for its Olympics coverage.

Meet the Superhumans won a Golden Lion award at the Cannes Lions Festival in June 2013, losing the overall award to the railway safety PSA Dumb Ways to Die. Sir John Hegarty, the jury president said of it: "When you've got some really outstanding work it is tragic in some ways it can't get a bigger award, but there can only be one grand prix", while jury member Carlo Cavallone added "[Meet the Superhumans] is an amazing campaign, one of the golds that went through [the judging process] immediately ... Everyone felt it had the highest level of craft. It puts an issue that was really important before London 2012 to raise awareness of the Paralympics [and] they were hyper successful ... Dumb Ways to Die was a tough contender."

#### Royal Mail stamps and gold post boxes

In August 2009, Royal Mail unveiled a series of 30 stamps (reflecting the 30th Olympiad) in honour of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, released in batches of ten between 2009 and July 2011. Each stamp featured an Olympic or Paralympic sport and the London 2012 logo.

As it had done during the Olympics, Royal Mail honoured Britain's Paralympic gold medallists by painting a post box gold in each of their home towns (along with an additional post box outside the National Spinal Injuries Centre in Stoke Mandeville, in honour of its role in the Games' history), and featured them on commemorative stamps released throughout the Games. Royal Mail originally planned only to release a series of six stamps with group portraits of Britain's medallists; however, the decision was met with backlash from critics, who argued that the organisation was discriminating against Paralympians by not granting them the same individual recognition as their Olympian counterparts. Olympic shadow minister Tessa Jowell was also critical of Royal Mail's plan, saying that the stamps were a symbolic aspect of Britain's celebration of the Olympics and that "it would be a shame if this important symbol was not offered to our Paralympian heroes as well."

Royal Mail initially defended its decision, arguing that it would have been "logistically and practically impossible" to issue individual stamps for each gold medallist, since it expected the British team to meet or exceed its performance at Beijing of 42 gold medals. As a result of the criticism, Royal Mail announced on 15 August 2012 that it would release individual stamps for each British gold medallist during the Paralympics.

#### Test events

Several Paralympics-specific events were held during the London Prepares series of test events for the Olympic and Paralympic Games; these included the London International Goalball Tournament, and the London Disability Grand Prix—which was also the first Paralympic event to be held at London's Olympic Stadium.

### Torch relay

The Paralympic torch relay began on 22 August, when groups of integrated scouts kindled four Paralympic flames on the highest peaks of each Home Nation: Scafell Pike in England, Ben Nevis in Scotland, Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland, and Snowdon in Wales. On 24 August the four flames were used to light ceremonial cauldrons in London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff during special "Flame Festival" events; smaller "Flame Celebration" events were also held in various communities over the bank holiday weekend.

On 28 August the four flames were united during a ceremony at Stoke Mandeville Stadium. The flame then travelled a 92-mile (148-kilometre) route to Olympic Stadium in a 24-hour relay, with 580 torchbearers working in teams of five. After a two-hour weather delay, a backup flame was taken straight to the stadium as a contingency, and the relay route was modified. However, as the opening ceremony's parade of nations took longer than expected, the flame was able to arrive at Olympic Stadium in time.

### Ticketing

2.7 million tickets were offered in total, including event-specific tickets and those granting access solely to the Olympic Park, along with multi-event passes offered for ExCeL London and Olympic Park that were intended to allow spectators to discover a variety of Paralympic events. Unlike previous Paralympics, tickets were in extremely high demand, and the ticket allocation was increased from the originally planned 2.5 million. Whilst the period during the Olympics has historically been the busiest for Paralympic sales, 1.4 million tickets were already sold before the start of the Summer Olympics, already surpassing the total number sold in Sydney. The high demand resulted in the Ticketmaster-operated website crashing under the load.

Organisers expected the first ever sell-out in the history of the Paralympics; LOCOG's chief executive Paul Deighton remarked that "the interest in attending the Paralympics has been extraordinary from the start." This success was attributed to the enthusiasm surrounding Great Britain's performance during the Olympics, fan interest in South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius—who had become the first ever double amputee to compete in the Olympics alongside non-disabled athletes, and affordable prices.

On 8 August, LOCOG announced that 2.1 million tickets had been sold (600,000 in the previous month alone), breaking the record of 1.8 million set in Beijing (1.6 million tickets were also distributed by the Chinese government). IPC president Philip Craven congratulated London for this achievement, crediting it to "the insatiable appetite the public has for top class elite sport", and noted it would be fitting for a Paralympics held in its spiritual birthplace to have filled venues. By the opening ceremony, 2.4 million had been sold, with the remaining 100,000 sold during the Games; 10,000 were offered each day. The last 800 tickets to the Opening Ceremony were distributed to police and the military, while Mayor Boris Johnson arranged for the distribution of 1,100 to members of London's youth athletics clubs. Due to popular demand, a further 100,000 contingency tickets were released on 6 September (which included multi-event passes, and event tickets given up by sponsors and partners), along with 100,000 giving access solely to the Olympic Park.

### Logo

The 2012 Summer Paralympics used an emblem sharing a common design with that of the Summer Olympicsthe first time this had ever been done. The logo, designed by Wolff Olins, was unveiled on 4 June 2007, and is a representation of the number 2012. The Paralympic version has its own distinct colour scheme, and substitutes the Olympic Rings with the Paralympic "agitos".

### Mascots

The official mascot of the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games, Mandeville, was unveiled alongside its Olympic counterpart Wenlock on 19 May 2010. As characters, they are portrayed drops of steel from a steelworks in Bolton, and feature singular camera eyes representing "focus" with the cameras capturing aspects of the Games. Mandeville is named in honour of Stoke Mandeville due to its significance in the origins of the Paralympics. Mandeville also wears a helmet emblazoned in the red, green, and blue colours of the Paralympic emblem.

### Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on 29 August at the Olympic Stadium. It was inspired by William Shakespeare's play The Tempest and themed around the concept of "Enlightenment", with actors Ian McKellen and Nicola Miles-Wildin playing the roles of Prospero and Miranda. It featured appearances by theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, and performances by British electronic music group Orbital, and the Graeae Theatre Company, who performed Ian Dury's 1981 protest song "Spasticus Autisticus".

The final bearers of the Paralympic flame represented several generations of Paralympic athletes. "Future" Paralympic athlete Joe Townsend, a Royal Marine who lost both of his legs after stepping on a land mine on duty in Afghanistan, delivered the flame to Olympic Stadium via a zipline from the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower. He passed the flame to long-time British Five-a-side football captain David Clarke, who then passed it to the lighter of the Paralympic cauldron, Margaret Maughan, who was the winner of Britain's first gold medal at the first official Paralympics, in Rome.

### Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony was held on 9 September at the Olympic Stadium. Entitled "The Festival of the Flame", the ceremony was themed around the gathering of people in celebration, and was directed by Kim Gavin, who also directed the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics just a few weeks prior. The artistic programme of the ceremony was set to live performances by the British rock band Coldplay. They were accompanied by guest performers such as the British Paraorchestra (who accompanied the band on "Strawberry Swing", and also performed the Paralympic anthem), Barbadian singer Rihanna (who performed "We Found Love", and her collaboration with Coldplay, "Princess of China") and American rapper Jay-Z (who performed "Run This Town" with Rihanna and Coldplay, and joined in a reprise of "Paradise").

During their closing remarks, LOCOG chief Sebastian Coe and IPC president Philip Craven both congratulated London for its successful hosting of the Paralympics; Coe was proud that both the Olympics and Paralympics in London could be labelled "Made in Britain", while Sir Phillip felt that the Games were the "greatest Paralympic Games ever." The Paralympic flag was handed over from Boris Johnson, Mayor of London to Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, host of the 2016 Summer Paralympics. Ellie Simmonds and Jonnie Peacock shared the honour of extinguishing the Paralympic cauldron, sharing its last flame on torches to others throughout the stadium to represent its eternal spirit.

## The Games

### Participating National Paralympic Committees

London 2012 had the largest number of athletes and participating nations of any Paralympic Games before. A total of 4,302 athletes from 164 countries competed in the Games. This represented an increase of 291 athletes and 18 countries from the 2008 Games, which had 4,011 athletes from 146 countries.

Fourteen countries made their Paralympic debut: Antigua and Barbuda, Brunei, Cameroon, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mozambique, North Korea, San Marino, the Solomon Islands and the US Virgin Islands. Trinidad and Tobago returned to the Games for the first time since 1988.

Andorra made its debut in the Summer Paralympics, having already made three appearances at the Winter Paralympics. Malawi, which would have been making its debut at the Games, and Botswana, were both due to send delegations but withdrew hours before the opening ceremony citing a lack of government funds.

The following National Paralympic Committees sent delegations to compete:

### Sports

The programme of the 2012 Summer Paralympics featured events in 20 sports. The number of events in each sport is noted in parentheses.

- Archery (9) ()
- Athletics (170) ()
- Boccia (7) ()
- Paralympic cycling ()
  - Road (30)
  - Track (20)
- Equestrian (11) ()
- Football 5-a-side (1) ()
- Football 7-a-side (1) ()
- Goalball (2) ()
- Judo (13) ()
- Powerlifting (20) ()
- Rowing (4) ()
- Sailing (3) ()
- Shooting (12) ()
- Swimming (148) ()
- Table tennis (29) ()
- Volleyball (2) ()
- Wheelchair basketball (2) ()
- Wheelchair fencing (12) ()
- Wheelchair rugby (1) ()
- Wheelchair tennis (6) ()

Events for athletes with intellectual disabilities (ID class) returned to the Paralympics in athletics, swimming, and table tennis for the first time since 2000. ID events had been suspended following the 2000 Summer Paralympics, after the Spanish basketball team was stripped of their gold medals when it was found that only 2 of their 12 team members actually had an intellectual disability. The IPC introduced a new procedure involving "sports intelligence" testing to better determine eligibility for the ID class.

Also beginning in 2012, sighted guides became eligible to receive medals in certain events; sighted goalkeepers in 5-a-side football, along with guides and pilots in athletics and cycling and boccia assistants were now able to receive medals for their contributions. Previously in the case of tandem cycling, where a visually-impaired rider takes the rear of the bike with a sighted pilot in front, only the visually-impaired rider actually received a medal.

### Calendar

The official schedule was published on 25 August 2011.

### Medal count

This table is based on the medal count of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The ranking is sorted primarily by the number of gold medals earned by a National Paralympic Committee (NPC). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IPC Country Code.

### Multiple medallists

References:

## Broadcasting

Broadcast rights to the 2012 Summer Paralympics were sold to local broadcasters by LOCOG, with production of the world feeds sub-contracted to Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS). The Games saw a significant growth in media coverage for the Paralympics; LOCOG reached deals with over 36 broadcasters to televise the Games in over 100 countries. LOCOG chief Sebastian Coe stated that "beyond how the commercial value of this package has raised the bar financially for the Paralympic movement, the fantastic broadcast coverage we have agreed will help us take advantage of this opportunity to inspire disabled people of all ages to take up sport and be a catalyst for continued change in public attitudes towards disability." LOCOG reached deals with broadcasters such as China Central Television, the Korean Broadcasting System, NHK, Rede Globo and SporTV in Brazil, the TV Pool (a consortium of free-to-air broadcasters in Thailand consisting of Channel 3, Channel 5, BBTV Channel 7, and Modernine TV), and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to air coverage. The games were to be broadcast on television in the United Kingdom by Channel 4, replacing long-time Paralympic broadcaster BBC in a £9 million deal; the BBC still held radio rights, with coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra. The IPC webcast approximately 780 hours of its coverage through its YouTube channel, with four streams of coverage in English and one in Spanish.

Channel 4's coverage of the Games was billed as the most extensive Paralympic coverage ever broadcast in the United Kingdom; it promised over 150 hours of live coverage throughout the Games on Channel 4 and sister channel More4, and additional coverage online and through special channels carried by Freesat, Sky and Virgin TV (in both standard and high definition). The broadcaster also invested around £600,000 towards training new on-air personalities with expertise in parasports, with many of them also having disabilities themselves. They would be joined by Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow, and BBC Sport personality Clare Balding. Channel 4 also broadcast supplemental programming to lead towards the Games, such as Paralympic-focused documentaries, other IPC championships, and That Paralympic Show, a weekly program focusing on disability sports. During the Games, comedian Adam Hills (who himself was born without a right leg, and hosted the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's coverage of the Beijing Paralympics) would host The Last Leg, a Paralympic-themed chat show that followed the conclusion of each night's coverage. Channel 4's coverage of the Games drew relatively high viewership; its coverage of the opening ceremony was seen by an average of 7.6 million viewers, a 40% share, and peaked at 11.2 million viewers—making it one of Channel 4's most-watched programmes in network history. Primetime coverage saw an average of 3.3 million viewers nightly, while viewership peaked at 4.5 million viewers during the men's T44 200m final where Alan Oliveira beat Oscar Pistorius for the gold medal. Its coverage of the closing ceremony peaked at 7.7 million viewers.

Similarly extensive coverage was televised by RTVE in Spain, with approximately 150 hours of live coverage on Teledeporte and TVE HD. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation aired over 100 hours of coverage across its networks during the Paralympics, with coverage on both ABC1 and ABC2. Coverage of the Games set viewership records for ABC, peaking at 1.6 million viewers on average (in comparison to 1.3 million in Beijing), while ABC2 peaked at a 4.7% viewership share, beating competing digital networks. ABC's coverage was also nominated for a Logie Award for "Most Popular Sports Program".

In the United States, NBC Sports, while not being certified as an official broadcaster, purchased and provided five-and-a-half hours of coverage in total, and no live coverage. Additionally, Pay TV channel NBC Sports Network aired one-hour highlight shows, and NBC broadcast a special recapping the Games on 16 September. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee provided extensive coverage through its own digital outlets. Critics and American athletes expressed disappointment at NBC for its decision not to broadcast any live coverage of the Games. In Canada, rights were held by Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium; TSN (English) and RDS (French) produced daily hour-long highlight programs (some of which were aired by CTV Television), while tape-delayed airings of the opening ceremony were carried by Sportsnet One, TSN2, RDS, and RDS2. The coverage was simulcast with open audio descriptions by AMI-tv, a network which broadcasts programming with accommodations for those who are visually or hearing impaired. AMI-tv also broadcast supplemental programming, such as a daily news program from London and a documentary series focusing on Canadian athletes at the Paralympics.

### Paralympic Media Awards

The Telegraph Media Group won the Best Written (print and online) award and Channel 4 won the best broadcast award. The best radio award went to BBC World Service and Larry Wong working for Edmonton Journal won the best photo prize for his image of Benoit Huot.

## Controversies

### Atos involvement

The role of IT company Atos as a technology provider and official sponsor of the Paralympic Games was criticised by disability-rights groups, due to its contract with Britain's Department for Work and Pensions to carry out capability assessments that determine eligibility for disability benefits. They argued that Atos's programme had lacked integrity and was intended to help cut government spending, since the assessments have resulted in many workers with disabilities being incorrectly judged as "fit for work" and denied benefits. Therefore, the groups considered it hypocritical for Atos to sponsor the Games, whilst simultaneously operating a programme that has negatively affected the lives of residents with disabilities. UK Uncut, a political group opposed to public-service budget cuts, held a series of protests dubbed "The Atos Games" to coincide with the start of the Paralympics, culminating with joint demonstrations with Disabled People Against Cuts outside the London headquarters of both Atos and the Department for Work and Pensions on 31 August 2012. Speaking at the protests, comedian Jeremy Hardy said that the programme's intent to "victimise people with disabilities" was "blatant and shameless."

During the opening ceremony some British athletes reportedly obscured the Atos logo on their accreditation passes in protest of their involvement. However, an official from the British Paralympic Association denied that this had been the case. LOCOG defended Atos's involvement, stating that the company was "a critical and valued member of [the companies] delivering these Games", due to the technologies it has provided, which included information systems for managing volunteers and distributing event results.

### Ticketing

Controversy arose about seating rules for wheelchair users, after two mothers with disabilities accused LOCOG of having discriminatory policies. One claimed she had been told by a LOCOG staff member that spectators in a wheelchair area at the Velodrome could only be accompanied by one adult, and children could not attend without being accompanied by another non-disabled adult, while another was told that her ability to sit in a wheelchair area with her children at ExCeL London was "not guaranteed". A petition for improved access for families with disabilities, started by one of the mothers on Change.org, quickly collected over 30,000 signatures. LOCOG denied having discriminatory policies, stating that parents with disabilities could steward their children in wheelchair seating areas at events with unreserved seats, but may not all be able to sit together at events with reserved seating.

LOCOG faced further criticism for how it handled the sale of tickets for the wheelchair areas within venues. In May 2012 the online sale of tickets for wheelchair areas was replaced by a dedicated telephone hotline. Organisers were criticised for their use of an 0844 revenue share number for this hotline, and for neglecting to mention on its ticketing website that calls would be charged by the minute. Former sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe viewed this as discrimination against wheelchair users, and called upon LOCOG to compensate those who had used the hotline. LOCOG denied that it was receiving additional profits from the phone line, and claimed that a dedicated line was being used to allow customers to receive a service tailored to their individual accessibility needs.

A minor incident occurred involving blind Member of Parliament David Blunkett, who was attending the opening ceremony alongside a Channel 4 director. Blunkett was denied access to his seat at Olympic Stadium because there was no room for his guide dog, and had to watch the ceremony from seats in the stadium's gantry instead. However, Blunkett noted that this was an isolated incident and chose not to make an issue of it, simply advising organisers to "seek to find a solution rather than impose a preconceived notion of what is or is not possible."

### British television coverage

British official broadcaster Channel 4 received some criticism for its coverage of the Paralympics. Users of Twitter complained that its coverage of the opening ceremony contained too many commercial breaks, drawing comparisons to similar complaints faced by NBC during the Olympics' opening ceremony; unlike the BBC, who televised the Olympics in the United Kingdom, both NBC and Channel 4 are supported by advertising. Complaints noted that Channel 4 had shown five ad breaks within the first hour of the ceremony, and that ironically, it had recently broadcast a six-hour long late-night dance music special with no adverts at all. Channel 4 defended the criticism by stating that it had broadcast "significantly fewer" commercials than normal for primetime programming during the ceremony, and that the ad breaks were needed in order to help the channel invest in broadcasting programming such as the Paralympics. Criticism was also made towards comments made by Jon Snow and Krishnan Guru-Murthy during the telecast; Snow was criticized for making comments about war-torn countries during the parade of nations, while Guru-Murthy received similar criticism for quipping that "looking at the ages of these athletes, which have been helpfully provided to us, they're really quite old."

Channel 4 was also accused of showing too many studio segments during the first few days of the Games rather than live events, and for missing several notable events involving British athletes, including a swimming heat where Eleanor Simmonds set a new personal best and almost beat the world record, Sarah Storey winning her eleventh Paralympic medal, and Great Britain's opening wheelchair basketball game against Germany. Channel 4 noted that time was needed during the first few days to explain Paralympic events and the classification system to viewers, and that it was operating three additional channels' worth of live coverage throughout the Games. The broadcaster also stated that it had to make editorial decisions on which events to air during periods where a large number of events were in progress. The amount of live coverage was also affected by Olympic Broadcasting Services, who did not send cameras or provide official television coverage for sports such as cycling, the marathon, and shooting. Channel 4's news department did send its own cameramen to film the affected events for highlights, but was unable to broadcast them live.

### American television coverage

In the United States, NBC Sports held the broadcast rights to both the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012. NBC had been frequently criticised in past years by American athletes and IPC officials for its minimal coverage of past Paralympics, and it was speculated by critics that NBC's history of inadequate coverage may have impacted New York City's bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. In 2008, it did not air any coverage while the Games were in progress (neither live or delayed), choosing to air a recap documentary on NBC in November 2008, followed by a week of highlights on Universal Sports. While relatively larger than its Beijing coverage, NBC produced only five-and-a-half hours of specials featuring tape delayed highlights of the Games; most of them aired on pay-TV channel NBCSN, while the last aired on NBC a week following the conclusion of the Games. No coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies, nor any live coverage, was provided. By contrast, some broadcasters (such as the host broadcasters, and broadcasters in Australia and Spain) planned to air at least 100 hours or more of coverage from London, and NBC itself had provided extensive coverage of the London Olympics, which was heavily viewed.

NBC's lack of coverage drew the ire of American disability rights groups and IPC president Philip Craven, who expressed his disappointment for American athletes and viewers who were unable to fully experience the games on television. Craven remarked that "some people think that North America always [leads] on everything, and on this they don't. It's about time they caught up." Following the closing ceremonies, Craven hinted that the IPC might exercise greater scrutiny on broadcasters at future Paralympics by stating that "if we find our values don't fit, we'll have to go somewhere else." NBC acquired the rights to the 2014 and 2016 Paralympic Games in September 2013; the broadcaster vowed to air a relatively larger amount of Paralympic coverage from Sochi and Rio de Janeiro respectively—in particular, NBC and NBCSN were to air at least 66 hours from Rio. Craven praised NBC's decision to devote a relatively larger amount of airtime to future Paralympics, sharing his hope that U.S. audiences would be "as captivated and emotionally enthralled as the billions around the world who tuned in to London 2012 last summer."

### Women's discus medals

During the women's class F35/36 discus competition, an error in scoring caused the wrong medals to be presented. In this combined class event, final standings were determined based on a points calculation. The calculation converted distances thrown into points, to account for the different functional impairments of the participating athletes. Due to an error in the scoring system, the gold medal in the event was originally awarded to Ukrainian athlete Mariia Pomazan. When the mistake was discovered, the recalculated points showed that Chinese athlete Wu Qing had finished first, with Pomazan in second place. A second medal ceremony was held, which Pomazan did not attend in protest. She was eventually required to return her gold medal.

## See also

- Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Multi-parasport event in London, England

August 2012 sports events in the United Kingdom

International sports competitions in London

Multi-sport events in the United Kingdom

September 2012 sports events in the United Kingdom


Spider-Man in film

The fictional character Spider-Man, a comic book superhero created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and featured in Marvel Comics publications, has appeared as a main character in numerous theatrical and made-for-television films.

The first four films were linked to television series and screened in theaters only in certain countries. Nicholas Hammond starred as Peter Parker / Spider-Man in the 1977 made-for-television film Spider-Man that spawned a broadcast series, and would appear as the character in two sequels edited from those episodes. In 1978, the Toei Company created a theatrical spin-off of their Spider-Man television series, with Shinji Todō reprising his role as Takuya Yamashiro / Spider-Man. None of these films had a theatrical release in the United States.

By 1999, Sony Pictures Entertainment had acquired the film rights to the character, creating two film series until 2014: the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy of films (2002–2007) starring Tobey Maguire as the character, and the Marc Webb Amazing Spider-Man films (2012–2014) starring Andrew Garfield in the role.

In February 2015, Disney, Marvel Studios, and Sony made a deal to share the Spider-Man film rights, leading to a new iteration of Spider-Man being introduced and integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The deal allowed Sony Pictures to continue to own, finance, distribute, and have final creative control of the solo Spider-Man films, with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributing the films with his other appearances in a supporting capacity. Tom Holland portrays this version of Spider-Man, and has appeared in six films to date, from Captain America: Civil War (2016) to Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). In September 2019, following a brief stand-off resulting in the termination of the old agreement, Disney and Sony relented to fan outcry and reached a new agreement for Holland's version to return for future films such as another solo film, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) where he appears alongside Maguire and Garfield who reprise their roles in the film as supporting characters. A fourth MCU Spider-Man film is in development at Sony and Disney.

Plans for an animated Spider-Man film were officially announced by Sony in April 2015, which eventually became Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) from Sony Pictures Animation. Shameik Moore voices Miles Morales / Spider-Man in the film, along with various other versions of Peter Parker and alternate versions of Spider-Man from the multiverse also appearing. Sequels and potential spin-offs are planned.

The Spider-Man films have been generally well received. They have collectively grossed \$10.2 billion at the global box office, with Far From Home becoming the first Spider-Man film to gross over \$1 billion worldwide followed by No Way Home, which became Sony's highest-grossing film of all time. Additionally, Into the Spider-Verse won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

## Early films

### The Amazing Spider-Man series

#### Spider-Man (1977)

In 1977, the pilot episode of The Amazing Spider-Man television series was released by Columbia Pictures as Spider-Man outside of the United States. It was directed by E. W. Swackhamer, written by Alvin Boretz and stars Nicholas Hammond as the titular character, David White as J. Jonah Jameson and Jeff Donnell as May Parker. The film premiered on CBS on September 14, 1977, and received a VHS release in 1980.

#### Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978)

In 1978, the two-part episode "Deadly Dust" from the television series The Amazing Spider-Man was re-edited and released outside of the United States as a feature film, Spider-Man Strikes Back. Nicholas Hammond reprises his role as Peter Parker / Spider-Man while Robert F. Simon replaces David White in the role of J. Jonah Jameson. The film was theatrically released on 8 May 1978.

#### Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge (1981)

In 1981, a film made from The Amazing Spider-Man television series finale "The Chinese Web", using the same method used to make Spider-Man Strikes Back, was released as Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge in European territories. Nicholas Hammond and Robert F. Simon respectively reprise their roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson. It was directed by Ron Satlof and written by Robert Janes. Other actors include Rosalind Chao, Benson Fong, and Ellen Bry.

### Japanese film

In 1978, Tōei released a theatrical spin-off of their Spider-Man TV series at the Tōei Cartoon Festival. The film was directed by Kōichi Takemoto, who also directed eight episodes of the TV series. The week after the film's release, a character introduced in the film, Jūzō Mamiya (played by Noboru Nakaya), began appearing in episodes of the TV series. The film was released on July 22, 1978. Like the rest of the series, the film was made available for streaming on Marvel's official website in 2009.

## Development

### Cannon Films

The low box office performance of 1983's Superman III made feature-film adaptations of comic book properties a low priority in Hollywood until the late 1990s. In 1985, after a brief option on Spider-Man by Roger Corman expired, Marvel Comics optioned the property to Cannon Films. Cannon chiefs Menahem Golan and his cousin Yoram Globus agreed to pay Marvel Comics \$225,000 over the five-year option period, plus a percentage of any film's revenues. However, the rights would revert to Marvel if a film was not made by April 1990.

Tobe Hooper, then preparing both Invaders From Mars and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, was mooted as director. Golan and Globus misunderstood the concept of the character ("They thought it was like The Wolf Man", said director Joseph Zito) and instructed writer Leslie Stevens, creator of The Outer Limits, to write a treatment reflecting their misconception. In Stevens' story, a corporate scientist intentionally subjects ID-badge photographer Peter Parker to radioactive bombardment, transforming him into a hairy, suicidal, eight-armed monster. This human tarantula refuses to join the scientist's new master-race of mutants, battling a succession of mutations kept in a basement laboratory.

Unhappy with this perceived debasement of his comic book creation, Marvel's Stan Lee pushed for a new story and screenplay, written for Cannon by Ted Newsom and John Brancato. The variation on the origin story had Otto Octavius as a teacher and mentor to a college-aged Peter Parker. The cyclotron accident which "creates" Spider-Man also deforms the scientist into Doctor Octopus and results in his mad pursuit of proof of the Fifth Force. "Doc Ock" reconstructs his cyclotron and causes electromagnetic abnormalities, anti-gravity effects, and bilocation which threatens to engulf New York City and the world. Joseph Zito, who had directed Cannon's successful Chuck Norris film Invasion USA, replaced Tobe Hooper. The new director hired Barney Cohen to rewrite the script. Cohen added action scenes, a non-canonical comic-book sidekick for the villain, gave Doc Ock the catch phrase, "Okey-dokey", and altered his goal from the Fifth Force to a quest for anti-gravity. Producer Golan (using his pen name "Joseph Goldman") then made a minor polish to Cohen's rewrite. Zito scouted locations and studio facilities in both the U.S. and Europe, and oversaw storyboard breakdowns supervised by Harper Goff. Cannon planned to make the film on the then-substantial budget of between \$15 and \$20 million.

While no casting was finalized, Zito expressed interest in actor/stunt man Scott Leva, who had posed for Cannon's promotional photos and ads, and made public appearances as Spider-Man for Marvel. The up-and-coming actor Tom Cruise was also discussed for the leading role. Zito considered Bob Hoskins as Doc Ock. Stan Lee expressed his desire to play Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson. Lauren Bacall and Katharine Hepburn were considered for Aunt May, Peter Cushing as a sympathetic scientist, and Adolph Caesar as a police detective. With Cannon finances siphoned by the expensive Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Masters of the Universe, the company slashed the proposed Spider-Man budget to under \$10 million. Director Zito opted out, unwilling to make a compromised Spider-Man. The company commissioned low-budget rewrites from writers Shepard Goldman, Don Michael Paul, and finally Ethan Wiley, and penciled in company workhorse Albert Pyun as director, who also made script alterations.

Scott Leva was still associated with the character through Marvel (he had appeared in photo covers of the comic), and he read each draft. Leva commented: "Ted Newsom and John Brancato had written the script. It was good, but it needed a little work. Unfortunately, with every subsequent rewrite by other writers, it went from good to bad to terrible." Due to Cannon's assorted financial crises, the project shut down after spending about \$1.5 million on the project. In 1989, Pathé, owned by corrupt Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti, acquired the overextended Cannon. The filmmaking cousins parted, Globus remaining associated with Pathé, Golan leaving to run 21st Century Film Corporation, keeping a number of properties (including Spider-Man) in lieu of a cash buy-out. He also extended his Spider-Man option with Marvel up to January 1992.

Golan shelved the low-budget rewrites and attempted to finance an independent production from the original big-budget script, already budgeted, storyboarded and laid out. At Cannes in May 1989, 21st Century announced a September start date, with ads touting the script by "Barney Cohen, Ted Newsom & John Brancato and Joseph Goldman". As standard practice, Golan pre-sold the unmade film to raise production funds, with television rights bought by Viacom and home video rights by Columbia Pictures, which wanted to establish a studio franchise. Stephen Herek was attached as director at this point. Golan submitted this "new" screenplay to Columbia in late 1989 (actually the 1985 script with an adjusted "1989" date) and the studio requested yet another rewrite. Golan hired Frank LaLoggia, who turned in his draft but grew disenchanted with 21st Century. Neil Ruttenberg was hired for one more draft, which was also "covered" by script readers at Columbia. Columbia's script analysts considered all three submissions "essentially the same story". A tentative production deal was set. Stan Lee said in 1990: "21st Century [is] supposed to do Spider-Man and now they're talking to Columbia and the way it looks now, Columbia may end up buying Spider-Man from 21st Century."

### Carolco Pictures / MGM

21st Century's Menahem Golan still actively immersed himself mounting "his" Spider-Man, sending the original "Doc Ock" script for production bids. In 1990, he contacted Canadian effects company Light and Motion Corporation regarding the visual effects, which in turn offered the stop-motion chores to Steven Archer (Krull, Clash of the Titans).

Toward the end of shooting True Lies, Variety carried the announcement that Carolco Pictures had received a completed screenplay from James Cameron. This script bore the names of James Cameron, John Brancato, Ted Newsom, Barry [sic] Cohen and "Joseph Goldmari", a typographical scrambling of Golan's pen name ("Joseph Goldman") with Marvel executive Joseph Calamari. The script text was identical to the one Golan submitted to Columbia the previous year, with the addition of a new 1993 date. Cameron stalwart Arnold Schwarzenegger was frequently linked to the project as the director's choice for Doctor Octopus.

#### James Cameron "scriptment"

Months later, James Cameron submitted an undated 57-page "scriptment" with an alternate story (the copyright registration was dated 1991), part screenplay, part narrative story outline. The "scriptment" told the Spider-Man origin, but used variations on the comic book characters Electro and Sandman as villains. This "Electro" (named Carlton Strand, instead of Max Dillon) was a megalomaniacal parody of corrupt capitalists. Instead of Flint Marko's character, Cameron's "Sandman" (simply named Boyd) is mutated by an accident involving Philadelphia Experiment-style bilocation and atom-mixing, in lieu of getting caught in a nuclear blast on a beach. The story climaxes with a battle atop the World Trade Center and had Peter Parker revealing his identity to Mary Jane Watson. In addition, the treatment was also heavy on profanity, and had Spider-Man and Mary Jane having sex on the Brooklyn Bridge.

This treatment reflected elements in previous scripts: from the Stevens treatment, organic web-shooters, and a villain who tempts Spider-Man to join a coming "master race" of mutants; from the original screenplay and rewrite, weird electrical storms causing blackouts, freak magnetic events and bi-location; from the Ethan Wiley draft, a villain addicted to toxic super-powers and multiple experimental spiders, one of which escapes and bites Peter, causing a hallucinatory nightmare invoking Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis; from the Frank LaLoggia script, a blizzard of stolen cash fluttering down onto surprised New Yorkers; and from the Neil Ruttenberg screenplay, a criminal assault on the NYC Stock Exchange. In 1991, Carolco Pictures extended Golan's option agreement with Marvel through May 1996, but in April 1992, Carolco ceased active production on Spider-Man due to continued financial and legal problems. During this time Leonardo DiCaprio was considered for Peter Parker/Spider-Man; Maggie Smith as Aunt May; Robyn Lively as Mary Jane Watson; R. Lee Ermey as J. Jonah Jameson; Michael Biehn as Boyd/Sandman; and Lance Henriksen as Carlton Strand/Electro.

#### Litigation

When James Cameron agreed to make Spider-Man, Carolco lawyers simply used his previous Terminator 2 contract as a template. A clause in this agreement gave Cameron the right to decide on movie and advertising credits. Show business trade articles and advertisements made no mention of Golan, who was still actively assembling the elements for the film. In 1993, Golan complained publicly and finally instigated legal action against Carolco for disavowing his contractual guarantee credit as producer. On the other hand, Cameron had the contractual right to decide on credits. Eventually, Carolco sued Viacom and Columbia to recover broadcast and home video rights, and the two studios countersued. 20th Century Fox, though not part of the litigation, contested Cameron's participation, claiming exclusivity on his services as a director under yet another contract. In 1996, Carolco, 21st Century, and Marvel went bankrupt.

Via a quitclaim from Carolco dated March 28, 1995, MGM acquired 21st Century's film library and assets, and received "...all rights in and to all drafts and versions of the screenplay(s) for Spider-Man written by James Cameron, Ted Newsom & John Brancato, Menahem Golan, Jon [sic] Michael Paul, Ethan Wiley, Leslie Stevens, Frank Laloggia, Neil Ruttenberg, Barney Cohen, Shepard Goldman and any and all other writers." MGM also sued 21st Century, Viacom, and Marvel Comics, alleging fraud in the original deal between Cannon and Marvel. In 1998, Marvel emerged from bankruptcy with a reorganization plan that merged the company with Toy Biz. The courts determined that the original contract of Marvel's rights to Golan had expired, returning the rights to Marvel, but the matter was still not completely resolved. In 1999, Marvel licensed Spider-Man rights to Columbia, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. MGM disputed the legality, claiming it had the Spider-Man rights via Cannon, 21st Century, and Carolco.

### Columbia Pictures

In the meantime, MGM/UA chief executive John Calley moved to Columbia Pictures. Intimately familiar with the legal history of producer Kevin McClory's claim to the rights to both Thunderball and other related James Bond characters and elements, Calley announced that Columbia would produce an alternate 007 series, based on the "McClory material", which Calley acquired for Columbia. Columbia had made the original 1967 film spoof of Casino Royale, a non-Eon production.

Both studios now faced rival projects, which could undercut their own long-term financial stability and plans. Columbia had no consistent movie franchise, and had sought Spider-Man since 1989; MGM/UA's only reliable source of theatrical income was a new James Bond film every two or three years. An alternate 007 series could diminish or even eliminate the power of MGM/UA's long-running Bond series. Likewise, an MGM/UA Spider-Man film could negate Columbia's plans to create an exclusive cash cow. Both sides seemed to have strong arguments for the rights to do such films.

The two studios made a trade-off in March 1999; Columbia relinquished its rights to create a new 007 series in exchange for MGM's giving up its claim to Spider-Man. Columbia acquired the rights to all previous scripts in 2000, but exercised options only on the "Cameron Material", i.e., both the completed multi-author screenplay and the subsequent scriptment. Other sources report that Columbia's owner Sony agreed to pay \$10 million, plus 5% of any movies' gross revenue and half the revenue from consumer products. After more than a decade of attempts, Spider-Man truly went into production and since then all of the Spider-Man films were distributed by Columbia Pictures, the primary film production holding of Sony. The first three were directed by Sam Raimi, and the reboot and its sequel were directed by Marc Webb. Laura Ziskin served as producer until her death in 2011.

## Sam Raimi's trilogy

### Spider-Man (2002)

Spider-Man follows Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), an orphaned high schooler who pines after popular girl-next-door Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). While on a science class field trip at Columbia University, a genetically-engineered "super spider" bites Peter. As a result, Peter gains superhuman abilities, including increased strength, speed, and the abilities to scale walls and generate organic webbing. After his beloved Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) is murdered, the teenager realizes that he must use his newfound abilities to protect New York City. Meanwhile, wealthy industrialist Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), the father of Peter's best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco), subjects himself to an experimental performance-enhancing serum, which creates a psychotic and murderous split personality. Donning a military battle suit, Norman becomes a freakish "Green Goblin", who begins to terrorize the city. Peter, as Spider-Man, now must battle with the Goblin, all while dealing with personal situations involving his domestic and his love life.

### Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Two years after the events of the first film, Peter struggles to balance his superhero and private lives and still pines after Mary Jane Watson, who is now engaged. Harry Osborn continues to believe Spider-Man is responsible for his father Norman Osborn's death. Spider-Man contends with scientist Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), also known as Doctor Octopus, who initially mentors his alter-ego and has four mechanical tentacles fused to his spine following a failed fusion-based experiment and sets out to recreate the same that could destroy much of New York City.

### Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Spider-Man 3 picks up a year after the events of the second film. Peter is still with Mary Jane Watson, while Harry Osborn succeeds his father as the new Green Goblin (credited as New Goblin). Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), who, like Peter, is a photographer for the Daily Bugle, sets out to defame Spider-Man and incriminate him. Meanwhile, Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), an escaped convict, falls into a particle accelerator and becomes a shape-shifting sand monster known as Sandman. Peter later learns that Marko killed Uncle Ben, causing Peter's own dark intentions to grow. This vendetta is enhanced by the appearance of the mysterious black alien symbiotic substance that bonds to Peter, resulting in the formation of a new black costume. Once Peter separates himself from the alien, it finds a new host in the form of Brock, resulting in the creation of Venom and Peter Parker having to battle the villains in the end.

### Canceled fourth film and potential revival

In 2007, Spider-Man 4 entered development, with Raimi attached to direct and Maguire, Dunst, and other cast members set to reprise their roles. Both a fourth and a fifth film were planned and at one time the idea of shooting the two sequels concurrently was under consideration. However, Raimi stated in March 2009 that only the fourth film was in development at that time, and that if there were fifth and sixth films, those two films would actually be a continuation of each other. Zodiac screenwriter James Vanderbilt was hired by Sony Pictures in October 2007 to pen the screenplay after initial reports in January that Sony was in contact with David Koepp, who wrote the first Spider-Man film. The script was being rewritten by David Lindsay-Abaire and Gary Ross in November 2008 and October 2009. Sony also engaged Vanderbilt to write scripts for Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6.

In 2007, Raimi expressed interest in depicting the transformation of Dr. Curt Connors into his villainous alter-ego, the Lizard; the character's actor Dylan Baker and producer Grant Curtis were also enthusiastic about the idea. Raimi also discussed his desire to upgrade Bruce Campbell from a cameo appearance to a significant role, later revealed to be Quentin Beck / Mysterio. It was reported in December 2009 that John Malkovich was in negotiations to play Vulture and that Anne Hathaway would play Felicia Hardy, though she would not have transformed into the Black Cat as in the comics. Instead, Raimi's Felicia was expected to become a new superpowered figure called the Vulturess. Several years later, in 2013, Raimi said that Hathaway was going to be Black Cat if Spider-Man 4 had been made. Concept art by storyboard artist Jeffrey Henderson revealed in June 2016 showed the inclusion of an opening montage of Spider-Man going up against C and D-list villains, such as Mysterio, the Shocker, the Prowler, the Stilt-Man and the Rhino, with the Vulture serving as the main antagonist; Henderson recalls that the film would have opened with a montage of Spider-Man, now feeling free after breaking up with Mary Jane, catching all villains from his rogues gallery that the crew knew Raimi would never use in his films. Henderson also disclosed that Malkovich would have played the Vulture, who would have been a private contractor who committed terrible actions in behalf of the U.S. government, leading him to be called the "Vulture" because he never left anything but "bones" behind, and the film's climax would have shown the Vulture and Spider-Man fighting in a bloody fight that Spider-Man would have barely won by causing the Vulture's wings to make him tumble between building until crashing into the Citicorp Building's ether and off its top, killing him. In April 2022, Raimi stated that he had planned to include Kraven the Hunter in the film.

As disagreements between Sony and Raimi threatened to push the film off the intended May 6, 2011 release date, Sony Pictures announced in January 2010 that plans for Spider-Man 4 had been canceled due to Raimi's withdrawal from the project. Raimi reportedly ended his participation due to his doubt that he could meet the planned May 6, 2011 release date while at the same time upholding the film creatively; he admitted that he was "very unhappy" with the way Spider-Man 3 had turned out, and was under pressure to make the fourth film the best that he could. Raimi purportedly went through four iterations of the script with different screenwriters and still "hated it".

In June 2021, animatic producer David E. Duncan, who worked on Spider-Man 4, uploaded an animatic of the canceled project dated November 12, 2009 to his Vimeo account along with the description: "One of a half dozen animatics I produced for the ill-fated 4th Raimi Spider-Man. Studio politics, creative differences and bad internet reactions (to John Malkovich as Vulture) caused the plug to be pulled December of 2009, early in the prep stage. However, one month later, Sony moved forward with Andrew Garfield reboot...", the animatic depicts a battle between Spider-Man and The Vulture. Duncan later deleted the animatic from his page, but it can still be found on YouTube.

Following his appearance in No Way Home, some fans called for Sony to make a fourth Tobey Maguire Spider-Man film using the hashtag "#MakeRaimiSpiderMan4" on Twitter. In addition, both director Sam Raimi and actress Kirsten Dunst expressed interest in a possible return in a fourth film, while Tobey Maguire stated that he is "open for anything". However, Raimi later stated that he had no plans to direct such a film.

## Marc Webb films

Following the cancelation of Spider-Man 4, Sony announced that the franchise would be rebooted with a new director and new cast. Marc Webb directed both of the Amazing Spider-Man films.

### The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

The film focuses on Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) developing his abilities in high school and his relationship with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). He fights the Lizard, the monstrous form of Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father's former partner and a scientist at Oscorp.

### The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

The film takes place two years after the first film's events. Peter Parker graduates from high school, continues his crime-fighting duties as Spider-Man, while combating the electricity-manipulating Electro (Jamie Foxx), rekindling his relationship with Gwen Stacy, and encountering his old friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), who is slowly dying from a genetic disease.

### Canceled third film, spin-offs, and potential revival

In June 2013, Sony Pictures announced the release dates for the next two Spider-Man films. The third film was scheduled to be released on June 10, 2016, and the fourth to be released on May 4, 2018. Paul Giamatti confirmed that Rhino would return in the third film. That November, Sony Pictures Entertainment chief Michael Lynton told analysts: "We do very much have the ambition about creating a bigger universe around Spider-Man. There are a number of scripts in the works." Andrew Garfield stated that his contract was for three films, and was unsure of his involvement for the fourth film. In February 2014, Sony announced that Webb would return to direct the third Amazing Spider-Man film. In March, Webb stated that he would not be directing the fourth film, but would like to remain as a consultant for the series. Roberto Orci told IGN in July that he was not working on the third film due to his involvement in Star Trek Beyond. Alex Kurtzman stated in interview that the third film was still continuing production and that there was a possibility of seeing a Black Cat film. Sony Pictures later announced in July that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 had been delayed to 2018. After the announcement in February 2015 of a new series with Marvel Studios, the sequels to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 were canceled. In July 2015, Denis Leary, who had portrayed police Captain George Stacy in the previous two films, revealed that the film at one point had Spider-Man "take this formula and regenerate the people in his life that died."

In December 2013, Sony issued a press release through the viral site Electro Arrives announcing that two films were in development, with Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Ed Solomon writing a spin-off to The Amazing Spider-Man focused on Venom (with Kurtzman attached to direct) and Drew Goddard writing one focused on the villain team Sinister Six. Hannah Minghella and Rachel O'Connor would oversee the development and production of these films for the studio. The Venom spinoff eventually became the 2018 film starring the character. In April 2014, it was announced that Goddard would direct the Sinister Six film, and that both spin-offs would be released before a fourth Amazing Spider-Man, with Spider-Man potentially appearing in both spin-offs. Later in the month, Tolmach and Arad revealed the Sinister Six film would be a redemption story, and that the film's lineup might differ from the comics. On July 23, 2014, Sony Pictures announced that The Sinister Six was scheduled for release on November 11, 2016. By August 2014, Sony was also looking to release a female-centered spin-off film in 2017, with Lisa Joy writing, and had given the Venom spin-off the potential title of Venom: Carnage.

Despite the announcement in February 2015 of a new series with Marvel Studios, the Sinister Six, Venom, and female-led spin-off films set in the Amazing Spider-Man timeline were then "still moving forward". Feige was not expected to be creatively involved with these films. However, the Sinister Six film was canceled due to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 underperforming commercially, and by November 2015, the other prospective spin-off films were canceled as well. However, Sony has reworked these plans into creating a new film series based on Marvel characters associated with Spider-Man separate from both the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the Amazing Spider-Man franchise, starting with the release of the 2018 film Venom. These include spinoff films centering around the characters of Morbius, Kraven the Hunter, and Silver and Black, a female-centric team up of the Spider-Man anti-heroes Silver Sable and Black Cat. Jared Leto portrayed the title character Morbius in the spin-off film, directed by Daniel Espinosa and was released on April 1, 2022, to critical and commercial failure. Kraven the Hunter was written by Richard Wenk, and has a set release date of October 6, 2023.

Following his appearance in No Way Home, some fans called for Sony to make a third Andrew Garfield Spider-Man film using the hashtag "#MakeTASM3" on Twitter. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Garfield expressed interest in reprising his role as his Peter Parker for another Spider-Man film. Tom Holland later expressed support for Garfield to reprise the role in a potential third film.

## Licensing agreement with Marvel Studios

Sony's 1998 license, covering all Spider-Man films (including 900 characters related to Spider-Man), is perpetual provided that Sony releases a new Spider-Man film at least once every 5.75 years.

Sometime in 2014, prior to the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, there had been informal discussions between Amy Pascal and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige about whether the world and characters of The Amazing Spider-Man films (including Andrew Garfield's version of Spider-Man) could be retroactively integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but discussions came to nothing. Pascal and Avi Arad had attempted to connect the two franchises prior to these discussions, with the pair revealing that they were intending on licensing out the design of the Oscorp Tower from The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) so it could appear in the New York City skyline of the MCU film The Avengers (2012), establishing the existence of Spider-Man and associated elements in the MCU. It never materialized as a result of the building's design being finalized too late into the latter film's post-production process. Sony also mooted with the idea of doing a crossover film between The Amazing Spider-Man films and the Sam Raimi films with Garfield and Tobey Maguire playing their respective versions of Spider-Man with Raimi reportedly eyed to direct, but this too never came to fruition. In December 2014, following the hacking of Sony Pictures' computers, Sony and Marvel Studios were revealed to have had discussions about allowing Spider-Man to appear in the MCU film Captain America: Civil War (2016) while having control of the film rights remaining with Sony. Talks between the studios then broke down. Instead, Sony had considered having Raimi return to direct a new trilogy.

On February 9, 2015, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios announced that Spider-Man would appear in the MCU, with the character appearing in an MCU film and Sony releasing a Spider-Man film co-produced by Feige and Pascal. Sony Pictures would continue to own, finance, distribute, and exercise final creative control over the Spider-Man films. Feige stated that Marvel had been working to add Spider-Man to the MCU since at least October 2014. The next month, Marvel Entertainment CCO Joe Quesada indicated that the Peter Parker version of the character would be used, which Feige confirmed in April. The following June, Feige clarified that the initial Sony deal did not allow the character to appear in any of the MCU television series, as it was "very specific... with a certain amount of back and forth allowed."

Tom Holland, who portrays Peter Parker / Spider-Man in the MCU, revealed in November 2016 that he was signed for "three Spider-Man movies and three solo movies". In June 2017, Holland, Feige, and Jon Watts, director of the MCU Spider-Man films, confirmed that a child (portrayed by Max Favreau) wearing an Iron Man mask whom Tony Stark saves from a drone in Iron Man 2 (2010), was a young Peter Parker, retroactively making it the introduction of the character to the MCU.

In August 2019, Disney and Sony couldn't reach a new agreement regarding Spider-Man films, with Marvel Studios and Feige said to no longer have any involvement in any future films. Deadline Hollywood noted that Disney had hoped future films would be a "50/50 co-financing arrangement between the studios", with the possibility to extend the deal to other Spider-Man-related films, an offer Sony rejected and did not counter. Instead, Sony hoped to keep the terms of the previous agreement, where Marvel would receive 5% of the film's initial theatrical gross, with Disney refusing. The Hollywood Reporter added that the lack of a new agreement would see the end of Holland's Spider-Man in the MCU. Variety cited unnamed sources claiming negotiations had "hit an impasse" and that a new deal could still be reached. On August 24, Feige reportedly commented at Disney's D23 Expo: "We got to make five films within the MCU with Spider-Man: two standalone films and three with the Avengers. It was a dream that I never thought would happen. It was never meant to last forever. We knew there was a finite amount of time that we'd be able to do this, and we told the story we wanted to tell, and I'll always be thankful for that."

The following month, in response to fan outcry, Disney and Sony reached a new deal, which includes a third Spider-Man film as well as one other film, both set in the MCU. At the time, Watts entered final negotiations to return as director. In November 2021, Pascal revealed in an interview that Sony and Marvel Studios are going to continue collaborating for another trilogy of films set in the MCU.

### Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Reports indicated that the first MCU film that Spider-Man would appear in as part of the deal, would be Captain America: Civil War. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo had lobbied for months to include the character in that film. Anthony Russo stated that, despite Marvel telling them to have a "plan B" should the deal with Sony fail, the Russos never created one because "it was very important to us to reintroduce" Spider-Man in the film, adding, "We only have envisioned the movie with Spider-Man." By the end of May 2015, Asa Butterfield, Tom Holland, Judah Lewis, Matthew Lintz, Charlie Plummer and Charlie Rowe screen tested for the lead role, against Robert Downey Jr., who portrays Tony Stark / Iron Man, for chemistry. The six were chosen out of a search of over 1,500 actors to test in front of Feige, Pascal, and the Russo brothers. In June, Feige and Pascal narrowed the actors considered to Holland and Rowe. Both screen tested again with Downey, with Holland also testing with Chris Evans, who portrays Steve Rogers / Captain America, and emerged as the favorite. Holland was ultimately cast as Spider-Man in June. The following month, Marisa Tomei was in talks for the role of May Parker, later appearing in Civil War.

In the film, Parker, who has spent the last six months as a local costumed crimefighter named Spider-Man, is recruited by Stark to join his team of Avengers to stop Rogers and his rogue faction of Avengers, who oppose the Sokovia Accords, from fleeing with fugitive Bucky Barnes. During the fight with Rogers and his team, Parker, utilizing a Stark-upgraded version of his initial makeshift suit, proves to be a formidable opponent, and implements a tactic with which he, Stark, James Rhodes / War Machine and Vision disable Scott Lang / Ant-Man in his giant-sized form. Upon returning home, Parker discovers some of the Stark tech features of the suit he was given by Stark.

### Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Spider-Man: Homecoming was released on July 7, 2017. The film was directed by Jon Watts, from a screenplay by Jonathan M. Goldstein & John Francis Daley and Watts & Christopher Ford and Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers. Holland, Tomei, and Downey reprise their roles as Peter Parker, May Parker, and Stark, respectively, and are joined by Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes / Vulture, Zendaya as MJ, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds, Laura Harrier as Liz, Tony Revolori as Flash Thompson, and Bokeem Woodbine as Herman Schultz / Shocker, who appears as a minor villain. Jon Favreau also appears as Happy Hogan, reprising his role from the Iron Man films. Production began in June 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia and ended in October.

Set two months after the events of Civil War, Parker anxiously awaits his next assignment from Stark while simultaneously balancing his life at Midtown High with his vigilante life as Spider-Man. His investigation of a series of highly weaponized robberies leads him to mysterious weapons trafficker Adrian Toomes and despite Stark's warnings not to be involved attempts to stop him.

### Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

In October 2016, Holland said the possibility of him appearing in Avengers: Infinity War was "all up in the air", but that "some sort of deal is in the mix" with Sony for him to appear. Holland was eventually confirmed to appear in the film, directed by the Russo brothers, as part of the ensemble cast in February 2017.

Parker joins Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy in battling Thanos in the ruins of his home planet, Titan. However, Parker is among the many heroes who perish after Thanos snaps his fingers with a completed Infinity Gauntlet, which wipes out half of all life in the universe.

### Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Holland was confirmed to be a part of Avengers: Endgame, directed by the Russo brothers, in April 2017.

After dying at the end of Infinity War, Parker along with the other victims of Thanos are resurrected by Bruce Banner five years later and joins the Avengers and their allies in a clash against Thanos and his army in upstate New York. At the battle's conclusion, Parker mourns Stark's death and attends his funeral with Aunt May before returning to high school to reunite with his best friend Ned.

### Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

In December 2016, Sony Pictures announced a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, for release on July 5, 2019. In June 2017, Feige stated that the film would be titled in a similar fashion to Homecoming, using a subtitle, and would not have a number in the title. A year later, Holland revealed the film's title as Spider-Man: Far From Home. Watts returned to direct, and Holland, Zendaya, Favreau, Batalon, Tomei, and Revolori reprise their roles from Homecoming, with Jake Gyllenhaal joining as Quentin Beck / Mysterio. As in Homecoming, other characters from MCU installments reprise their roles, with Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders appearing as Nick Fury and Maria Hill, respectively. In April 2019, Sony Pictures moved the release date to July 2, 2019.

Set after the events of Endgame, the film features Parker and his friends going to Europe on summer vacation, where Parker, intending to take a break from superheroics is drawn back to it when he is forced to team up with Fury and Mysterio in battling the Elementals.

### Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

In September 2019, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures announced to produce a third film, after an impasse between the two companies during negotiations. Watts returned to direct, from a script by McKenna and Sommers. Holland, Zendaya, Favreau, Batalon, Tomei, and Revolori reprise their roles, and are joined by Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong in their MCU roles as Stephen Strange and Wong, respectively, with the events of this film tying into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). The film links the pre-MCU Spider-Man films via the multiverse and features Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprise their respective roles as their versions of Spider-Man, while Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina and Thomas Haden Church reprise their roles as Norman Osborn / Green Goblin, Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus and Flint Marko / Sandman respectively from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, along with Jamie Foxx and Rhys Ifans as Max Dillon / Electro and Curt Connors / Lizard respectively from Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man films. Charlie Cox reprises his role as Matt Murdock from Marvel Television's Netflix series and Tom Hardy appears, uncredited, as Eddie Brock, reprising the role from Sony's Spider-Man Universe.

After Mysterio exposes Parker's identity as Spider-Man to the world in Far From Home in addition to incriminating him for his demise, ruining Parker's and his close ones' life in the process, Parker asks Strange to make it a secret again with magic, but this inadvertently breaks open the multiverse and allows visitors from alternate realities to enter Parker's universe.

### Future

Amy Pascal confirmed plans for a sequel to Spider-Man: No Way Home and a second trilogy of films set in the MCU in November 2021 ahead of the film's release, with Kevin Feige confirming the active development of a fourth MCU Spider-Man film in addition to his next supporting appearance in the franchise the following month. Marvel Studios will return to co-produce the film with Sony Pictures and Pascal Pictures. Tom Holland is expected to reprise his role, with his character undergoing a soft-reset as a result of his "momentous decision" during No Way Home's climax, as insinuated by the final line of the screenplay of No Way Home reading: "Peter Parker is no more, but Spider-Man lives on", describing public knowledge of the character's civilian persona being erased by Doctor Strange's spell.

## Animated Spider-Verse

### Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

In April 2015, Sony announced that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were writing and producing a Spider-Man animated comedy in development at Sony Pictures Animation. As revealed by the e-mail leak one year before, the duo had been previously courted by Sony to take over the studio's animation division. Originally scheduled to be released on December 21, 2018, Sony changed the date a week earlier on December 14. Sony Pictures Animation president Kristine Belson unveiled the film's logo, with the working title Animated Spider-Man, at CinemaCon 2016, and declared that "conceptually and visually, [the film] will break new ground for the superhero genre." Bob Persichetti would direct the animated film, with Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman serving as co-directors and Miles Morales as the protagonist in the film.

### Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham (2019)

Into the Spider-Verse producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller expressed interest in developing animated shorts starring Spider-Ham. The short film Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham was released on February 26, 2019, along with the digital release of Into the Spider-Verse.

### Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

In November 2018, it was revealed that Into the Spider-Verse had entered into sequel development. The sequel, which continues Morales' story and features a romance with Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman, was directed by Joaquim Dos Santos and written by David Callaham. In February 2021, Christopher Miller revealed that both he and Phil Lord were co-writing the screenplay with Callaham, and that Peter Ramsey would serve as an executive producer, after co-directing the first film. By April, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson (the latter of which had previously served as production designer on the first film) were announced to direct the film with Dos Santos. In April 2022, it was announced that the film had been retitled, with the (Part One) moniker removed in favor of separating the film and its sequel. It released on June 2, 2023 after being delayed from its initial April 8, 2022 release date.

### Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (TBA)

In December 2021, Lord and Miller revealed that the film was being split into two parts after they had written down the story they wanted to tell for the sequel and realized that it was too much for a single film. Work on both parts was taking place simultaneously. The film was originally set to be released on March 29, 2024 after being delayed from its initial release window of 2022 and 2023, but was removed from Sony's release calendar in late July 2023 due to the ongoing 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

### Potential projects

Along with the announcement of a sequel, a spin-off focused on female Spider-characters was revealed to be in development, with Lauren Montgomery in talks to direct the film, while Bek Smith is set to write. The spin-off will star Spider-Gwen, and is set to feature the characters Cindy Moon / Silk and Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman. Producer Amy Pascal felt that "it's great that we're going to be able to tell movies about female superheroes in this realm" as she believes "there are going to be characters that really resonate for people". On how the spin-off film will be connected to Across the Spider-Verse, Pascal said that it will act as a "launching pad" for the spin-off. Hailee Steinfeld expressed interest in reprising her role as Spider-Gwen in the film.

John Mulaney expressed interest in a spin-off film starring Spider-Ham, with the potential plot being a "Watergate-like story" which could focus on the character's career as a reporter.[^1]

## Sony's Spider-Man Universe

Work on an expanded universe using supporting characters from the Spider-Man films began by December 2013. After the relative critical and financial failure of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, these plans were abandoned and in February 2015, Sony announced a deal to collaborate with Marvel Studios on future Spider-Man films and integrate the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). This relationship produced Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, while Sony separately redeveloped Venom (2018) as a standalone film beginning a new franchise named Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). The franchise continued with Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and Morbius (2022), both of which established that the MCU and SSU would be connected through the multiverse, a concept previously explored in No Way Home.

The mid-credits scene of Let There Be Carnage sees Eddie Brock and Venom transported from their hotel to an unfamiliar location and witnesses the MCU version of J. Jonah Jameson talking about Spider-Man's identity as Peter Parker. This is continued in the mid-credits scene of No Way Home, where Brock and Venom are transported back into his original universe, leaving a small piece of the Venom symbiote behind.

Michael Keaton reprises his Spider-Man: Homecoming role as Adrian Toomes / Vulture during the post-credits scenes in Morbius. Following the casting of Doctor Strange's second spell permanently erasing the world's knowledge of Peter Parker's civilian identity, Toomes is accidentally transported from the MCU to the SSU, ending up in a vacated prison cell in the latter universe. Upon being released immediately due to lacking a criminal record in the new universe, Toomes begins to surmise Spider-Man's involvement in his displacement. He soon constructs a new Vulture suit and arranges to meet Dr. Michael Morbius, to whom he proposes they form a team.

## Other films

### Marvel Super Heroes 4D (2010)

On May 31, 2010, an animated 4D film, titled Marvel Super Heroes 4D, was launched at Madame Tussauds London, featuring Spider-Man and Iron Man leading the Avengers against Doctor Doom. On April 26, 2012, an updated version of the film with a different plot, featuring Spider-Man in a diminished capacity, was opened at Madame Tussauds New York. The film features Tom Kenny as the voice of Peter Parker / Spider-Man.

### Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel (2013)

At Comic-Con 2013, Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Worldwide, Inc announced the development of a crossover television film of the animated series Phineas and Ferb, that would feature characters from Marvel Entertainment. The film aired between August 16–25, 2013 on Disney Channel and Disney XD, featuring Drake Bell reprising his role from Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assemble as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Danny Trejo as Venom.

### Live-action Miles Morales film

Producer Amy Pascal revealed in May 2023 that a live-action film centered on Miles Morales was in development after the character was featured in the animated Spider-Verse films.

## Recurring cast and characters

Stan Lee, one of the co-creators of Spider-Man, appeared in varied cameos in all films from the Raimi-trilogy to Into the Spider-Verse. Bruce Campbell, a long-time colleague of Sam Raimi, appeared in all three of his films. In Spider-Man, he was the announcer at the wrestling ring Peter was in and gave him the name "Spider-Man", instead of the "Human Spider" (the name with which Peter wanted to be introduced). In Spider-Man 2, he was an usher who refuses to let Peter enter the theatre for Mary Jane's play when arriving late. In Spider-Man 3, Campbell appears as a French maître d'. In the ultimately unmade Spider-Man 4, Campbell's character would have been revealed as Quentin Beck / Mysterio. Mysterio would later appear in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) played by Jake Gyllenhaal.

## Additional crew

<table>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 10%" />
<col style="width: 45%" />
<col style="width: 45%" />
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th><p>Films</p></th>
<th><p>Live-action</p></th>
<th><p>Animated</p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>width:10%;" | Spider-Man</p></td>
<td><p>width:10%;" | Spider-Man 2</p></td>
<td><p>width:10%;" | Spider-Man 3</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2002</p></td>
<td><p>2004</p></td>
<td><p>2007</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>Executive<br />
producer(s)</p></td>
<td><p>Avi Arad<br />
Stan Lee</p></td>
<td><p>Stan Lee<br />
Kevin Feige<br />
Joseph M. Caracciolo</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>Composer(s)</p></td>
<td><p>Danny Elfman</p></td>
<td><p>Christopher Young</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>Director of photography</p></td>
<td><p>Don Burgess</p></td>
<td><p>Bill Pope</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>Editor(s)</p></td>
<td><p>Bob Murawski<br />
Arthur Coburn</p></td>
<td><p>Bob Murawski</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

## Home media

The Sam Raimi trilogy was released on DVD, the first two being released exclusively as two-disc sets and on VHS, with the third film being released in both single and two-disc editions. All three films were later packaged in a "Motion Picture DVD Trilogy" box set.

Spider-Man 3 was initially the only Spider-Man film to be released individually on the high-definition Blu-ray format. The first two films were made available on Blu-ray, but only as part of a boxed set with the third film, called Spider-Man: The High-Definition Trilogy. The first two films lacked the bonus features from the DVDs, although Spider-Man 2 did contain both cuts of the film.

Sony re-released the three films on June 12, 2012. The DVDs of the first two films reinstated a selection of the bonus features missing from the earlier Blu-ray releases, although the Spider-Man 3 reissue did not include the bonus disc of additional special features that appeared on earlier Blu-ray releases.

All three films which comprise the Raimi-trilogy are available in the U.S. on iTunes.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 became the first Spider-Man movie released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on March 1, 2016. Sony released the home video release of Homecoming on UHD and other home video formats on October 17, 2017, as well as sets featuring all of their other Spider-Man movies on UHD. This included Spider-Man: Limited Edition Collection, which includes all three Raimi films, and The Amazing Spider-Man: Limited Edition Collection, which includes both Webb films.

In April 2021, Disney and Sony Pictures reached a multi-year deal to let Sony's titles (such as films from the Spider-Man, Jumanji, as well as Hotel Transylvania and other Sony Pictures Animation franchises) stream on Hulu and Disney+. A significant number of Sony titles began streaming on Hulu starting in June 2021. It includes films from 2022 onwards. While the deal only concerns the United States, titles from Sony Pictures began to also be added to Disney+ in regions outside of the U.S., as early as June 2022, starting with the majority of the Spider-Man films.

## Reception

### Box office

All three films of the Raimi-trilogy set opening day records in North America. The Spider-Man films are among the top of North American rankings of films based on Marvel Comics, with Spider-Man: No Way Home ranking 2nd, Spider-Man ranking 10th, Spider-Man: Far From Home ranking 11th, Spider-Man 2 ranking 13th, Spider-Man 3 ranking 15th, and Spider-Man: Homecoming ranking 16th. In North America, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man: Homecoming are ranked 2nd, 14th, 15th, 17th, 19th, and 22nd for all superhero films. Worldwide, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man 3, and Spider-Man: Homecoming are ranked 3rd, 11th, 16th, and 17th for all superhero films. The Raimi-trilogy and the MCU films (Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home) are six of the seven most successful films produced by Sony/Columbia Pictures in North America, with No Way Home becoming Sony's highest-grossing film both in North America and worldwide.

### Critical and public response

David Ansen of Newsweek enjoyed Spider-Man as a fun film to watch, though he considered Spider-Man 2 to be "a little too self-important for its own good." Ansen saw Spider-Man 3 as a return to form, finding it "the most grandiose chapter and the nuttiest." Tom Charity of CNN appreciated the films' "solidly redemptive moral convictions", also noting the vast improvement of the visual effects from the first film to the third. While he saw the second film's Doc Ock as the "most engaging" villain, he applauded the third film's Sandman as "a triumph of CGI wizardry." Richard Corliss of Time enjoyed the action of the films and thought that they did better than most action movies by "rethinking the characters, the franchise and the genre."

Colin Covert of the Star Tribune praised Spider-Man as a "superb debut" of the superhero as well as Spider-Man 2 as a "superior sequel" for filmgoers who are fans "of spectacle and of story." Covert expressed disappointment in Spider-Man 3 as too ambitious with the multiple storylines leaving one "feeling overstuffed yet shortchanged." Manohla Dargis of The New York Times enjoyed the humor of the first two films, but found it missing in the third installment. Dargis also noted, "The bittersweet paradox of this franchise is that while the stories have grown progressively less interesting the special effects have improved tremendously." Robert Denerstein of the Rocky Mountain News ranked the films from his favorite to his least favorite: Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man, and Spider-Man 3. While Denerstein missed the presence of Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus from the second film, he found the third film – despite being "bigger, though not necessarily better" – to have a "satisfying conclusion."

## See also

- List of accolades received by the 2002–2007 Spider-Man film series
- List of films based on Marvel Comics
- Spider-Man in television
- 3 Dev Adam ("Three Giant Men"), 1973 Turkish film featuring an unauthorized depiction of Spider-Man

[^1]:

Film adaptations of the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man