Stole My Line - A Fireside Film Podcast
We React to MORE Insane Spider-Man Hot Takes - Fireside Discussionn

Grant:
"The Spider-Verse movies are proof that superhero stories are better suited to animation than live action and more budget and effort should be put into animated superhero projects."

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
I can't disagree with this, honestly.

[Intro]

Grant
Really quick before we get into our hot takes for Spider-Man, Drew, congrats. Because we just hit 5k subscribers.

Drew:
We did, we haven't talked about it at all.

Grant:
I know we were long overdue on talking about it, but thank you guys for helping us hit that milestone, which is like a lot of YouTube

Drew:
Yeah, for sure. That's so awesome.

Grant:
channels. I mean, you guys probably don't watch the ones that don't hit 5k, but a lot of them don't actually hit 5k

Drew:
That's true.

Grant:
so we are appreciative.

Drew:
Very appreciative.

Grant:
so we are appreciative. We are just like so beyond blessed and grateful for you guys.

Drew:
I know I say this every episode, and it might get redundant, but I don't really care. The fact that we have this many comments to respond to is insane.

Grant:
It's- We scroll down our notes app and it just keeps going.

Drew:
It's actually crazy that like, y'all are participating this much, so that's awesome.

Grant:
If we weren't so grateful, we'd be really annoyed. No, but seriously, thank you guys. Welcome back to Stole My Line a fireside film podcast. I'm Grant.

Drew:
And I'm Drew.

Grant:
This is Spider-Man Hot Takes.

Drew:
Yup.

Grant:
This is like our, like, our fifth, sixth, maybe seventh Hot Takes episode we've ever done on the podcast. If you like Star Wars, we have a whole Star Wars Hot Takes series that have like four episodes.

Drew:
We've also done general movie hot takes.

Grant:
Yeah, we did an episode of that, which is cool. So if you have a hot take, basically about anything you can send it in, we hope to get to it. There's so many.

Drew:
Yup.

Grant:
But also you can go check out our channel. Hit that subscribe button. Drew, break down the Hot Takes format really quick.

Drew:
All right. This is pretty simple. If you've been here before, you know what's up. If you haven't, welcome.

Grant:
Thank you.

Drew:
We have received hot takes from y'all, the audience,

Grant:
Just commented on stuff

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
or emailed to us.

Drew:
You- we are either going to agree or disagree...

Grant:
Yep.

Drew:
and then we're going to rate it on our hotness scale here.

Grant:
What's our hotness scale, Drew?

Drew:
And it goes as follows. Raging Fire is the hottest of the hot.

Grant:
Yep.

Drew:
If your hot take is a scorcher, that's where we're going to throw it. Enough For S'mores. You can definitely cook something there. You have Some Smoke, Only Embers, and then Wet Logs. This is not a reflection of the validity of your take.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
This is merely in the cultural conversation,

Grant:
"how hot."

Drew:
how hot is your take?

Grant:
And this is also our opinion. Like, other people will say like,

Drew:
Yeah, subjective.

Grant:
"oh, that's a hot take." You came here for our opinion,

Drew:
Right, it's true.

Grant:
and so we're giving it. But again, thank you guys for sending in stuff. We may agree or disagree. We will say wh ether or not we agree or disagree.

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
Or somewhere in the middle. Drew, do you want to go first?

Drew:
I would absolutely love to.

Grant:
By the way, we gave our own Spiderman Hot Takes on the last episode.

Drew:
True.

Grant:
So go check that one out if you haven't already.

Drew:
OK. We're going to start off strong with a Stole My Line...

Grant:
Stan?

Drew:
Regular. PapaGlucos,

Grant:
Stan? Let's go. Oh, let's go.

Drew:
Legendary name.

Grant:
Oh, let's go.

Drew:
"The best Spider-Man movie love interest is, without a doubt, Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy, MJ1 has effing brain worms or something. The whole trilogy and MJ2 is just meh."

Grant:
"Effing brain worms."

Drew:
"Effing brain worms."

Grant:
That's- okay. Hotness scale. Off the bat, I don't think this is that hot of a take.

Drew:
I don't think it's that hot either.

Grant:
I think the only person that can maybe actually compete is the other Gwen Stacey in the Spider-Verse trilogy.

Drew:
Agreed.

Grant:
But I don't think she's a better love interest than Gwen Stacey in the TASM two movies. Only embers.

Drew:
Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield's chemistry...

Grant:
Off the charts

Drew:
is absolutely unbelievable. I 100% agree here, actually.

Grant:
Yeah. I don't think it's that hot of a take.

Drew:
Nope.

Grant:
This has got to be only embers.

Drew:
Yep. I'm OK with that.

Grant:
I'm fine with that. Yeah. But great take sent in. We completely agree. As for the other MJs, I think MJ1 in the Raimi trilogy gets a little too much hate, but also, I don't like, I don't know, I'm just not, I don't think of her as a love interest. Is that weird? I just think of her as a character, not like, "oh, she's Peter's love interest,"

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
Even though she is.

Drew:
She feels more. She feels more. This might be a hot take, actually. Maybe.

Grant:
Well, you're on the right podcast for that.

Drew:
She feels more. What's the word?

Grant:
I don't know.

Drew:
I don't know, either. Autonomous...

Grant:
Sure.

Drew:
Than MJ2. Zendaya feels very plot device-y. I see.

Grant:
I do think that in the late- in Brand New Day, she's great in the latest movie.

Drew:
Yeah, I agree.

Grant:
But like in the homecoming trilogy, she's just kind of like...

Drew:
She's just the love interest.

Grant:
She has the name MJ and she is a love interest. So yeah.

Drew:
But Kirsten Dunst feels like she has autonomy and makes her own decisions.

Grant:
Yeah. She has agency in that movie and she is good, even though some of the character decisions she makes may be questionable.

Drew:
Check out the last episode of Spider-Man Hot Takes.

Grant:
We talk lot about that.

Drew:
We kind of we defended Kirsten Dunst's MJ.

Grant:
But there are critiques that are valid too.

Drew:
For sure.

Grant:
So, yeah. Thank you for sending that in, PapaGlucose. All right. I have a long one,

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
but we're just going to read it and see what we think. This is from LanternRayner-p6p.

Drew:
OK.

Grant:
So, thank you Lantern. I'm just going to call you "Lantern." Spiderman Hot Take: "People are way too precious about the source material and doing things exactly the same way when in all honesty, a lot of decisions made in these adaptations are, in my opinion, way better and make more sense. Like, there is no good reason that the web shooters are non-negotiable to people when it objectively makes sense that he should have those in his power set by default. He has something as abstract as spider sense and Miles can create lightning based on spider singing, but shooting webs is unacceptable? He can demonstrate intelligence without only creating this one hyper-specific thing. Also, hearing people complain about Spider-Man suits straying at all from the default suit is incredibly annoying and fully dismisses the job of art style. Like, for example, the Rivals suit is the classic suit just made to fit the design language of the game. Stop acting like you're being robbed when you have 50 games already with the untainted design, even when movie designs aren't significantly different enough for me to make a stink about any individual one of them." So basically this guy is saying, or girl, sorry, this person is saying, "you shouldn't care as much about the source material as you do if you're like really hung up on it." And like the web shooter thing, for example, "it's fine if Peter has organic webs and don't get super hung up on the suit because people have art direction for movies."

Drew:
Right

Grant:
If we're synthesizing the take, that's a longer one. What do you think?

Drew:
I 100% agree here, actually.

Grant:
Really?

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
I guess the question is like, where's the line?

Drew:
That's the question. Yeah.

Grant:
Because we talk a lot about like what is a like good Spider-mMan movie versus bad Spider-Man movie? What's a good Peter Parker moment and Spider-Man moments versus a bad one? So like, where does the source material and I guess honoring the character really matter?

Drew:
Here is my take and I could be wrong. And this is definitely- I'm not super hard on this take. This is more like a discussion. But this is kind of my opinion as of August 7th, 2026.

Grant:
Okay. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think reasoning really matters.

Drew:
When you distill the character, if you can still nail the core ideals of the character, I don't really care.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew
Like, I think Spider-Noir, which I haven't read a ton of Spider-Noir comics, so this could be- this take completely wrong. But- very different than your average Spider-Man vibe.

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
And I think it nails Peter Parker or Ben Reilley or whatever...

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
very well. So when it comes to the suit or the web thing or even like characters, I'm like, I don't really care as long as you nail the essence of who the character is, "with great power comes great responsibility," and like, give me tension between Peter's superhero life and normal life. Like, these are the things that I look for in Spider-Man stories. And as long as those are there, I really don't care about all the extraneous detail

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
because at some point creatives want to be creative.

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
And if you want to have a spin and do something interesting with like different villains or different suits or whatever, I think it's great. That's true.

Grant:
Yeah. I think reasoning really matters. And also building a movie and like a story really matters because some of the things that occur in comics, like, aren't going to translate best one-to-one to screen.

Drew:
That's true.

Grant:
Right? Stylization matters. I think an example- we talk about MCU stuff too. We had like this Doomsday trailer reaction and we mentioned that Gambit is like a side character and just feels like he's been hoisted up to the front of the MCU in this movie a little bit, right? In Doomsday because he was in the trailer. And then we had a bunch of comments saying like, "you guys don't know ball, Gambit's in the comics." I'm like, yes, you are correct that he's in the comics and important in the comics. For sure. He's been in one MCU movie and he was a kind of throwaway side character in Deadpool & Wolverine. Like that's it. And now he's supposed to be a main player in Doomsday and like we haven't seen the movie so I don't want to comment too much on that. But like a movie can be good or bad and like still adapt stuff differently and we don't have to know all the comics to say this thing isn't good in the movie or this thing is good in the movie.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
That's my point.

Drew:
No, I think I agree with that.

Grant:
So.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant
Hotness scale for this take?

Drew:
I think this could be pretty hot, actually

Grant:
Yeah. This is probably on the hotter side.

Drew:
I'm going to say Enough For S 'mores just because-

Grant:
I like that.

Drew:
There are there are some comic diehards. And look, hey, I read Spider-Man comics and comics in general kind of every day. Basically every night.

Grant:
It's important to know the source material,

Drew:
I love them.

Grant:
And honor it.

Drew:
I think they're great.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
But I also think creative- having a little creative...

Grant:
Freedom.

Drew:
Freedom is good.

Grant:
Yes. I completely agree.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
But LanternRayner-p6p. Thank you for sending this in. This is a good take.

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
I liked to talk about this one.

Drew:
Great take.

Grant:
This was fun.

Drew:
All right.

Grant:
You're up Drew.

Drew:
Should we do another long one?

Grant:
Let's do another long one. We kind of avoid them honestly. So-

Drew:
This is a long one.

Grant:
Okay.

Drew:
All right. This is from justingatcomb8966.

Grant:
Okay. Okay.

Drew:
Oh, okay, it's three. We'll just we'll crank them all out.

Grant:
Okay. All right. Let's go for it.

Drew:
Don't worry, justingatcomb. "I've narrowed it down to three. They're a little all over the place, but I'm trying my best not to write essays and hoping conversations will fill in the gaps."

Grant:
Okay.

Drew:
All right. Take one.

Grant:
With that- with that being said.

Drew:
"Spider-Man 3 is so overhated." This is applicable to you. "It's not as good as first two. And it's but it's not an actual bad movie. It doesn't have too many villains and there is justification for all of their inclusion. People were just not on board for the versions they went with. I can agree that perhaps screen time is not allocated properly. And I can concede that there are not my ideal versions of Harry and Eddie necessarily. But I think that Sandman fully justifies his presence. Eddie is a combination of the mainline and Ultimate verse that was streamlined as well as it can be for a single movie to darkly reflect a Peter Parker that did not learn responsibility or shame and Harry becoming the Goblin is paying off two movies of setup, even factoring in some of the manipulation that he is known for in the comics. I do like the unexpected redemption. Though I think there's a comic precedent for that too. I think originally he died heroically to save someone. I just can't remember the details. And I do wish that the amnesia thing was just an act was just an act to torment Peter. But anyway, I don't think the three villains are the issue with that movie. And the black suit story is done considerably well when you factor in that Raimi was forced to implement Venom."

Grant:
Okay. I have a lot of thoughts and this is just one take, by the way.

Drew:
Yeah, okay.

Grant:
I think that on paper, Spider-Man 3 is not like the biggest atrocity. Like if we're just like boiling it down to the core story, like Sandman's arc is fine. I don't love how retcons kind of Uncle Ben's death in the first movie. Don't really love that because it kind of takes away some of the weight of Peter's decisions in that movie. But whatever. I think Eddie Brock is still not very well written. Even though like, I mean, we just talked about being faithful to comics. Like, yeah, is it faithful to the comics? Probably decently well, I haven't read them. But also, it doesn't translate to screen super well. It's just like a super one-note character with no depth at all. And then,

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
And then, I think Harry's arc is not that bad. I think he's probably the stronger part of the movie, of the three villains. But I don't like how he just jumps straight from the second movie where he's kind of dealing with this tension of like, "should I attack Peter? Should I not?" Like, "I now know that Peter is Spider-Man." In the like, the first scene of the movie, he's attacking Peter. I feel like we could have played with some more tension there, at least within that movie.

Drew:
I think the whole amnesia thing stunts his character arc in this movie pretty severely, because you could have had that tension-

Grant
Yeah.

Drew:
of do I attack Peter? He's my friend. But also I think he killed my dad and stole my girlfriend and all the things.

Grant
Well- sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.

Drew:
Um, no, you're good.

Grant
I think the amnesia thing could have also been very interesting to play out for a full movie.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
But it's like only part of it. And like, we could have really put Peter in a weird situation of like, Harry starts asking questions like, "hey, what really happened to my dad?" And like, really starts poking around the stuff that Peter doesn't really want to tell him-

Drew:
Yeah, valid. Yeah.

Grant:
and then Peter has to wrestle with that. And we don't get any of that. Like, it's, it's half baked.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
I just think, like, my biggest issue, besides the execution of this movie, is also that like, there's a lot of cool ideas for all three of these villains, and none of them get enough screen time.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
And the pacing is kind of poor.

Drew:
Which isn't Raimi's fault.

Grant:
Yeah, it's really not.

Drew:
But it does exist and it needs to be a part of the conversation.

Grant:
Is it too hated? I don't know. I dislike this movie so much.

Drew:
Uh, I think it is overhated. So I think I agree here. I don't think it's a good movie, but it's not like the worst movie I've ever seen.

Grant:
I will disagree, soft disagree with a lot of respect for your take.

Drew:
Okay. I think that's fine.

Grant:
Hotness scale for this first one.

Drew:
Uh, either Enough For S'mores or Some Smoke.

Grant:
I like some smoke.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
All right, that's number one. Hit us with number two.

Drew:
All right. Um, number two: "TASM 2. While a hard watch is full of great moments." Wait. Hold on, we're restarting. "TASM 2, while a hard watch full of great moments does reflect what it's like to be Peter Parker in the way it's structured, and was deliberately edited to feel like a ticking clock running out until the literal clock breaks, which is interesting as a theme." I do think the time motif is cool. I will say that. "Whether he's Peter or Spider-Man life doesn't just keep happening, but it always seems like it's happening to him. There are things happening equally related to him and by coincidence, but they will still fall on him to take care of or mess up. We get crime that will happen no matter what with no connection (Rhino) with people he knows as Peter (Harry) and people he meets at Spider-Man (Max). And even when he makes a responsible choice, there are negative consequences for him. When he chooses to focus on problems as Peter, Spider-Man gains enemies. In this case, all three face demons and rise to power by getting needed attention from Peter or Spider-Man. There are so many plots being juggled. They had to cut some out. But even if the specific problems are heightened, that feeling is very relatable to an overwhelming to an overwhelmed young adult who is trying to deal with identity, their love life, begging time for family, multiple jobs and trying that to be solved. This is a flawed movie worthy of criticism, but I think it is a very Spider-Man story even in this delivery."

Grant:
I completely agree.

Drew:
I think I completelu agree here too.

Grant:
Yes, there are issues with this movie. But I think, I mean, outside of all the story reasons, which I think are very valid, this movie has character that other even Spider-Man movies don't have. So to see it at the bottom, like should it be towards the bottom of every Spider-Man list? Maybe? But like, there's really good moments and it has more character than some of the other Spider-Man movies. I think like, it gets overhated a little.

Drew:
I think TASM 2 is the most wrongly overhated.

Grant:
I would say, yes. I think Raimi 3 gets too much love, but that's just me. You know, I think like TASM 2, its worst moments are very, very bad. I hate Tooth Fusion. It's stupid.

Drew:
You got to get off Tooth Fusion.

Grant:
No, Tooth Fusion is dumb. Dumb.

Drew:
It is dumb, but it's two seconds of a two and a half hour movie.

Grant:
And it's a stupid two seconds. I will harp on this for the rest of my life.

Drew:
We're going to say this on every hot takes episode.

Grant:
I don't care. I do think that it balances the core of what makes Spider-Man, the superhero, very good. Like, it balances that within the movie decently well overall-

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
despite bad villains. Like, yes, I think everything that you listed of like what it's like to be a young adult, and to balance family and then leaving your family, and like working, and trying to have a relationship with somebody and like all these things- and school, the stuff that can be very difficult for a young adult to balance. Like, Spider-Man represents that very well and I think it's part of why he's so relatable.

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
And I think this movie does like a job of representing that, despite its very big flaws.

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
So I agree.

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
How hot is this take?

Drew:
I don't think this is crazy. I'm going to say Some Smoke.

Grant:
Two-some smokes? I'm fine with that.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
I think there's some hotness there, but not too much.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
All right, number three, go for it.

Drew:
Three. "I would rather see a Spider-Girl legacy sequel to the Raimi movies than a Spider-Man 4. Expectations are too high. They will never be met. And many of the original concepts have made their way into other things. I was disappointed in No Way Home when there seems to be no indication of what he has been up to since Spider-Man 3 except that he and MJ work things out, especially the implications that there are no other heroes in that world because as an early 2000s Marvel kid, there was a common belief that they occupied one universe across company lines despite having solo stories." Interesting. I didn't ever know that.

Grant:
I guess we weren't really-

Drew:
Yeah, we weren't alive then, so.

Grant:
sentient at that time.

Drew:
"In that way with the exception of the multiverse, with Multiverse of Madness of Earth's 838 having a differently connected MCU seeing Wolverine meeting Johnny for the first time as if never before." Who's John- Johnny Storm? When did Wolverine meet Johnny Storm? Are we talking comics or MCU? I don't even know.

Grant:
I haven't seen all the X-Men movies, lowkey.

Drew:
I don't know if that happened. Okay. "...for the first time as if never before and the team in the void being from different worlds from each other killed the idea-" Oh, Deadpool & Wolverine.

Grant:
Oh, yes. Thank you.

Drew:
Yes, I'm tracking now.

Grant:
Thank you.

Drew:
"And I will inevitably feel that again when Tobey doesn't know anyone if he appears in either of these Avengers movies, knowing at least that he and MJ reconcile and not knowing what that looks like. I would love to move forward from there with their daughter Mayday and the most criminally-" Still definitely sick guys. "...t he most criminally underrated Spider-Man character Marvel has at this point, especially not knowing how that universe has grown and changed since No Way Home." I kind of agree, act-. Well, I like the concept.

Grant:
I don't have a lot of stakes in this take. Like, I think it's interesting.

Drew:
Would you rather have Spider-Man 4 with Tobey or Mayday?

Grant:
Mayday, probably. I don't think we should have a Spider-Man 4. I would rather have TASM 3 than Spider-Man 4.

Drew:
Ooh.

Grant:
Like, straight up. I don't care. I don't care at all.

Drew:
Here is what I would want from a Spider-Man 4. I think you're- okay. There's two things I want to say. One, I think the new Ultimate Spider-Man run where Peter's an adult and like with kids. Super interesting. I love it. I think it's great. Um, but that would be super interesting to see Tobey and Kirsten Dunst as parents while he's a superhero. We've never really seen that in a movie-

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
kind of period. I mean, maybe like Incredibles, but-

Grant:
Yeah, I think Incredibles is close. I mean, there's a brief mention of him having a daughter. I mean, I guess his daughter's Into the0 or Across the Spider-Verse-

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
briefly, but that's not really, like, touched on at all.

Drew:
So that would be a super cool movie to see. And then I mean, you could do that with a Mayday movie, too, I guess. Um, but that would be awesome. I don't think Tobey needs to know anybody and if he's in Secret Wars or Doom. I-

Grant:
I mean, he already doesn't know what the Avengers are in No Way Home, so.

Drew:
Yeah, like I think it's fine. But I think that will be the least of our problems. If Tobey knows people, I'm not going to be like, "oh, he doesn't actually know anybody." Or if he doesn't, I'm like- that movie has bigger fish to fry than that.

Grant:
It does.

Drew:
But I think your first take of Spider-Man 3 is interesting.

Grant:
Yes, I agree. How hot is this?

Drew:
Uh, I don't know if this is a hot take. I'm going to say Some Smoke again.

Grant:
Wow. Three Some Smokes-

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
but interesting takes nonetheless. Thank you, justingatcomb8966.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
All right, are you ready for the next one, Drew?

Drew:
I'm very ready.

Grant:
Let me find it, I have one that I really liked. All right, this is from nerdycynic1893.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
"The Spider-Verse movies are proof that superhero stories are better suited to animation than live action and more budget and effort should be put into animated superhero projects."

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
I can't disagree with this, honestly. But I mean- well, you talk first, actually.

Drew:
I think animiation is a medium, live-action is a medium, and it doesn't affect story at all. Well-

Grant:
That's not true.

Drew:
Okay, explain.

Grant:
Well, okay.

Drew:
Like I'm just saying stories are stories.

Grant:
I just think some stories translate better depending on the medium. Like, I just know the Spider-Verse in live action would translate well at all.

Drew:
I, no, I think that's true. I agree.

Grant:
It's like, this is like a tangent, but like, the ATLA - Avatar: The Last Airbender — live action adaptations have been hit or miss at best,

Drew:
True.

Grant:
and at worst have been horrendous.

Drew:
Right.

Grant:
But then in animation, the bending looks incredible, and like, obviously, the storytelling is better.

Drew:
True.

Grant:
And like, even though, like, let's say somebody did a shot-for-shot remake of ATLA in live action,

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
which is kind of what they should have done for the show, but whatever, like, stop making changes. But the bending just doesn't look the same. Like, it just looks better in animation, and it elevates the story. Because like, it's more believable. There's more suspense and disbelief.

Drew:
I mean, I think of like Arcane and I'm like, like- *coughs*

Grant:
Sorry.

Drew:
It's fine

Grant:
It's all good.

Drew:
animation is so bright and colorful or has the potential. And in like live action, I don't think that translates well. So when you have these flashy superpowers of, I mean, like bending or like Invincible or Spider-Man, it is almost more intriguing to have it animated.

Grant:
Like, I feel like there's so many times I'm watching something, and like, I hate that my brain works this way. But like, I'll be watching a show where I care about the characters, and then the moment, like, I don't know, I'm watching a superhero movie, and the moment the superpowers come on screen, I'm like, it pulls me out because I'm like, I just see how fake it looks, because I can pick CGI out instantly, for the most part.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
Like, I don't know. Like, I know it can be done well, and there's some movies that it's done incredibly. But like, I think the Incredibles works so well, because like, you're not thinking about, "oh, did the superpowers look good or not?" Because it's all animated.

Drew:
Right.

Grant:
Like, it all looks the same.

Drew:
I don't hate this take. But also, I think these are mediums.

Grant:
If we're saying that "more resources" should be invested into animation-

Drew:
100% agree.

Grant:
for superhero stuff-

Drew:
Yes.

Grant:
I can completely agree. So, yes. Good take.

Drew:
Good take. I think it's good.

Grant:
Hotness scale?

Drew:
I think that the hot take here is the sentence "superhero stories are better suited to animation."

Grant:
Okay, but if you think about it, like, let's say "better suited to animation." I mean, like, if we're talking about it translates easier,

Drew:
Maybe I actually agree here.

Grant:
like, if it translates easier to animation, which it does,

Drew:
Yeah, I think that's true-

Grant:
then that's not crazy. Like, a comic book to animation is a easier transition-

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
than comic book to movie, live action.

Drew:
Okay. I think I've been convinced. Yeah, I think I have.

Grant:
But on a hotness scale with how Hollywood is right now, this has gotta be a pretty hot take, right?

Drew:
I think Enough For S'mores or Raging Fire.

Grant:
I think this is Enough For S'mores. I don't think we're at Raging Fire level yet.

Drew:
Yeah I agree.

Grant:
All right, you're up, Drew.

Drew:
Okay, we're going to michaelcaboose8685.

Grant:
Oh, let's go.

Drew:
"Spider-Man 1 and 2 are the best Superman-" Is this- this-

Grant:
Okay, this is funny. So, I saw this comment-

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
and I thought it- listen, the "u" and the "i" are very close.

Drew:
Sure this is a typo.

Grant:
This could be a typo. And I want to talk about both versions, because this person says, "Spider-Man 1 and 2 are the best Superman stories ever put to screen."

Drew:
Right.

Grant:
I commented like, "surely this is a typo." I don't think this person ever responded.

Drew:
Oh, tragic.

Grant:
But if you think about it, it's not that crazy of a take.

Drew:
Okay continue.

Grant:
Think about what Superman stands for.

Drew:
Right. Hope.

Grant:
Hope.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
Goodness.

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
Like, helping people.

Drew:
Right.

Grant:
Wrestling with, like, "should I, like, stay with my family" and like, I don't know, like all this stuff, "should I honor my family on earth or should I be a Kryptonian?"

Drew:
Sure.

Grant:
There are similar elements in all of, like, of all that in Spider-Man 1 and 2 in a different font.

Drew:
There's not, like a wrestle of "am I human or am I a Kryptonian."

Grant:
I think, like, being from another planet, but like, being a human, like, on earth, like, how do you balance that? Like, I think that's a core part of Superman. Like, I'm from somewhere else, but like, my family's here. Like, that's a,

Drew:
Well, I know in Superman, but is that in Spider-Man?

Grant:
that's a pretty core theme.

Drew:
I know in Superman, but is that in Spider-Man?

Grant:
I would say it, like, this is a reach, but like, I am different now with my powers. Should I date MJ and be a normal person or should I be Spider-Man? Like, that, if we're talking about that wrestle, they aren't too dissimilar. Listen, it's a reach.

Drew:
That's a reach.

Grant:
But we're going to talk about this typo. I'm just trying to justify this typo a little bit.

Drew:
Okay. I definitely think this is a typo. I think Spider-Man and Superman are different, so.

Grant:
Okay. Now let's say it was a typo.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
"Spider-Man 1 and 2 are the best Spider-Man stories ever put to screen." Are they the best Spider-Man stories put to screen?

Drew:
Are we counting the PS4 game?

Grant:
I'd say "screen..." We'll say the PS4 game doesn't count as "screen" in this context. "Silver screen."

Drew:
Are we counting shows?

Grant:
No. "Silver screen."

Drew:
Okay. Well, then yes. Yeah, I think so. Yes.

Grant:
Do you think Spider-Man 1 or 2 are better stories than Spider-Verse?

Drew:
No... no.

Grant:
So-

Drew:
So, I disagree. I forgot.

Grant:
You forgot about-

Drew:
We've talked about live action for so long that like I-

Grant:
We have, we have talked about so much live action.

Drew:
Yeah. I think Spider-Man is better.

Grant:
I would say these are the- I mean, in the top four best Spider-Man stories put to screen.

Drew:
Yeah. For sure.

Grant:
If somebody used to make this claim and like, plant their flag here, I'm not going to, I'm not going to be like, "you're wrong." I'll be like, "okay, whatever."

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
Like, that's fine.

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
So from that perspective, we agree. Where are we on the hotness scale for this one?

Drew:
I think. No, I don't think this is crazy hot. I think what she says is true. Like if someone was claiming this, I wouldn't- it's not the craziest thing. I'm going to say...

Grant:
Only Embers? Yeah.

Drew:
Only Embers. Yeah.

Grant:
Yeah. Look at us agreeing on that.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
All right. Is it my turn?

Drew:
It is your turn.

Grant:
I'm trying to find one. Okay. This is from shadowstryker640. And we've kind of talked about-

Drew:
That's a sick name.

Grant:
Yeah, it is a good name. We've kind of talked about this in a general sense a few times, but "Andrew Garfield is a worse Peter Parker than Tom Holland but a better Spider man overall. His quips are more in-line with the comics, his suits don’t seem like they’re trying to be anything but Spider-Man, and he has overall more style and stunts than anything we’ve seen from Tom Holland." I bet you this was commented before Brand New Day. So we'll talk about it pre-Brand New Day and post-Brand New Day.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
How do you feel about that?

Drew:
Pre-Brand new day I completely agree. I think Andrew Garfield is funnier. I think he's more dynamic in like his movement and even just like his personality.

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
So, I think I 100% agree here. What about you?

Grant:
Pre-Brand New Day, I would completely agree.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
I think the TASM movies, going back and watching them, they just overall have more character-

Drew:
Agreed.

Grant:
Than, like the Homecoming trilogy. I also think people hate on the basketball suit from TASM 1. I think it kind of looks cool. It looks weird, but also it does look kind of like what Peter Parker would make-

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
As a first suit.

Drew:
It feels very kid- teenager made.

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
Yeah. And I like Tom Holland in the Homecoming trilogy, but if we're talking about a good Peter Parker and Spider-Man, I think Andrew Garfield just fits that bill pretty well.

Drew:
Post-Brand New Day?

Grant:
I gotta say I'm starting to disagree a little bit.

Drew:
I think Tom Holland in Brand New Day is quippy. I think he's funny. I think he is equally as dynamic on a move-

Grant:
He feels like Peter Parker.

Drew:
He feels like Peter Parker.

Grant:
I would say his suit too, like if we're talking about suits, his suit in Brand New Day feels like Spider-Man.

Drew:
It's awesome.

Grant:
It feels like a Spider-Man suit that's not trying to be Iron Man's version of Spider-Man or the MCU version. No, it's just trying to be Spider-Man. Within the MCU, it's still trying to be Spider-Man. So.

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
I would say Brand New Day kind of taints your hot take a little bit.

Drew:
Yeah, but- yeah. I agree.

Grant:
I like the take though.

Drew:
I do too.

Grant:
How are we feeling on the hotness scale here?

Drew:
I said this on the last episode, I think this specific conversation of "who's the best Spider-Man" is so subjective that it's hard to quantify how hot of a take these are because there's so many people in every camp.

Grant:
I feel like it also depends a little bit on who you grew up with, because-

Drew:
Right.

Grant:
the people who grew up with Tobey would probably say more often than not, "Tobey's my Spider-Man." Same with the people who really grew up with Andrew before Tom Holland came into the picture. I grew up a little bit more on Tom Holland. Like Tom Holland has been my Spider-Man for a little longer, at least throughout high school, so. I don't know.

Drew:
I'm going to say Some Smoke.

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
I think that's fine. Some Smoke. All right, you're up, Drew.

Drew:
Oh my gosh, this is crazy. This is from Film_ranks. You ready?

Grant:
I'm so ready. I'm trying to find the take.

Drew:
"TASM and Homecoming are the two best live-action Spidey films." Uh, false, incorrect, wrong.

Grant:
Okay, wait. Here's the thing. I don't agree, by the way. I just do not. But I also think that they are two higher-tier Spider-Man movies. And we were higher on TASM.

Drew:
True.

Grant:
And I like Homecoming a lot. But if we're talking about Spider-Man films...

Drew:
And he put the word "best" in here.

Grant:
I just don't- Yeah, like Spider-Man 2 is better.

Drew:
Spider-Man 1 is better.

Grant:
The Spider-Verse films are better.

Drew:
Yeah. Oh, he did say live action though.

Grant:
He did say live action. Yeah, that's fair. I do think Homecoming- I think Brand New Day is now in the conversation. Again, some of these were really commented before Brand New Day came out. So it's hard to like judge if Brand New Day is factored in. I would say Brand New Day is better than both TASM 1- uh...

Drew:
I think it's better than TASM.

Grant:
For my personal, I think it's better than TASM 1 and Homecoming.

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
Dot, dot, dot, asterisk. I don't know yet. But that's where I'm at.

Drew:
Yeah. There are two Spider-Man movies off the bat before Brand New Day that are better, being (Raimi) 1 and 2. And yeah.

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
Did we have No Way Home above Homecoming? I think we did.

Grant:
I think we did in the final rankings, which I don't even still really agree with, but I'm okay with.

Drew:
No, I think I do agree. I think No Way Home's better than Homecoming.

Grant:
I think it's fine.

Drew:
But this is definitely a hot take. I'm going to say Some- Enough for S'mores.

Grant:
Enough for S'mores.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
Let's do it. All right. Okay, I have a take for maxhirsch1063-

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
if you're ready for the next take, Drew.

Drew:
I'm so ready.

Grant:
He sent in multiple takes, but here's one. "Vulture has been Spider-Man's best villain in the films."

Drew:
Okay... no, he is not.

Grant:
Okay, let's just talk through some of the main Spidey villains.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
We have Green Goblin.

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
We have Doc Ock.

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
We have Venom.

Drew:
Sandman, Harry...

Grant:
Sandman, Harry.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
We have Lizard, we have Harry again...

Drew:
Electro and Harry.

Grant:
and Electro. And then we have Vulture, Mysterio, everybody again in No Way Home.

Drew:
And now Jean Grey.

Grant:
And now Jean Grey. So, how are we feeling?

Drew:
Really, Tramell Tillman, but that's- it's fine. Metzger, Mr. Milchick.

Grant:
Yeah, Metzger? Milchick?

Drew:
Metzger.

Grant:
Whoever- whatever his name is.

Drew:
Mr. Metzger-Milchick.

Grant:
Mr. Milchick. Okay, Vulture. I'm just going to go through this list.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
Vulture is better than Venom.

Drew:
In which- in Raimi? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he is.

Grant:
In Raimi. Vulture is better than Lizard.

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
Vulture is better than Electro.

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
Vulture is better than both Harry's.

Drew:
Yeah.

Drew:
Vulture is better than Mysterio.

Drew:
Yes.

Grant:
Vulture is better than Jean Grey.

Drew:
No.

Grant:
Okay, we'll put that one aside-

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
Because I feel like that's a whole conversation. Vulture is better than Green Goblin.

Drew:
No.

Grant:
Better written?

Drew:
I don't care. Willem Dafoe has so much aura. It's not even...

Grant:
Okay, and then here's really the kicker. Vulture is better than Doc Ock.

Drew:
No.

Grant:
So, the answer is no, I disagree, but I think he's an upper echelon one.

Drew:
He is top five, for sure.

Grant:
Vulture is better than Sandman, yes.

Drew:
Yes.

Grant:
Like, I'd say he's top three or five.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
Like, it's not crazy to say that he's the best. I just don't think- I think Doc Ock is so well-written in Spider-Man 2.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
Like, there's so much nuance to his character, that it's hard for me to say that Vulture's better.

{{{{{HERE}}}}} 35:41

Drew:
Michael Keaton's performance is great. I think he's sympathetic.

Grant:
The plot twist is awesome.

Drew:
Plot twist is great. I just don't think he's the best. But I think he's very good.

Grant:
This is gotta be a hot take though.

Drew:
Yeah, I think it is. I'm going to say Enough for S'mores.

Grant:
Yeah, not Raging Fire yet. Will we have a Raging Fire take on this podcast? Who knows?

Drew:
Probably.

Grant:
Oh gosh, we got to double up with Max Hirsch right here.

Drew:
All right, go for it.

Grant:
Because he has a second take that reads, "Spider-Man Homecoming was the first good Spider-Man. I really don't think any of the Raimi or Mark Webb are any good."

Drew:
Oh my gosh.

Grant:
I mean, I don't think we need to harp on because we kind of just said everything about the villains that I would say about the movies. Is Homecoming a better Spider-Man movie than some other films? Sure. Is it top three? No.

Drew:
No, it's not.

Grant:
I think Homecoming is a very good film. If you like the MCU vibe better, you'll like Homecoming better.

Drew:
Right.

Grant:
But like if we're talking Spider-Man movies, Spider-Man 2 is better than Homecoming, and TASM 1-

Drew:
I think is better than Homecoming.

Grant:
and obviously Spider-Man 1, are all better than Homecoming-

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
as Spider-Man films. But I like Homecoming a lot.

Drew:
Homecoming is great. It's super fun. But Rai mi and Webb, at least in the beginning, have a better understanding of the character than Homecoming does.

Grant:
I gotta say this is a Raging Fire take-

Drew:
I think it is.

Grant:
because Spider-Man 2 is like a significant step up from Homecoming. It just is.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
So, thanks for sending the takes Max. Sorry, we did not agree.

Drew:
Super interesting. I think he likes Homecoming, though.

Grant:
Do you like Homecoming?

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
I mean, Homecoming is a really good movie. It's good.

Drew:
It's probably the one I've seen the most.

Grant:
Yeah, I think so too.

Drew:
I've seen it a ton.

Grant:
All right.

Drew:
All right,

Grant:
You're up.

Drew:
We're going to go with kuttitup18.

Grant:
kuttitup18.

Drew:
"Uncle Ben's death in the first two adaptations doesn't move me that much. I understand he's important to Aunt May and Peter and I feel for them, but we never get the chance to understand who he is that much before he died. In the same but opposite way Uncle Aaron in Into the Spider-Verse gets a lot of screen time showing how he accepts Miles and understands him like no one else, so his death feels properly moving."

Grant:
I don't know.

Drew:
I don't hate this.

Grant:
I don't hate it. I think Uncle Aaron's death is actually maybe a little better.

Drew:
I think it is better. But also, I don't necessarily think that's- I mean, Uncle Ben- I saw something interesting the other day.

Grant:
Okay.

Drew:
Complete side tangent by the way. This is a Chris Nolan quote. *coughs* He was talking about like plot devices and other like writing mechanics. And he said (paraphrased), people criticize things for being plot devices, but it's like plot device is a neutral thing. And if it's used well, then it's effective as a plot device. If it's just bad, that's where the criticism comes in and be like, it's just a plot device. You see where it's going, whatever. I think Uncle Ben here is a very good plot device. You understand what it's like to have a father figure as a human for the most to some degree. So you can empathize with Peter a lot here when his father figure dies. And when his father figure said something impactful right before his death, you understand how that moves the character along. To me, that's a very effective plot device. We don't have to- we don't as the audience, we do not have to care about Uncle Ben. We have to feel why Peter cares.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
And I think that's- you totally get that from Raimi 1 and TASM one.

Grant:
Now it helps if you care more about Uncle Ben.

Drew:
Sure, it makes it more impactful for the audience, but I would argue the audience is not necessarily supposed to care about Uncle Ben as a character. They're supposed to care about Peter's action afters and we totally do.

Grant:
Yeah, there's a layer of personal background too. Like if you've lost a father figure or-

Drew:
Sure.

Grant:
a parental figure or grandparent or whatever, that was really impactful on your life, like you feel that. So some people are going to relate more to Uncle Ben than other people. And like that's okay. Do I think that if we're talking about within the movies, you get more screen time with Uncle Aaron and his death is better? Maybe? Better written? Better portrayed? I'd say yeah. That's probably fair.

Drew:
I think it's true.

Grant:
I don't think that's a crazy take. I think Andrew Garfield's performance is great. I think Martin Sheen's great. I mean, I think the Raimi version is also very good. Like I don't think it's necessarily bad. Like you understand enough about who Uncle Ben is to Peter for it to not be bad.

Drew:
Right.

Grant:
So I see where you're going with this though.

Drew:
I think I agree with you, but also I don't think that's the point.

Grant:
How hot is this take?

Drew:
Oh, I'm going to say Enough For S'mores.

Grant:
I like that.

Drew:
Right.

Grant:
I think it's like, I've never really heard this one. Maybe some people agree. But yes. All right. All right. Here we go. Are you ready?

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
This is from ryan2165.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
"First two MCU Spidey movies were the worst interpretation of the character out of all live action movies. They make him out to be Iron Man Jr. Gross. I gotta hard agree on this one. Like talking about adaptation of the character. Yeah, this is probably the worst version.

Drew:
Wow....

Grant:
Listen, I'm not saying that I dislike Homecoming.

Drew:
Yeah, I agree as well.

Grant:
I think Homecoming could have really been interesting as like a where we are before he really becomes Spider-Man. However, we take too much time getting to him being Spider-Man for it to stay interesting. And I was thinking about this the other day because we get a lot of comments on our videos and people were like, "why are you so low on Far From Home? It's a fun time. The arc he goes on in Far From Home is quite literally identical to what he goes on in Homecoming. He is dealing with the way of being under Spider-Man- or like in Spider-Man's shadow- or not Spider-Man. Sorry.

Drew:
Iron Man. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Grant:
In Iron Man's shadow. Cannot speak. And even though he's alive in one and not in the other. He is dealing with a villain that is kind of the fallout of Iron Man's actions. Okay. Same in both movies. He realizes that he needs to not rely as much on Spider- Sorry. Golly. On Iron Man's technology and rely more on his powers. He does that in both movies. In the "Come on, Spider-Man" scene in Homecoming when he lifts the pillars, which is a great scene. And then in the Mysterio Spidey-Sense scene, which is also a great scene. And then at the end of the movie he goes on with- like, throughout his life. It's the same arc. And so like, I don't know. I feel like if Far From Home did something more interesting, we wouldn't talk about the Homecoming trilogy and the light that we do.

Drew:
I agree. Yeah, I mean, I think the character regression from the end of Homecoming to the beginning of Far From Home is pretty severe. Like-

Grant:
He goes to space and fights Thanos and he comes back and he's like, "I'm still Iron Man's kid."

Drew:
It just it feels very, it just feels like we're recycling everything from homecoming, like you said, but also it's like Peter is smarter. And he's way smarter than to give Quentin Beck the glasses. He's way smarter than to try to kill- it's not Flash, it's, what-

Grant:
No, he does. Well, he does accidentally try to kill- oh, oh, it wasn't Flash. It was-

Drew:
Or whatever the other-

Grant:
He punches Flash. I don't know.

Drew:
The boyfriend or-

Grant:
Is it Kevin?

Drew:
I don't even know his name. You all know what I'm talking about. In the bus scene.

Grant:
Whatever his name is. Yes.

Drew:
Like there's just so many moments of campy, teenage fun that does not scream the Peter Parker who did Homecoming, did Infinity War and Endgame. So.

Grant:
Yeah, the fact that he learns to rely more on his own strength than who he is as Spider-Man in Homecoming. And then at the beginning of Far From Home, he's like, "well, I have these cool glasses. I'm going to play with these for the whole movie." Like. I mean, it does it also make sense that he's mourning Iron Man and wants to honor him. Yes, within the universe it makes sense. But I think if Far From Home opened with him packing up the Homecoming suit, putting it in a box in his room and putting on his new suit that he just made, it would have made just as much sense with the character.

Drew:
Yeah, I agree.

Grant:
Like, I'm honoring Tony, but I'm doing my own thing now that he's gone. So I don't know. I like the take.

Drew:
Yeah, I think it's good.

Grant:
How hot it's to take.

Drew:
Only Embers?

Grant:
Yeah, it's not that hot. I think people would agree. All right, you're up, Drew.

Drew:
Okay. We're going to go with theanimationcritictaylorri1264. You have a very long name. Hot take: "For just TASM 1 about the swinging scenes. I don't really agree. Raimi"s was better in that department."

Grant:
I think this probably was commented on one of our TASM videos.

Drew:
I agree...?

Grant:
Uh... I think the swinging and web work... well, I don't know, I go back and forth.

Drew:
I think- I don't even know I think Raimi 3, there's a couple scenes are super dynamic, which is one of the strengths of the movie for me. I love it. I think the practicalness of TASM 1 specifically. I mean, there's the behind the scenes shot where you they're on the bridge fighting Lizard. And you see the stunt guy swinging on a bridge.

Grant:
It's sick.

Drew:
Sick, so dope. But it's not as dynamic as like, a Raimi 3.

Grant:
But I think like because of like the little bit of Spider-Man rebrand and the more realistic feel, it does a really good job translating the web swinging to that and feeling realistic. Like, even the scene where he's in the sewers and he's like on the web and crawling around it, that looks sick.

Drew:
Yeah, that scene's so dope.

Grant:
And that's not even a swinging scene, but like that's the web stuff-

Drew:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Grant:
that's really, really cool. I think the scene on the bridge where he saves the kid, in a more realistic way, is super dynamic. Like it's really, really cool. I mean, I guess we're only talking about TASM 1 here. I think it's just like, what do you prefer? Do you prefer more stylized web swinging or do you prefer a more realistic web swinging? Because they both-

Drew:
I think I disagree here. I think TASM 1's better.

Grant:
I also disagree.

Drew:
I think Raimi's great. And this is one of those things like I think I said on the last episode, I don't want to have the argument of like, "it's built on whatever." But TASM is definitely built on Raimi in the in the sense of Raimi invented this whole thing of web swinging-

Grant:
Yeah, 100%.

Drew:
specifically.

Grant:
Yeah, you got to reference all the work that Sam did. So-

Drew:
So yeah.

Grant:
yeah. Hotness scale?

Drew:
Um, Some Smoke?

Grant:
Sure, Some Smoke.

Drew:
I feel like I've given every one of you "Some Smoke," but that's okay.

Grant:
We need a Wet Logs take at some point.

Drew:
Should we find one?

Grant:
Uh, is it my turn? Is it your turn? I think it's my turn.

Drew:
I think it's mine. Oh, okay. I don't know.

Grant:
No, it's mine because you just read his name, his long name. Okay.

Drew:
Oh yeah that's true.

Grant:
Okay, this is from CalebG7.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
"Spider-Man No Way Home wastes the perfect opportunity to tell a true Sinister Six story. After eight live-action Spider-Man movies, we've still never really seen- or never really gotten a proper Sinister Six adaptation. And No Way Home had the ideal setup with so many iconic villains in one film. Instead they mostly feel like individual villains sharing the same movie rather than a coordinated team. They rarely work together or feel like an actual supervillain alliance. I love the nostalgia and the Spider-Man moments, but I think Marvel missed the chance to finally give us the definitive Sinister Six storyline." That's not crazy.

Drew:
No I think this great, actually. I think I 100% agree. Except again, are we counting PS4? Because there's definitely Sinister Six storyline there. No. It's really

Grant:
Does the Sinister Six appear in the- in Into the Spider-Verse? In full?

Drew:
No.

Grant:
No.

Drew:
It's really just Kingpin-

Grant:
Scorpion's in it.

Drew:
and Prowler. In the first one?

Grant:
Yeah, Scorpion's in the first one. They like break down Aunt May's house, Scorpion's there.

Drew:
Oh, that's true. Oh wait, okay. I guess Tombstone's there too. Yeah, but that I don't think that counts.

Grant:
It doesn't really count.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
Like, it's not the true storyline if we're kind of going that direction. Um, I agree.

Drew:
I mean, in PS4, it's like Doc Ock rallies a team and they have collective goals and they all have individual motivations of why they should be a team. So like, that makes sense very well. I don't think in any movie it works. Specifically No Way Home, it very much feels like everyone's there not as a team.

Grant:
I think what's kind of unfortunate is that we were supposed to get it in TASM. Like, the end of TASM 2-

Drew:
Right, yeah.

Grant:
is setting up the Sinister Six. If we were to ever get a TASM 3, I'd love to see a full adaptation of it. But like, we probably won't ever get that, so.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
We'll see. But I agree. I think it's a good take.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
Hot, scale?

Drew:
Yeah. Uh, let's say... this isn't like crazy high.

Grant:
Only Embers?

Drew:
I think everybody agrees.

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
Yeah. I think that's fine.

Grant:
But I think it's a good take. I like the take.

Drew:
Okay. Okay. We're gonna go with micahfisher6125.

Grant:
Gotta love some Micah Fisher on this podcast.

Drew:
He says, "Screw it. I'm submitting a second hot take because Spider-Man." Which is a perfectly valid reason. "Spider-Man 3 is a better- is better than the first Spider-Man film. The way it completes the entire trilogy on a thematic and emotional level is brilliant. It really feels like everything was building up to that conclusion." Thoughts Grant Crenshaw?

Grant:
Micah, I know you. At least through Letterboxd. I know that you really love Spider-Man 3 from a nostalgic standpoint. We have to be realistic here. Um, there are good moments. I think the character conclusions of Peter, MJ, Harry are good.

Drew:
Yeah, I agree.

Grant:
I think the way we get there is not that good.

Drew:
You really think 3 is better than 1? That's crazy.

Grant:
I think 1 is just a little more solid. Like, foundations are better there. Execution is better.

Drew:
I guess I guess his point sounds like, it's like- is the finality of an arc better than the beginning.

Grant:
If it's done well, yeah. But I don't think this is the best end of a trilogy or end of a Spider-Man thing that exists.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
I don't know. Maybe it is. Uh, juru's out. Honestly, I don't really know how I feel about it. I'm gonna have to think on it. Lowkey, I don't think 3 is better than 1.

Drew:
Yeah. No, I don't either.

Grant:
If we're talking like agree, disagree. I disagree, Micah. I think this has gotta be a hotter take, right?

Drew:
Yeah, I think it is. I'm gonna say Enough For S'mores.

Grant:
Yep.

Drew:
Okay. You're gonna agree with

Grant:
That's fine with me. Good take, Micah. Um, okay. Trying to find a good one. Okay, this is from ShaanJamesP. Shout out, Shaan.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
"The Tobey Maguire films are like the Star Wars prequels to me. They have a certain charm. A lot of nostalgia attached. But the more I rewatch them, the less they hold up. The stories told in them aren't any more interesting in comparison to the TASM films in my opinion."

Drew:
You're gonna agree with this.

Grant:
No- uh...?

Drew:
Oh, okay, okay.

Grant:
I don't know. They're parts I understand and parts I agree with, parts I disagree with. What do you think?

Drew:
I think they definitely are very prequel-y in the nostalgia and the certain charm. You gota get past the dialogue. If that's a problem for you, you're not gonna like movies, or probably the prequels. Um, I completely lost the take, it just went away. Um, but I do think the foundational story of specifically 1 and 2 are better than TASM 1 and 2.

Grant:
I feel like (Raimi) 2 holds up pretty well in 2026.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
Like, I think 2 is the outlier here. If you were to say like only 1 in 3, I'd be like, "okay, I can kind of see where you're coming from. The filmmaking hasn't aged incredibly." But I think 2 is like really well-written and also looks very solid.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
I mean, like if you're going to criticize little things of, like, Tobey Maguire's acting or like just the early 2000s CGI, like I can get behind that. But I think comparing the stories to TASM, I mean, TASM 1 is basically kind of- not a copy-paste Raimi 1, but like the bones of that story are pretty similar-

Drew:
True.

Grant:
outside the Gwen stuff, which is different. Well, I don't know.

Drew:
No, because he specifically tells when he's Spider-Man.

Grant:
No, I know. I'm just saying like the arc of TASM 1 and 2 with Gwen's death at the end is actually, like, very solid, and very unique, and might be better if we're just taking that arc compared to like the arc of Tobey Maguire, Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Is that, is that actually a good take?

Drew:
No, I think that's a bad take. I think the arc of him sacrificing MJ, and then wrestling with his identity, and "why should I be Spider-Man?"-

Grant:
Yeah, you're right.

Drew:
is better. I think- I think TASM is great. I do, but I don't think it's better.

Grant:
Okay. We'll say, "disagree." How hot is this take?

Drew:
I'm gonna say Enough For S'mores. I think this is pretty hot, honestly.

Grant:
Yeah, I agree actually.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
All right. You want to do a few more?

Drew:
Yeah, let's do a few more.

Grant:
Okay.

Drew:
We're gonna go with jonbonjour4.

Grant:
jonbonjour4.

Drew:
"I made a series of videos on this, but essentially the case is every Spider-Man movie is at least very good- Or is at the very least good. They all have their bespoke issues, but each of them captures what a good Spider-Man movie needs to be."

Grant:
Until the Homecoming trilogy, I say, yeah, that's fine. I'd say Far From Home is like the biggest offender here.

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
And I know we like have been getting a lot of comments on like, "Hey, why are you guys hating on Far From home so much?" But I would encourage you to rewatch it if you haven't seen it in a while. I just don't think it's aged well.

Drew:
Yeah, I agree.

Grant:
Like it just feels like filler. And like I just said earlier on this podcast, it's like the same story arc from Homecoming, but done worse.

Drew:
I mean, I even think this for Homecoming and No Way Home. I assume this was commented before Brand New Day. Yeah, I think I agree mostly here. Also, Jon, I have read- you know, he writes a comic?

Grant:
Oh my gosh. Yeah, he mentioned this one time.

Drew:
I have read your comic. Audience - I'm gonna shout you out, Jon - if you want a super interesting comic, go read Jon's comic. Jon, you should comment it down below and we'll pin it to the top.

Grant:
We got you.

Drew:
But I thought it was great. I thought it's super interesting.

Grant:
Um, I'm going to say I disagree. I think that the Homecoming trilogy doesn't perfectly capture Peter as Spider-Man really until the end of No Way Home a little bit.

Drew:
Yeah, yeah.

Grant:
And then Brand New Day really picks up with Peter as Spider-Man and what the character really should be, so. I think as a precursor to Brand New Day, it works really well. But outside of that, it's kind of just the MCU's Spider-Man, so.

Drew:
Yeah, I think I agree with that, I...

Grant:
This has gotta be a hotter take, too. You think?

I feel like most Spider-Man fans recognize it that Homecoming and Far From Home are pretty bad- or not bad, but not great adaptations.

Grant:
Okay, that's fine.

Drew:
I'm gonna say Some Smoke.

Grant:
Some Smoke. It's a smoky episode.

Drew:
It's a smoky episode, kind of a smoky fire right now.

Grant:
That's okay.

Drew:
That's okay.

Grant:
That's why you love us.

Drew:
Because we're smoky?

Grant:
Sure.

Drew:
All right, guys, thunder is on the horizon.

Grant:
If you can, if you have a keen ear and a very loud sub speaker, you might be able to hear it on our podcast.

Drew:
So we're only going to do like two more-

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
and then we're going to get out of here.

Grant:
All right. I have one. This is from amazingturtle4708.

Drew:
This is interesting

Grant:
This is interesting. I think you will have more opinions on this. "Miles Morales as a character peaked in the Spider-Verse films and the comics never came in the same ballpark." I'm going to be honest. I haven't read any of the Miles comics or Spider-Man comics. So like, don't hear me being racist. I just haven't read any comics. That sounded bad when it came out of my mouth. I just haven't read a lot of comics.

Drew:
"I have- I have exclusively not read yet Mi-" Yeah. I also haven't read a ton of Miles, which is surprising because I really like Miles. I've read the Spider-Verse arc where like everyone's together, but I have not read a ton of Miles. I have heard that his comics are not as good as Peter's though.

Grant:
Yeah.

Drew:
So- and I've heard that they're super different from the movies. So I don't have a ton to say here. I absolutely love the Spider-Verse movies. Into the Spider-Verse might be my favorite movie of all time, so.

Grant:
I guess the PS4- well, PS5 version doesn't really hold a candle to anything either?

Drew:
I think it's good. I think it's super solid, but it's not groundbreaking.

Grant:
Also, Miles hasn't been around for that long.

Drew:
I think it's good. I think it's super solid, but it's not groundbreaking. That's true.

Grant:
Like, I think people forget sometimes, unless you're a Spider-Man fan. Like, Miles is not like a long-standing character. Like, he came out like what, 15, 20 years ago?

Drew:
2012-ish?

Grant:
Yeah. So that was like less than 15 years ago. Like, that's not a long time to be around as a character, so.

Drew:
True.

Grant:
Shout out Donald Glover.

Drew:
Shout out- Oh, please come on Stole My Line, Donald Glover.

Grant:
Gosh, love that guy. Yeah. I think that's fine. I'm fine with this take.

Drew:
Yeah, I think it's fine.

Grant:
I'll say I agree as someone who hasn't read a single Spider-Man comic in my life.

Drew:
I also agree with basically the same amount of information.

Grant:
Okay. Hotness scale. This has gotta be kind of a colder take?

Drew:
I'm gonna say Only Embers.

Grant:
Only Embers.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
All right. That's fine.

Drew:
All right.

Grant:
Hit us with one more Drew.

Drew:
I gotta find a good one.

Grant:
By the way, if you're new to the channel, thank you for being here.

Drew:
Oh, this is good.

Grant:
Subscribe if you haven't already. Comment below your Spider-Man hot take. We might do a part three soon before we milk all of Spider-Man because we've done a lot of Spider-Man on this channel recently.

Drew:
We have. It's true.

Grant:
If you have MCU hot takes, we will be getting around to those throughout the rest of 2026-

Drew:
Yep.

Grant:
so comment that as well. We have a list going.

Drew:
We're gonna do a little Avengers Marathon.

Grant:
Yep.

Drew:
We might check a couple of other heavy MCU hitters.

Grant:
We'll do like a "MCU greatest hits leading up to Doomsday" kind of vibe. We'll review the Doomsday, or not Doomsday, the Endgame re-release that's in theaters. So we'll do all of that relatively soon.

Drew:
We also have a couple more marathons planned that I'm pretty excited about that are NOT superhero related-

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
or Star Wars related. Completely other genre.

Grant:
But big franchises!

Drew:
They are big franchises with big IP coming out-

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
in the- in this year. Yeah.

Grant:
So we've been cooking behind the scenes-

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
with Stole My Line. Drew, what's the take?

Drew:
Final take of Spider-Man Hot Takes dos. There will be more. Don't worry. That1OompaLoompa. Another awesome name. By the way, hunkahunka-

Grant:
hunkahunka.

Drew:
I'm- I'm still laughing about your name.

Grant:
Let's go. Okay.

Drew:
"The Spider-Verse movies are the only Spider-Man movies above a seven out of ten. Spider-Man 1 and 2 and Homecoming are all good- are all good seven out of ten movies, but the Raimi trilogy might be a little too campy for its own good and have some dumb subplots. The Tom Holland ones are too tied to the MCU and TASM movies are just mediocre. Only the Spider-Verse movies strike the perfect chord of seriousness, actual great storytelling, and comic book fun. Easily the best character work for Spider-Man."

Grant:
Okay.

Drew:
So you're arguing Spider-Verse are eight out of ten or above.

Grant:
And no other Spider-Man movie.

Drew:
1, 2 and Raimi- no, that didn't make any sense. Raimi 1, 2 and Homecoming are seven out of ten and everything else is lower.

Grant:
All right. Let's go through the list.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
In your opinion - and I'll give my input too - Raimi 1, out of ten, what would you rate it? And let's factor in every single thing about the movie-

Drew:
Right, realistic.

Grant:
including the campiness. And I mean, he kind of says "as movies" here. So if we're saying "as movies."

Drew:
I'm going to say an eight out of ten.

Grant:
I think I could say 7 out of 10 here and be okay with it.

Drew:
I think that's fine

Grant:
Like, as a movie.

Drew:
I think that's fine.

Grant:
Raimi 2?

Drew:
Uh- a nine point five.

Grant:
I say as a movie, it's so solid. It's like the pacing's great. The character moments are great. It looks great. Like, is it a little campy? Yes. But the dialogue's the best in the Raimi trilogy in this movie. Like, if you don't like Tobey Maguire, that's fine. Like, you probably won't like this movie as much.

Drew:
Right.

Grant:
But I think this is at least an eight out of ten, if not a nine out of ten. Some people could argue it's ten out of ten, and I wouldn't even hate it.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
So say Spider-Man 2 is an outlier right now. Raimi 3?

Drew:
Six out of ten.

Grant:
I would say four out of ten, but whatever. TASM 1? Seven out of ten.

Drew:
Seven- I think it's a solid seven.

Grant:
That's fine.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
TASM 2, six out of ten?

Drew:
I'm going to say a six point eight.

Grant:
I would say a six or five out of ten.

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
I think there's a lot of good and a lot of bad. Homecoming?

Drew:
As a movie.

Grant:
As a movie, seven or eight out of ten. I'm in that range.

Drew:
Six point five.

Grant:
I'm okay with seven.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
I'd even maybe say seven point five, but whatever. Far From Home...

Drew:
Like a five.

Grant:
I gotta give it a five or six-

Drew:
Yeah.

Grant:
maybe? No Way Home, as a movie?

Drew:
Six point eight.

Grant:
No Way Home has to, like, ride on its predecessors, though, where it's like-

Drew:
Yeah. But we can't fault the movie for that.

Grant:
No, I know.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
I'm just saying it's weird. It's hard to rate it as a movie, because it, like, has so much coming before it. But I'll say, sure, six point five, seven out of ten.

Drew:
Okay.

Grant:
Somewhere there. Brand New Day: eight out of ten.

Drew:
Okay. Eight point five. Yeah.

Grant:
So, I'd say Brand New Day and Spider-Man 2 are the real outliers here. And I want to hear your thoughts on that. But I think the Spider-Verse movies are better movies overall-

Drew:
I agree. Yeah.

Grant:
than most if not all those movies, too. So, like, from that perspective, it's not that hot of a take.

Drew:
I think there are more seven out of tens than you mentioned, but I basically agree here. Yeah.

Grant:
Okay. All right.

Drew:
How hot do you think is this?

Grant:
This is... I think the hotness comes in where you're saying, "no Spider-Man movie is above a seven out of ten until Spider-Verse." I'm like, I just think that becomes a hot take.

Drew:
That's kind of crazy. Yeah.

Grant:
I'm going to say Enough For S'mores to round out this episode-

Drew:
I agree.

Grant:
of Hot Takes on Stole My Line. Do you have anything else you want to add, Drew?

Drew:
There will be more if we didn't get to yours.

Grant:
Don't worry.

Drew:
Or if you're like, "I'm not going to comment now because they're not going to respond." We keep them all on our notes app.

Grant:
More Spider-Man movies will come out. Like, we're not going to just delete all these at some point, so.

Drew:
We will do more. We'll probably- I'd say we do one more soon.

Grant:
And then when Spider-Verse comes out, hopefully next year, when it's slated to come out, we're going to revisit all the stuff, so.

Drew:
Yep. So keep commenting. We will get to yours eventually.

Grant:
Yes.

Drew:
Yeah, we got a lot in the pipeline. Lots of stuff we're excited about.

Grant:
Yep. All you got to do is hit that subscribe button.

Drew:
All you gotta do is subscribe.

Grant:
We have a lot of cool stuff in the works. We're doing a bunch of behind-the-scenes work right now. If you've noticed, the podcast is getting a little bit of a facelift right now. We're going to keep working on that. And we love you guys. Thanks for supporting our channel. Thanks for 5K. I mean, we're glad to be here.

Drew:
That's sick.

Grant:
Glad to keep doing what we're doing, so.

Drew:
Yeah, for sure.

Grant:
Thank you guys. Love you all. Take a break...

Drew:
and with power comes great responsibility...

Grant:
enjoy a film.