History YMMV / SpiderMan1

** In light of the events of ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', [[spoiler: Was Norman's understated [[OhCrap "Oh"]], just him realizing he was seconds from dying? Or, [[YearInsideHourOutside did he experience the events of the No Way Home in the split second between the Glider flying forward and hitting him]] and just forgot about it until he returned from Earth-199999?]].

** Oscorp's board of directors later tried to kick Norman out of his own company and sell out to a rival out of pure greed. Granted, Norman as the Goblin [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge took his revenge way too far]], but the board still shouldn't have cheated Norman out of his hard work.

** During the field trip, Peter tells Harry how some spiders can change color to blend into their environment as a defense mechanism. Just nine years after this film, [[Characters/UltimateSpiderManMilesMorales Miles Morales]] would be introduced and have this as one of his powers.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: For some, though not all. It's hard for some more modern audiences to comprehend that while this film wasn't the ''first'' superhero movie on the block, it was the first one to strike it big and be one of the highest grossing films ''in filmmaking history'' in its first run, effectively solidifying the ideas and formula for superhero flicks going forwards. By today's standards, the film does firmly codify the ideas and formula that even the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse would end up following, though some feel that its pacing is slower and a bit more padded out than what would refine its ideas in the future. For many, it's this reason that helps distinguish it from even its own sequels, and the film still holds strong on its own as a legend of cinema despite its age and [[SpecialEffectsFailure occasional questionable CGI]], which in and of itself was a big deal back in 2002.

* WTHCastingAgency: Surprisingly, this was the initial reaction when Creator/TobeyMaguire was cast as Spider-Man himself, as fans thought he was too "doughy" for the role (which he was at first, [[DyeingForYourArt but months of long, hard training can change a man]]). He is in fact a perfect fit for the original lanky and scrawny Creator/SteveDitko design of Peter Parker. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Spiderman/comments/d71pzc/is_it_just_me_or_does_young_tobey_maguire_look_a/ Some fans have also pointed out]] that in TheNineties, Maguire with longer hair looked a lot like the [[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan Ultimate universe Peter Parker]].

* CatharsisFactor: Although it had fatal consequences, Peter letting the thief get away to spite the asshole wrestling promoter was pretty cathartic.

** It's been speculated that Bonesaw Mcgraw is ''actually'' gay and [[ManlyGay using the hypermasculine image of his wrestling character to overcompensate]]. While this is mostly PlayedForLaughs among fans, there are some who think it adds another layer to a fairly simple character.

** [[spoiler:The Green Goblin's first action after discovering Spider-Man's SecretIdentity is to go after Aunt May, giving her a horrific, almost fatal panic attack that requires her to be sent to the emergency room. Come in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', this very same Green Goblin manages to kill the MCU Spider-Man's Aunt May. Even worse, that whole film deals with the fallout of Spider-Man being publicly outed as Peter Parker, echoing the consequences of supervillains discovering Parker's life and loved ones this film explores.]]

** ''Spider-Man 1'' had a higher gross commercially than its sequel. And as of July 2019, it still holds the record for the highest US domestic Gross at $403 million dollars. Adjusted for inflation to 2019, that comes to around $629 million dollars, putting its gross ahead of any Spider-Man film in the domestic market, whether it's the Garfield movies or the MCU (which overall, on account of lack of international distribution fees and other agreements and so on, constitutes the lion's share of a movie's profitability). To add perspective on what a massive success it was, it was only the third movie ever to cross $400 million domestic (unadjusted) in its original theatrical run, joining ''Film/Titanic1997'' and ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''.[[note]]Other films like ''Film/JurassicPark'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', ''Film/ANewHope'', and ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' didn't clear $400 million until re-issues, although adjusted for inflation, they match or surpass ''Spider-Man''.[[/note]]

** Peter fighting back against Flash is listed as one of the reasons Ben is concerned with Peter's behavior after he acquires his powers. However, Peter only fought in self-defense and spent most of the fight ''dodging'' Flash's blows. Furthermore, it's clear that Flash has been picking on Peter for a long time. While Ben had good reason to worry about his nephew going down a potentially bad path, fighting back against a bully wasn't one of them.

** * Somehow, Music/DannyElfman always manages to compose an ''awesome'' title theme for a comic book superhero film. Evidence: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qcJS_e2_hY this film's main theme,]] re-scored for its two sequels.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: In a more mainstream example, [[Music/{{Nickelback}} Chad Kroeger]] and Josey Scott's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etp8L9pbqeM Hero]]" was ''everywhere'' when the movie came out in 2002. Even the most devout Nickelback haters have been known to admit how awesome it is, and of the songs provided for the three movies in the trilogy this is the most easily-remembered.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Many fans (understabdably) side with Norman (not the Goblin) when he gets kicked out of Oscorp, but paint him as a "nice guy" who didn't do anything wrong. People tend to forget that he was perfectly willing to continue with a product that was demonstrably proven to cause violent insanity in live human subjects, instead of going back to formula (which anyone in the pharmaceutical industry would tell you is a major violation of established drug testing ethics and guidelines and thus a big no-no). Norman also tried to ''lie to General Slocum's face'' about it without presenting any proof of the contrary, and silenced Dr. Stromm when he tried to warn about the side effects. The board members and the general in charge of the funding may have been assholes in their own right, but Norman let his greed and ambition supersede his sense of ethics. There's also the matter of his and Harry's relationship, which is far from perfect due to Norman being neglectful and treating his son like he's never good enough. Norman was never a nice guy.

* AccidentalAesop: One of the movie's morals seems to be "don't cheat people." There are two examples of this ending with catastrophic results.

** It's been speculated that Bonesaw Mcgraw is ''actually'' gay and using the hypermasculine image of his wrestling character to overcompensate. While this is mostly PlayedForLaughs among fans, there are some who think it adds another layer to a fairly simple character.

** The Green Goblin's costume is maligned for being a rather silly example of [[SpandexLatexOrLeather turn-of-the-millennium superhero movie costuming]], being comic-unfaithful, and [[SerendipityWritesThePlot clearly being designed around the problem with]] NoFlowInCGI [[SerendipityWritesThePlot at the time]]; but it ''does'' work well in some key scenes. For instance, the [[YellowEyesOfSneakiness reflective, golden-yellow eyes]], especially in the Aunt May prayer scene, where the costume really does make Goblin look like a demonic figure. William Dafoe's mouth is also faintly visible through the grille of the mask in closeup shots, creating a genuinely creepy NestedMouths effect when he's hamming it up.

* WTHCastingAgency: Surprisingly, this was the initial reaction when Creator/TobeyMaguire was cast as Spider-Man himself, as fans thought he was too "doughy" for the role (which he was at first, but months of long, hard training can change a man). He is in fact a perfect fit for the original lanky and scrawny Creator/SteveDitko design of Peter Parker. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Spiderman/comments/d71pzc/is_it_just_me_or_does_young_tobey_maguire_look_a/ Some fans have also pointed out]] that in TheNineties, Maguire with longer hair looked a lot like the [[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan Ultimate universe Peter Parker]].

** The Green Goblin's costume is maligned for looking a rather silly example of [[SpandexLatexOrLeather 90s/00s-era costuming]], being comic-unfaithful, and [[SerendipityWritesThePlot clearly being designed around the problem with]] NoFlowInCGI [[SerendipityWritesThePlot at the time]]; but it ''does'' work well in some key scenes. For instance, the [[YellowEyesOfSneakiness reflective, golden-yellow eyes]], especially in the Aunt May prayer scene, where the costume really does make Goblin look like a demonic figure. William Dafoe's mouth is also faintly visible through the grille of the mask in closeup shots, creating a genuinely creepy NestedMouths effect when he's hamming it up.

** The Green Goblin costume really does work well in key scenes. For instance, the [[YellowEyesOfSneakiness golden yellow eyes]] especially in the Aunt May prayer scene, where the costume really does make Goblin look like a demonic figure. There's also the fact that this movie came out during a time of experimental (and often, ''very'' bad) CGI effects. If they had gone that route for the Goblin, it could have turned out much worse.

* InformedWrongness: Peter Parker was supposed to be in the wrong for letting the robber go instead of trying to stop him, which led to the death of Uncle Ben. However, this falls apart in the context of the situation. Not only was Peter just leaving and in a fury after being supposedly scammed by the asshole promoter, ''he was effectively asked by a security guard to stop an armed robber.'' Any sensible normal teenager, even one with fighting experience, would have stepped aside out of common sense like he did, especially since it's not a smart idea to tackle someone with a loaded gun that could end up getting you or the people near you shot and killed. Note that Peter isn't bulletproof and has no combat experience at this point, so even if the guard ''did'' know the kid had superpowers (which he didn't), it'd still be extremely unreasonable to ask him to risk his life so blatantly just to save at most a few dozen thousand dollars. ''Spider-Man 3'' makes the decision even more understandable in context, as the robber [[spoiler:wasn't even the one that killed Uncle Ben and seemingly had no inclination to actually hurt anyone, so Peter can't even be indirectly blamed for anything]].

* DracoInLeatherPants: Many fans (understabdably) side with Norman (not the Goblin) when he gets kicked out of Oscorp, but paint him as a "nice guy" who didn't do anything wrong. People tend to forget that he was perfectly willing to continue with a product that was demonstrably proven to cause violent insanity in live human subjects, instead of going back to formula (which anyone in the pharmaceutical industry would tell you is a major violation of established drug testing ethics and guidelines and thus a big no-no). Norman also tried to ''lie in the face'' of General Slocum about it without presenting any proof of the contrary, and shushed Dr. Stromm when he tried to warn about the side effects. The board members and the general in charge of the funding may have been total assholes, but so was Norman, driven by his greed and ambition. There's also the matter with his son Harry, whom he treats as never good enough. Norman was never a nice guy.

* CatharsisFactor: Although had fatal consequences, Peter letting the thief get away to spite the asshole promoter was pretty cathartic.

** It's been speculated that Bonesaw Mcgraw is ''actually'' gay and using the hypermasculine image of his wrestling character to overcompensate. While this is mostly PlayedForLaughs among fans, there ar esome who think it adds another layer to a fairly simple character.