Master X

Spider-Man 3 is one of the most misunderstood superhero movies ever made because people expected another clean victory lap and instead Sam Raimi gave us a weird, emotional, almost horror-like tragedy about rage, ego, loneliness, forgiveness, and the darkness hiding inside “friendly neighborhood” goodness. What makes the film age so beautifully is how Peter Parker starts as the pure-hearted neighborhood hero everyone loved, then slowly mutates into this arrogant, nihilistic, emotionally ugly version of himself under the symbiote. Not “cool” in the MCU quippy way. Genuinely unsettling. The dance scenes people mocked? They’re supposed to feel uncomfortable. Raimi turns Peter into a man drunk on power and self-importance. It’s cringe because Peter himself becomes cringe. That’s the point. And honestly? Venom is terrifying in this movie. The voice, the shadows, the church bell sequence, the body horror of the symbiote crawling over Peter while he begs for help — Raimi shoots parts of Spider-Man 3 like a horror film trapped inside a blockbuster. Even Sandman’s transformation scene still feels haunting and human in a way modern CGI spectacles rarely do. Also, Bryce Dallas Howard’s Gwen Stacy remains one of the best live-action versions of Gwen because she actually feels like a normal bright human being caught inside Peter’s emotional collapse instead of existing purely as a “destined romance.” She adds to the tragedy instead of distracting from it. What really elevates Spider-Man 3 though is its compassion. Harry stays broken but loyal till the end. Sandman remains a criminal but also a grieving father. Peter loses himself but finds his humanity again. Nobody is purely evil except the hatred consuming them. Raimi understood that Spider-Man stories work best when they hurt a little. Critics in 2007 seemed almost afraid of how strange the movie was — too emotional, too melodramatic, too dark, too sincere, too comic-booky, too horror-inspired. But looking back now, it feels like one of the last superhero films unafraid to be messy, theatrical, ugly, sentimental, and psychologically weird all at once. We still get dark superhero movies. But we rarely get dark superhero movies about a genuinely good-hearted hero falling apart spiritually. Especially not from Marvel. Spider-Man 3 exists in this bizarre realm where camp, horror, romance, guilt, ego, forgiveness, and tragedy all collide together. A blockbuster made by a director with actual nightmares and emotions in his bloodstream. And honestly? Nothing else quite feels like it.

There’s something kind of wild about the fact that the first Iron Man movie still feels like the best thing the MCU has ever done.