Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 gets a lot of hate from Marvel fans (and not without reason), but it's better than its reputation suggests. Following the failed attempts to make a live-action Spider-Man movie at the now-defunct Cannon Films and Carolco Pictures (going back as far as 1985), the film rights to the franchise eventually found their way to Sony/Columbia in 1999. The studio had its eye on multiple big names as potential directors for Peter Parker's silver screen debut, ranging from esteemed storytellers like Ang Lee to then up and comer M. Night Shyamalan. In the end, they went with what was something of an outside choice at the time in the form of Raimi, based on the Evil Dead filmmaker's lifelong love of the web-slinger and his comic book adventures.

It proved to be an inspired match of artist and source material: Raimi's dynamic visual style and knack for handling wild tonal shifts allowed him to capture the essence of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's superhero, complete with all the soapy drama, tragic villains, vibrant imagery, cheesy humor, and just plain weirdness that defined their original run of Spider-Man stories. The director's Spider-Man trilogy would go on to gross more than $2.5 billion at the box office from 2002-07, with his Spider-Man 2 still considered by many to be one of the best (if not the best) superhero movies ever.

Related: All 6 Canceled Spider-Man Movies (& Why They Didn't Happen)

As is so often the case with trilogies, though, the third film is typically ranked as the weakest installment in Raimi's series. Indeed, his Spider-Man 3 has long been ridiculed for its most over the top or memorably laughable moments, and even the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse couldn't resist taking a potshot at the threequel's notorious "Emo Peter Dance" scene. Yet, despite being frequently held up as an example of everything wrong with superhero blockbusters, Spider-Man 3 is far from an unsalvageable mess... which is not to say it doesn't have its issues, either.

The Biggest Spider-Man 3 Problems

Venom chokes Spider-Man in Spider-Man 3

Most of Spider-Man 3's problems can be traced back to a key decision made early on during pre-production. Raimi, drawing from a treatment written by his brother Ivan, had originally intended for Flint Marko aka. Sandman to serve as the movie's primary antagonist, with The Vulture acting as a secondary villain. However, producer Avi Arad pressured Raimi to instead include Venom, a far more popular character among modern comic book fans. By that point, the film was already full of villain subplots as is, including Harry Osborn's transformation into the new Green Goblin (paying off the tease in Spider-Man 2). Raimi hadn't chosen Sandman on a whim, either, and had re-imagined the shapeshifter as being Uncle Ben's true killer in the film. Combined with the Goblin storyline, Raimi's goal was to create a throughline where Peter comes to question his sense of self-righteousness as a superhero, and "learn a little less black and white view of life and that he's not above these people."

In the end, the inclusion of Eddie Brock - who, as played by Topher Grace, is portrayed as being a sleazy tabloid photojournalist, even before he turns into Venom - didn't really enhance this theme and felt shoehorned into a movie that had plenty of character threads to service as-is. Even worse, it meant the Sandman, Goblin, and Venom storylines were left competing for screen time and, as a result, all ended up feeling under-developed. The Venom subplot is also the source of most of Spider-Man 3's most heavily derided elements, including the infamous "Emo Peter" sequences (where Peter, having donned his Venom-ized black Spider-Man suit, lets his evil side out). Further, it ties into another undercooked plot thread where classic Peter Parker love interest Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard) is introduced for seemingly no reason other than to complicate Peter's relationship with Mary Jane Watson.

Does Spider-Man 3 Still Deserve The Hate?

Sandman desintegrates into the wind in Spider-Man 3

Despite the ill-conceived Venom narrative, there's still a lot that works about Spider-Man 3. The Sandman and Goblin threads are rushed and make some dubious creative choices (like having Harry suffer an amnesia-inducing blow to the head early on), yet thematically they're both natural progressions of Peter's struggles from Spider-Man 1 and 2 and, respectively, his guilt over his involvement in Ben's death and frustration with being unable to tell Harry the truth about how his father died. Spider-Man 3 further evolves the romance between Peter and Mary Jane by focusing less on how Peter's responsibilities as a superhero affect their ability to be together (something Spider-Man 2 had already explored in-depth) and more on how their relationship is fractured by outside forces, like Peter enjoying newfound levels of success both professionally and as Spider-Man, even as Mary Jane's own career aspirations falter.

Related: See Spider-Man 3's Awesome Practical Venom (That Was Replaced With CGI)

On the opposite side of the camera, Raimi similarly delivers some of his best work on the Spider-Man trilogy with Spider-Man 3, including a sophisticated set piece in which Peter rescues Gwen from a malfunctioning crane, and a three-minute sequence showing the "birth" of Sandman that arguably ranks among the most visually-elegant scenes ever depicted in a superhero movie. Even the "Emo Peter" moments are pretty entertaining, at least in a vacuum. Raimi's first two Spider-Man films never shy away from playing up Peter's dorkier side for humorous effect, and it stands to reason the character's attempts to appear cool and suave (while under the influence of the Venom symbiote) would be as goofy as they are in Spider-Man 3. The reason it's an issue is because of the tonal clash it creates with the movie's darker developments, like when a Venom-powered Peter attempts to kill Sandman, maims Harry, accidentally strikes Mary Jane, and finally tears the symbiote from his skin upon recognizing its corruptive influence.

How Spider-Man 3 Could've Been Better

Maguire and Dunst in Spider-Man 3

Were Spider-Man 3 less overstuffed, Raimi might've been able to better navigate the shifts between the "Emo Peter" antics and more serious moments involving Sandman, Harry, and Mary Jane. It's not like his previous two Spider-Man movies didn't swing wildly from one tone to another either (again, it's Raimi's thing as a storyteller), but there he had enough room to switch gears from melodrama to comedy, action, and even horror without giving audiences whiplash, while at the same time doing justice by the story and characters, and not resorting to cheap plot devices or contrivances. It all goes back to the decision to add Venom: Spider-Man 3 probably should've either been a film about Peter wanting revenge against Sandman or being corrupted by the Venom symbiote, with a more straightforward threat (a la Vulture, as Raimi has wanted) thrown in as a way of keeping the plot moving forward. Failing that, Eddie becoming Venom might've been better off saved for Spider-Man 4 rather than shoved into the movie's third act.

One wonders if Raimi would've been more inclined to stick around and make Spider-Man 4, had he either followed his original plan for Spider-Man 3 or not tried to cover Venom's rise and fall in a single go. Admittedly, three big-budget superhero movies in a row is a lot for any director to take on, so it's possible Raimi would've still stepped away from the franchise after Spider-Man 3 in the scenario where he was happier with how the final film turned out. That being said, the threequel is far from a turkey and stands well above the biggest misfires in the golden age of superhero movies so far. If nothing else, it ought to be commended for giving us (if perhaps by accident) some of the more endlessly-delightful Marvel-related memes out there.

NEXT: The Plot of Sam Raimi's Cancelled Spider-Man 4