Is Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man Stronger Than Andrew Garfield’s?

No Way Home has brought back an old question among Spider-Man fans: which of the previous Spider-Men, Maguire’s or Garfield’s, is the strongest one?

Spider-Man: No Way Home has brought back an old question among Spider-Man fans: which of the previous versions of the hero—Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield—is stronger? The conclusion to the MCU’s Homecoming trilogy exceeded expectations and delivered moments that audiences could have never imagined witnessing on the big screen just a few years earlier. The return of not only the villains from the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb movies but also the previous Spider-Men resulted in a unique film that honors the character's two decades of cinematic history.

After months of speculation, moviegoers all over the world were finally able to watch the three live-action incarnations of Spider-Man interact. Through its multiversal plot, No Way Home found a way for Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield to swing into the MCU alongside Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn, Alfred Molina's Otto Octavius, and more. The concept made it possible for inspired interactions between the different Peter Parkers and even brought the famous Spider-Man pointing meme to the screen. One of the many interactions cheered by the audiences was the “web showdown” between Tobey and Andrew shortly after the two had joined Ned and MJ. Not sure if the other was telling the truth, both Spider-Men tried to pull a fast web-drawn in which Tobey was faster. That said, the question of which of the two previous Spider-Men is the strongest is not so simple.

Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man has always been known for a more visceral combat style. Also because of Sam Raimi's directing style and the limits of CGI at the time, the first three Spider-Man films usually featured combat scenes focused on intense exchanges of punches and kicks instead of quick moves and web-throwing. Maguire's strength was also highlighted in the iconic train sequence in which the hero was able to stop a vehicle going 80mph with nothing but his arms and webs. The character also managed to battle Sandman and Venom, perhaps two of Spider-Man's strongest villains, during the same fight. That consistency in Maguire's performance makes it easier to analyze his power level. The same, however, cannot be said for Garfield's as his skills significantly changed from The Amazing Spider-Man to The Amazing Spider-Man 2

 the first of Garfield's films, Peter Parker did not seem to be that strong and ended up taking some serious hits. All of his face-offs against the Lizard resulted in numerous injuries, to the point that in the final battle Peter would have failed had it not been for the assistance of Gwen's father. The character also struggled to recover from being shot in the leg and had to count on the assistance of New York’s citizens to reach the Oscorp tower. In the second one, however, Garfield's Spider-Man appeared to be much stronger than before. The character faced Electro twice followed by a quick fight against the Green Goblin and at no point seemed to have sustained much damage.

All those points considered, the consistency in Maguires' Spider-Man fighting abilities throughout his series of films added to the many examples of his character's sheer strength and endurance shown on screen makes for a good argument that he is indeed stronger than Garfield's Spider-Man. The web-off in No Way Home also shows that despite being the oldest hero, Tobey Maguire's Peter still has superior reflexes compared to his multiversal brother. By highlighting the similarities and the differences between all the Peter Parkers, Spider-Man: No Way Home not only celebrates Tobey Maguire and Andre Garfield’s takes on the character but also elevates Tom Holland’s own journey