Who’s the Best Spider-Man? From Tobey to Tom, Here’s Every Actor Who’s Played Spidey Since 1967
It turns out that giving a man the abilities of a spider is easier than one might think — in fact, there has even been a spider ham (pig)!. Which is why we have rounded up the actors who have played Spider-Man in all the Spider-Man movies below, including Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
Animated Spider-Men
Paul Soles (1967 to 1970)
Actor Paul Soles has the distinction of being the first person to play Spider-Man/Peter Parker in the 1967 animated series Spider-Man. The series lasted 52 episodes and ran until 1970. After that, Soles appeared in The Score in 2001 and The Incredible Hulk in 2008. He was also in the classic 1964 Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and was the first person to voice Hulk, Happy Hogan and Hawkeye in the 1966 Marvel Super Heroes show.
The actor sadly died in 2021 at age 90.
Ted Schwartz (1981 to 1982)
Ted Schwartz played Spider-Man for 26 episodes of the 1981 TV show Spider-Man. In it the superhero fights well-known villains like the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus and Vulture. After that, Schwartz still worked as a voice actor in things like The Transformers (1986) and G.I Joe (1986). The actor passed away in 2014 at age 80.
Dan Gilvezan (1981 to 1983, 2010)
Another 1980s animated TV show that featured the character was the short-lived Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. It had Gilvezan in the lead role and saw the character team up with Iceman and Firestar. The show only lasted 24 episodes; however, Gilvezan would voice Peter Parker again in the 2010 video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.
The actor is still working today, although he mainly does voicework.
Christopher Daniel Barnes (1994 to 1998)
After he played Prince Eric in the 1989 film Little Mermaid, Barnes decided to trade his crown for a superhero costume. He voiced Spider-Man/Peter Parker in the 1994 show Spider-Man: The Animated Series. It lasted 65 episodes, but just because the show ended doesn’t mean Barnes stopped being a superhero. He reprised the role in the 2010 video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and the 2013 video game Spider-Man: Edge of Time (2011).
Barnes's other credits include playing Greg Brady in the big screen The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and A Very Brady Sequel (1996). The actor has been married twice, but doesn't have kids.
Rino Romano (1999 to 2001)
The 1990s certainly didn't waste any time trying to find a Spider-Man cartoon that worked. Next came Rino Romano, who played the role in 13 episodes of the show Spider-Man Unlimited. Similar to the voice actors who preceded him, though, Romano would also voice the role in a video game, in this case Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro (2001). The actor is still working today, but just like Peter Parkers who came before him, he mainly does voice work.
Neil Patrick Harris (2003)
While Maguire might have been the early 2000s live-action Spider-Man, Harris took on the role in animated form, though he only played it for 13 episodes in the show Spider-Man. The actor is best known for his work in How I Met Your Mother (2005 to 2014), Gone Girl (2014) and A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017 to 2019).
Harris has received 5 Emmy nominations and continues to act.
Josh Keaton (2008 to 2009, 2023)
After leaving Ancient Greece and Hercules behind, Keaton decided to take his voice talents to the Marvel world. He would voice Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the 2008 animated show The Spectacular Spider-Man, reprising the part in the 2023 film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Just like the animated Peter Parker before him, Keaton is still working as a voice actor today.
Drake Bell (2012 to 2017)
Voicing Spider-Man in the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man is none other than Drake Bell. The show ran for 104 episodes and followed Spider-Man as he teamed up with S.H.I.E.L.D. and a bunch of other teenage superheroes.
Bell is best known for his work in Drake & Josh (2004 to 2007), as well as being one of the people to accuse Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider of child abuse — which he talked about in the 2024 docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
Robbie Daymond (2017 to 2020)
Robbie Daymond is another famous voice actor who starred in an animated Spider-Man show, Taking on the role from 2017 to 2020 in the show Spider-Man. Daymond has 400 credits to his name, most of them animated, for various movies, TV shows and video games.
Benjamin Valic (2021 to 2023)
Benjamin Valic voices Spider-Man in the animated show Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2021 to 2023). His other titles include Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022). He is still acting, but mainly does voice work.
Alkaio Thiele (2024 to present)
Taking over for Valic in Spidey and His Amazing Friends is actor Alkaio Thiele. It is the actor's seventh title, but he is set to star in Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place sequel, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place.
Live-Action Spider-Men
Nicholas Hammond (1977 to 1979, 1981)
Seven years later, actor Nicholas Hammond became the first person to play the live-action Spider-Man, initially in the 1977 TV film Spider-Man and then again in 14 episodes of the show, The Amazing Spider-Man. Hammond scored the part after his work in the 1965 film The Sound of Music. He also played Spider-Man in Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978) and Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge (1981), two films released overseas that were compiled from episodes of the TV series.
After he stopped shooting webs, Hammond was in Mirror, Mirror (1995), Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001), Mao’s Last Dancer (2009) and Once Upon a Time….in Hollywood (2019).
Hammond is still acting to this day. He is 74 years old.
Tobey Maguire (2002 to 2007, 2021)
Tobey Maguire might just be one of the best Spider-Men of all time. Taking on the role for the first time in 2002, the actor really showcased just what it meant to be a science nerd by day and a superhero by night. Maguire starred as Spidey in three separate movies from 2002 to 2007 alongside Kristen Dunst, in which he battled Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doc Ock/ Dr. Otto Octavious (Alfred Molina), Venom (Topher Grace) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church). All of these villains and Maguire would reprise their roles in the 2021 film Spider-Man: No Way Home.
"Peter Parker is not a typical action hero. He's probably the most down-to-earth, most carefully drawn and least plastic of comic book figures,” the actor said. “For me, it's a role that I knew that I could pull off without disappointing people.”
Maguire’s other roles include Brothers (2009), The Great Gatsby (2013) and Babylon (2022).
Andrew Garfield (2012 to 2014, 2021)
Andrew Garfield became the third person ever to play a live-action version of Spider-Man after he took on the role in The Amazing Spider-Man films. In them, he battled The Lizard/Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) and Electro/Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) — both of them, along with Garfield, returned for the 2021 film Spider-Man: No Way Home.
When asked why he chose to return to the role, Garfield said, “I wasn’t expecting to ever have a conversation again about potentially playing Peter Parker. I felt very excited just to be a fan again. But I got this call from Amy Pascal, Kevin Feige and Jon Watts with this idea. It was immediately undeniable. It sounded incredibly fun, incredibly spiritual — trippy and thematically interesting.”
Still acting, Garfield has been nominated for two Oscars.
Tom Holland (2016 to present)
The current Spider-Man is played by British actor Tom Holland. The actor first appeared in the red and blue suit in the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War. He would then return for three other Spider-Man films (2016 to 2021) as well as Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). He is also dating his Spider-Man costar, Zendaya.
“I feel very protective over Spider-Man,” Holland said. “I feel very, very lucky that we were able to work on a franchise that got better with each movie and got more successful with each movie, which I think is really rare, and I want to protect his legacy.”
He also said that while he wants to make another movie, he wouldn’t “make another one for the sake of making another one. It will have to be worth the while of the character.”
Holland is the youngest actor to play a live-action Spider-Man to date and has also starred in Onward (2020), Cherry (2021) and The Crowded Room (2023).
Spider-Verse Spider-Men
Chris Pine (2018)
When he’s not teaming up with Wonder Woman, Chris Pine can actually be heard in the 2018 movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Pine is an Emmy-nominated actor best known for Star Trek (2009), Into the Woods (2014), Don’t Worry Darling (2022) and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023).
Jake Johnson (2018 to present)
Now, Jake Johnson’s version of the character might technically be called Peter B. Parker but that doesn’t mean he's any less of a Spider-Man. First appearing in the 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Johnson would then reprise the role in the 2023 film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
The actor is best known for his work as Nick Miller in the hit sitcom New Girl. He is married and has two children.
Shameik Moore (2018 to present)
Actor Shameik Moore made history when he became the first-ever black Spider-Man — whose “real” name is Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse films. He began the role in 2018 and is expected to do so again for at least one more film.
“I love this movie because it's about how we wear that mask," the actor said. “These are people who have saved multiple lives and will continue to save multiple lives. Someone could say they're crazy. It's just how they wear their mask.”
Moore is still acting to this day and is working on the third Spider-Verse film right now.
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