Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story conceived by Michael Chabon and the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the film was produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Enterprises and Laura Ziskin Productions, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the second installment in Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and the sequel to Spider-Man (2002). The film stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, and Donna Murphy. Set two years after the events of Spider-Man, the film finds Peter Parker struggling to stop scientist Dr. Otto Octavius from recreating the dangerous experiment that killed his wife and left him neurologically fused to mechanical tentacles, while also dealing with an existential crisis between his dual identities that appears to be stripping him of his powers.

Principal photography began in April 2003 in New York City and also took place in Los Angeles. Reshoots took place later that year and concluded in December. Danny Elfman returned to compose the score.

Spider-Man 2 premiered at the Mann Village Theater in Los Angeles on June 25, 2004, and was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters on June 30. It received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its emotional weight and visual effects, as well as Maguire and Molina's performances and Raimi's direction, and grossed $789 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing film of the year. It was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the top 10 films of 2004.

The film won Best Visual Effects at the 77th Academy Awards, and was also nominated for Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing; furthermore, it received five awards at the Saturn Awards, including Best Fantasy Film and Best Director for Raimi. The film is widely regarded as one of the greatest superhero films ever made and a blueprint for future movies in the genre. Its success led to Spider-Man 3 (2007). The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) explored the concept of the multiverse to connect the previous Spider-Man films to the MCU, with Molina reprising his role.