Spider-Man 3 is the 2007 live-action Sony Pictures Entertainment feature film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It is a direct sequel to Spider-Man 2 and the third and final film in the first Spider-Man film series.
The movie represents an unfortunate misfire in the otherwise excellent and game-changing cycle of films by director Sam Raimi.
This one finds Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) struggling with the responsibilities of being a hero, a strange black ooze that forms a new costume, a new revelation that his Uncle Ben's killer is actually still at large as the super-villain Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), a new rival / villain in the form of jealous photographer (and soon-to-be Venom) Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) and a disturbing regression into mental illness for his friend Harry Osborn (James Franco).
It's a lot and the movie couldn't hold up under the strain of so many incongruous plot-lines.
The critical failure of the film all but ended this first series of Spider-Man movies. For a time it seemed that Raimi had succeeded in pressing Sony Pictures Entertainment to give him a chance to make a fourth film to end the series on a high note, but that effort was halted in mid-development, paving the way for a reboot with The Amazing Spider-Man film series.
However, fans did get some closure on this version of the character over a decade later when Tobey revisited the role for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
