Source: youtube.com

5. Spider-Man 2

Let’s look at the movie that taught us how superhero movie sequels could work.

Yeah, there’d been sequels before, but this one was the gold standard that all others would attempt to follow or surpass. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy was revolutionary as a whole, but it’s the highly praised sequel that people point to as the best of the series. And it’s easy to see why. All filmmaking is hard, but to some extent the origin story is the easiest chapter. Establish the character, set the stakes, big happy resolution, you know the drill. But for the sequel, you need escalation, you need development, you need to one-up your first outing. And Spider-Man 2 does it with style.

Clever, fun, and exciting, the film swings with ‘60s influence and the air of a Romita issue of Amazing Spider-Man. The train scene alone is one of the most beloved scenes in superhero cinema.

And to be honest, any scene in which regular people step up as one to help protect a superhero in need makes me at least tear up. I got misty writing that sentence. Jeez, you hand me a copy of Grant Morrison’s JLA: World War 3 and I will be sobbing in a puddle in five minutes.