It’s been almost a decade since Tom Holland first swung across our screens in a German airport, and now, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day freshly in theaters, it feels like the right moment to settle the debate once and for all: how do all four Tom Holland Spider-Man movies stack up against each other? This Tom Holland Spider-Man movies ranked list looks at critical reception, audience love, box office muscle, storytelling ambition, and — maybe most importantly — how far Holland himself has grown in the role, from a wide-eyed teenager begging Tony Stark for a shot to a battle-worn hero standing entirely on his own.
Holland has now played Peter Parker across four solo outings — Homecoming (2017), Far From Home (2019), No Way Home (2021), and now Brand New Day (2026) — plus a handful of Avengers team-ups. This piece focuses on the solo trilogy-turned-tetralogy, since that’s where the character’s arc really lives. Ready for the full Spider-Man Brand New Day ranking against its predecessors? Let’s climb the web.
Quick Overview Table
| Rank | Movie | Year | RT Critics | RT Audience | Domestic/Worldwide Box Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spider-Man: No Way Home | 2021 | 93% | 97% | $1.92 billion worldwide |
| 2 | Spider-Man: Brand New Day | 2026 | ~90–91% | 98% | Record-setting opening; tracking toward one of the biggest debuts ever |
| 3 | Spider-Man: Homecoming | 2017 | 92% | 87% | $881 million worldwide |
| 4 | Spider-Man: Far From Home | 2019 | 91% | 95% | $1.13 billion worldwide |
(Brand New Day’s final worldwide gross is still rolling in as of publication — check back for updates, but early numbers already suggest a historic run.)
Ranking Every Tom Holland Spider-Man Movie (Including Brand New Day)
#4: Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Plot summary (spoiler-light): Fresh off the emotional wreckage of Avengers: Endgame, Peter just wants a normal European school trip with MJ. Instead, Nick Fury drags him into a globe-trotting mystery involving elemental monsters and a mysterious hero named Mysterio.
Strengths and weaknesses: Far From Home nails the post-Endgame grief better than almost any other MCU project, using Peter’s guilt over Tony Stark’s death as real emotional ballast. Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio is a genuinely great one-movie villain, and the illusion sequences are some of the most visually inventive in the franchise. The weak spot is the back half: once the mystery is revealed, the film leans hard on CGI spectacle that doesn’t always match the intimacy of its first two acts, and the stakes feel a notch lower than the films around it.
Holland’s performance notes: This is Holland at his most vulnerable — still processing loss, still uncertain whether he’s ready to be “the next Tony Stark,” and it shows in a more subdued, anxious performance than Homecoming‘s puppy energy.
Scores and box office: 91% with critics, 95% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and a strong $1.13 billion worldwide.
Why it lands here: It’s a good movie in a franchise of great ones — the lightest of the four in terms of ambition, even if it’s far from bad.
Standout moments: The Venice canal illusion sequence remains a series highlight, and the mid-credits Daily Bugle reveal changed the trajectory of the entire franchise.
#3: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Plot summary (spoiler-light): A high-school sophomore juggling homework, a crush, and a secret identity tries to prove himself to Tony Stark by taking on a blue-collar arms dealer selling alien weapons tech around Queens.
Strengths and weaknesses: This is the purest best Tom Holland Spider-Man movie case for anyone who wants their Spidey grounded, funny, and street-level. Michael Keaton’s Vulture is arguably still the MCU’s best villain — a working man radicalized by inequality rather than a cosmic tyrant. The film’s commitment to the high-school setting (actual teenagers, actual homework, actual awkwardness) sets it apart from every prior live-action Spider-Man movie. Its only real weakness is that some of the Stark-mentor material can feel like it’s borrowing gravity from Iron Man rather than earning its own.
Holland’s performance notes: This is Holland at his most purely enthusiastic — a kid who still can’t believe this is his life, bursting with energy in every scene.
Scores and box office: 92% critics, 87% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, with $881 million worldwide.
Why it lands here: It’s the best origin story of the four, but it doesn’t reach the emotional or scale peaks of the films above it.
Standout moments: The ferry-splitting sequence and the “Are you Spider-Man?” car reveal remain two of the tensest scenes in any MCU film.
#2: Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)
Plot summary (spoiler-light): Years after Doctor Strange’s spell erased Peter Parker from the world’s memory, he operates as a full-time, isolated Spider-Man. He watches MJ and Ned build lives without him, confronts a physical change linked to his powers, and faces a dangerous unseen threat—while rediscovering who he is when no one remembers him.
Strengths and weaknesses: Early consensus frames Brand New Day as a mature reset, prioritizing isolation, grief, and identity over pure fan-service spectacle. Director Destin Daniel Cretton earns praise for handling Peter’s emotional isolation, and many call Holland’s performance his most “soulful” yet. Its Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score (high-80s to low-90s) is the lowest of the four Holland films, with some noting fewer classic street-level villains and heavier reliance on new characters (Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, Sadie Sink, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk) instead of old-thread payoffs.
Holland’s performance notes: Critics widely rank this as Holland’s strongest work in the suit—an emotionally hardened, full-time hero who carries real weight in quiet moments, far removed from the wide-eyed teenager of earlier films.
Scores and box office: Critics sit around 90–91% on Rotten Tomatoes (reviews still arriving), while the audience score ranks among the highest of any MCU movie. The film shattered North American preview-night records (surpassing Avengers: Endgame) and tracks toward one of the biggest opening weekends ever.
Why it lands here: Historic audience reception and performance notices place it high, yet it has not (yet) matched No Way Home’s once-in-a-generation cultural impact or its critical-commercial dominance.
Standout moments: Early reactions highlight the franchise’s most kinetic swinging sequences and a quietly devastating scene about Peter rebuilding trust with those he loves.
#1: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Plot summary (spoiler-light): When a spell to make the world forget Peter Parker’s secret identity goes wrong, cracks form in the multiverse — pulling in villains, and eventually heroes, from Spider-Man’s cinematic past.
Strengths and weaknesses: No Way Home is a genuine cultural phenomenon — a movie that managed to satisfy nostalgia, advance Peter’s arc, and deliver one of the most emotionally devastating third acts in superhero-movie history, all without collapsing under its own ambition. Its only real criticism, voiced by a minority of fans and critics, is that it leans heavily on fan service and prior-franchise nostalgia rather than standing entirely on its own. But the emotional core — Peter’s sacrifice at the end — is so strong that it elevates the entire film above that critique.
Holland’s performance notes: This is arguably Holland’s most mature performance in the trilogy up to that point — a Peter Parker forced to make an impossible, selfless choice, setting up the isolation that defines Brand New Day.
Scores and box office: The highest critical score of the four films at 93%, a huge 97% audience score, and a staggering $1.92 billion worldwide — one of the highest-grossing films ever made.
Why it lands here: It’s the complete package: critical acclaim, audience love, box-office dominance, and a genuine emotional gut-punch of an ending that reshaped the character going forward.
Standout moments: The “no way home” cliffhanger and Peter’s final scene with MJ and Ned remain some of the most talked-about moments in modern blockbuster filmmaking.
Honorable Mentions
Before he had his own franchise, Holland’s Peter Parker made a few crucial pit stops:
- Captain America: Civil War (2016) – Holland’s introduction as Peter Parker, recruited by Tony Stark for the airport battle. A star-making five minutes of screen time.
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018) – Peter’s “Iron Spider” upgrade and his gut-wrenching dissolution in Tony’s arms remain one of the MCU’s most heartbreaking moments.
- Avengers: Endgame (2019) – Peter’s return from the Blip and reunion with Tony set up the grief that defines Far From Home.
Final Thoughts
Ranking these four films is really a story about growth — Holland’s Peter Parker has evolved from a giddy teenager thrilled just to be included, through grief and loss, into a full-time hero forging his own path with Brand New Day. Whether you side with No Way Home‘s cultural peak, Brand New Day‘s emotional maturity, Homecoming‘s grounded charm, or Far From Home‘s underrated European detour, one thing is clear: this Tom Holland Spider-Man films in order journey has been one of the most consistent runs in modern blockbuster filmmaking.
Which Tom Holland Spider-Man movie is your favorite? Drop your own ranking in the comments below.
FAQ
What is the best Tom Holland Spider-Man movie? Most critics and fans currently rank Spider-Man: No Way Home as the best, thanks to its combination of critical acclaim, record-breaking box office, and emotional payoff — though Brand New Day is earning some of the highest audience scores of the bunch.
Is Brand New Day better than No Way Home? It depends on what you value: Brand New Day has posted a higher audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and stronger word-of-mouth so far, while No Way Home still holds a slightly higher critics’ score and a larger overall box office haul. Many reviewers see them as close, complementary peaks of the franchise rather than one clearly beating the other.
How many Spider-Man movies has Tom Holland been in? Including team-up appearances, Holland has appeared as Spider-Man in seven Marvel films: four solo movies (Homecoming, Far From Home, No Way Home, Brand New Day), three Avengers films (Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame), plus a brief cameo in Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
