Attempts to make a Spider-Man movie for the big screen started in the early-1980s and didn't produce a film until 2002–but since then there have been three different versions swinging across movie theater screens, but how old were each of Peter Parker's actors when they played the teenaged web-slinger? Outside of life-action, Spider-Man has been adapted from his comic book options multiple times, including in cartoons, animated feature films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and successful video games. After a series of made-for-TV movies in the late-1970s and early-1980s, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man finally brought Spider-Man to the big screen with Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker himself.
After two sequels, Spider-Man went through its first reboot in 2012 with The Amazing Spider-Man, now with Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. The underperformance of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 put a stop to this version and most of the planned spin-offs, but after Sony and Marvel reached a deal that allows the web-slinger to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the character was rebooted once again. Now played by Tom Holland, this new version of Spider-Man made his debut in Captain America: Civil War before jumping to his first solo adventure in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Spidey went on to appear in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, with his second solo film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, closing the Infinity Saga. The third film in Holland's series, Spider-Man: No Way Home, is set to deal with the multiverse and will see Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus, who appeared in Tobey Maguire's movies, return with rumors flying that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield might also return to their roles, presumably as somewhat older iterations of the character at this point.
All versions have been different, each with their strengths and weaknesses, but one big difference between the three is their age. Peter Parker is supposed to be 15-17 years old, but the actors who have played him haven’t always been close to that age. Here’s how old each Spider-Man actor was as teenage Peter Parker.
Tobey Maguire
Tobey Maguire was the first one to play Peter Parker on the big screen in Sam Raimi’s 2002 film. Spider-Man spent years in development hell, and when the project finally got a release date, it was pushed back a year, and so it officially began filming in early 2001. At that point, Maguire was 26-years old, and Peter Parker was a high-school senior, with the script referring to him as a 17-year old. The age difference between the main actors in Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy is an often criticized detail (James Franco was 23 and Kirsten Dunst was 19), as it wasn’t believable that they were playing high-schoolers. Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 saw a more mature Peter Parker who wasn’t a teenager anymore, and he was around 19-21 in the second film and probably 22-24 in the third, with Maguire being 28 and 31 when filming.
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Andrew Garfield
The Amazing Spider-Man found its Peter Parker in Andrew Garfield, who wasn’t a teenager either. The Amazing Spider-Man was released in 2012, but filming began in 2010. That means Garfield was 27-years old when he first played teenage Peter Parker, who was once again listed as 17 years old in this version. The sequel arrived two years later and showed Peter in his high school graduation, so he should have been 18-years old. Andrew Garfield, on the other hand, was already 30 when filming began in 2013.
Tom Holland
The MCU chose to have a younger Peter Parker, and with that came a younger actor to play to the role: Tom Holland. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, which began filming in 2016 and was released a year later, Peter Parker is intended to be 15 years old. This younger choice for the character helped to make Peter's perceiving of Tony Stark as a sort of surrogate father feel more believable. When the movie was filmed, Tom Holland was 20-years old, making him the youngest actor to play teenage Peter Parker – and the one closest to the character’s age. Time gets a little complicated after Holland's first solo outing as Spider-Man as, while Spider-Man: Far From Home is set five years after Thanos' snap in Avengers: Infinity War, Peter was snapped which means that rather than being 21, he came back as a 16-year old after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Far From Home was released in 2019 and was filmed in 2018, meaning Holland was 22-years old. Spider-Man: No Way Home appears to take place in the immediate aftermath of Spider-Man: Far From Home's post-credits scene, meaning Peter Parker is still 16 or 17. Spider-Man: No Way Home wrapped filming in March of 2021, meaning that Hollan was 24-years old at the time. Holland continues to be closer to Peter’s age than Maguire and Garfield were, but the MCU is allowing the age gap between actor and character to grow.
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