History YMMV / SpiderMan1

* ValuesResonance: Due to the rise of media bias from news corporations in the 2020s, the Daily Bugle subplot aged very well.

** "You know, I'm something of a scientist myself!" [[labelnote: Explanation]]A line spoken by Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn when first meeting Peter, it has been used in a variety of ways such as altering its' surrounding context or omitting certain letters to alter the message. [[spoiler: It got a CallBack in Film/SpiderManNoWayHome.]][[/labelnote]]

** Green Goblin crosses it when he [[spoiler:terrorizes Aunt May in the dead of night and triggers a panic attack that sends her to the hospital. He then follows it up with [[SadisticChoice forcing Peter to choose between saving MJ and a cable car full of children from over a bridge, trying to make Spidey choose to save one or the other]] ]].

** The beginning of the film has a girl [[AllThereInTheManual who eventually turned out to be]] Liz Allan telling Peter to not even think about sitting beside her. [[Film/SpiderManHomecoming 15 years later]], she's Spider-Man's LoveInterest, [[spoiler:and they ultimately didn't end up together there, either]].

** In the montage of Spider-Man fighting crime, one of the two burglars he leaves webbed up for the cop is a female in a [[BareYourMidriff crop top]] and both WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic and Nick Mason from Podcast/TheWeeklyPlanet compared her to ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''.

** The Oscorp board member Maximilian Fargas is a wheelchair bound bald man, bearing resemblance to Professor Charles Xavier (the novelisation lampshades this) who had already appeared in ''Film/XMen1'' two years before. Two decades later, [[spoiler:The actual Professor X, played by Creator/PatrickStewart, [[RoleReprisal no less]], appeared in [[Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness another superhero movie directed by]] Creator/SamRaimi, who also gets killed, much like Fargas in this movie]].

** While Peter letting the thief get away had terrible consequences, the promoter caused the whole by stiffing Peter on his promised reward. If you deny people what you promised, you won't make them inclined to help you.
** 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 only had themselves to blame for making Norman so vengeful.

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* AcceptableTargets: The novelization has a rather satirical view on [[TestosteronePoisoning traditional masculinity]] and the "jocks vs. nerds" dynamic that permeated Spider-Man's early comics; the first antagonists are [[JerkJock Flash Thompson]] and [[AbusiveParents Phillip Watson]], who are portrayed as bullying, even [[DomesticAbuse abusive]], {{Jerkass}}es akin to [[AllCavemenWereNeanderthals cavemen]] with [[FutureLoser no real]] [[JadedWashout future]], undeserving of the respect they tend to garner. They are ultimately pushed aside in favor of Green Goblin, who poses an actual threat to Spider-Man on account of being a GeniusBruiser.
* AcceptableProfessionalTargets: Ben notes earlier in the film that he was laid off from his plant technician job because the corporation he worked for was streamlining to increase profits. With that in mind, one is left with a feeling of satisfaction later on when Norman Osborn puts on his Green Goblin suit and disintegrates the [=OsCorp=] board for pushing a merger through without him.

** A minor but very egregious example: the wrestling match against Bonesaw [=McGraw=], his opponent, Peter taunts him by saying "That's a cute outfit. Did your husband give it to you?", which comes off as a homophobic remark nowadays. Bonesaw reacting to said quip by angrily lunging at Peter makes him come across as homophobic too. It should be noted that casual homophobia used to be common in early [[UsefulNotes/The2000s 2000s]] media, but given the acceptance gay people have now, this joke has aged poorly. There are however, some gay or queer people who [[MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales don't mind the joke and actually chuckle at it]].

** Macy Gray making a cameo at the parade. Hell, much of the soundtrack is this. The credits end with Chad Kroeger of the band Music/{{Nickelback}} (when they were new and the backlash against them hadn't hit yet) and Josey Scott of Saliva (who was also new back then), and the soundtrack album is filled with acts that were big back in 2002 but faded by TheNewTens, such as the aforementioned Macy Gray, Music/Sum41, Music/TheStrokes, Music/AlienAntFarm etc.

** During the wrestling match against Bonesaw [=McGraw=], his opponent, Peter taunts him by saying "That's a cute outfit. Did your husband give it to you?", which comes off as a homophobic slur nowadays. Bonesaw reacting to said quip by angrily lunging at Peter makes him come across as homophobic too. It should be noted that casual homophobia used to be common in the early [[UsefulNotes/The2000s 2000s]] media, but given the acceptance gay people have now, this joke has aged poorly. There are however, some gay or queer people who don't mind the joke and actually chuckle at it.
** Even though it's shown Norman Osborn's actions as the Green Goblin are a result of the serum negatively affecting his mental health and creating a SplitPersonality, the film doesn't treat him with much sympathy and still holds him responsible for the Goblin's actions. To viewers in the 2020s, this comes across as rather harsh given the greater awareness of mental health has resulted in media and society treating those suffering from mental illness more compassionately. It's telling that in 2021's ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', the character is given AdaptationalSympathy and it's made clear Norman's Goblin side is an illness.

** Does the wrestling promoter refuse to give Peter his $3,000 because he's a selfish {{Jerkass}} who never intended to honor his deal, or because Peter misunderstood the rules of the contest and [[{{Kayfabe}} didn't realize that it wasn't supposed to be a real fight]]? If the wrestling league was just looking for a new amateur fighter who could put on a good show for the audience and act as a {{Heel}} to Bonesaw, it's understandable that the promoter might feel betrayed when Peter (who clearly isn't a wrestling fan) seriously injured his most popular fighter in a bout that was ''supposed'' to be a scripted performance. The novelization of the film seems to support the latter theory, as in it the promoter has an additional line where he angrily tells Peter, "You made my best fighter look like a little girl out there!" However, in the film, there's the fact that when Peter enters the arena, Bonesaw's previous opponent is being wheeled out on a stretcher yelling that he can't feel his legs (although this could just be part of the act).

* FashionVictimVillain: The Green Goblin's costume got this reaction from some fans, or at least those who know the character from the comics. It's less divisive to the audience who came to the character from the movies. Ironically for most examples of this trope, the ''suit'' itself is actually fine, it's only the [[{{Narm}} questionable]] mask that makes him look like a ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' villain. Though in all fairness, the comics had some rather wacky costume designs that wouldn't translate well to live-action, and ''Power Rangers'' is also technically part of the superhero genre, so...

* RomanticPlotTumor: The film complicated Spider-Man's origins by giving him a "love motive" in that Peter's inspired to wrestle and make money to impress Mary Jane, when in the comics, Peter Parker took up wrestling for fame and to make money for his aunt and uncle. This combines his character arc of WorkingClassHero with the GiveGeeksAChance romantic dreamer that he established with characters like Liz and Betty in the Ditko run.

* AcceptableTargets: The novelization has a rather satirical view on [[TestosteronePoisoning traditional masculinity]] and the "jocks vs. nerds" dynamic that permeated Spider-Man's early comics; the first antagonists are [[JerkJock Flash Thompson]] and [[AbusiveParents Phillip Watson]], who are portrayed as bullying {{Jerkass}}es akin to [[AllCavemenWereNeanderthals cavemen]] with [[FutureLoser no real]] [[JadedWashout future]], undeserving of the respect they tend to garner. They are ultimately pushed aside in favor of Green Goblin, who poses an actual threat to Spider-Man on account of being a GeniusBruiser.

* AccidentalAesop: One of the movie's morals seems to be "don't cheat people." While Peter letting the thief get away had terrible consequences, the promoter caused the whole by stiffing Peter on his promised reward. If you deny people what you promised them, you won't make them inclined to help you.

* 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 after being supposedly scammed, ''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]].

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** Music/DannyElfman's memorable score. Special mention goes to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ac4xamCIgY the main theme]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OX0UVCzCXc "Costume Montage/Web Practice"]] among others.
** 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.

** "I had a father. His name was Ben Parker." In ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'', Uncle Ben's importance is decreased (though not completely displaced) because of the heightened focus on [[AscendedExtra Peter's actual parents]] in the backstory, and the plot of the second film in particular. In the ''[[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]]'', Uncle Ben is barely alluded to and not even by name, and Tony Stark instead serves as something of a ParentalSubstitute for Peter.[[labelnote: Note]]This was an intentional decision as the MCU did not want to delve into Spider-Man's origin after it had already been covered twice.[[/labelnote]]
** Peter follows his enemy's dying wish at great personal cost. In the ''Amazing'' series, he ''doesn't'' follow his ''ally's'' dying wish at great personal cost.
** At the end of the film, Peter's voiceover repeats the iconic line "WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility", first said by Uncle Ben. Peter adds that "Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words." The other two movie versions go out of their way to avoid simply using the iconic line again, going for paraphrases which emphasize different aspects or interpretations of it. [[spoiler: Until the events of ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', that is, where all [[Creator/TobeyMaguire three]] [[Creator/AndrewGarfield cinematic]] [[Creator/TomHolland iterations]] of Spider-Man acknowledge these exact same words, despite one of them actually only hearing a paraphrase from his uncle Ben and the other hearing a paraphrase from his aunt (which is the actual, more comic-accurate line)]].
** The original teaser trailer featured bank robbers escaping in a helicopter, which Spider-Man then catches in a large web between the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. The trailer was pulled after the events of 9/11. However, the reflection in Spider-Man's eyes with the Twin Towers was still left in.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight:
** The wrestling announcer introduces Peter as "The ''Amazing'' Spider-Man" to officially give him the name. [[spoiler:In ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', this version of Peter gives his [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan cinematic successor]] a much-needed confidence boost by calling the latter "[[TitleDrop amazing]]".]]
** When Peter is being labelled as a [[HeroWithBadPublicity menace]] by Jameson and the city of New York, he feels conflicted, [[spoiler: until Mary Jane tells him the following words: ''"You are amazing"''. This lifts his spirits up. In ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', he uses the exact same words to lift his [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries Webb-verse counterpart’s spirit]].]]

** In the HilariousOuttakes, Creator/JKSimmons mispronounces "Spider-Man" as [[WebAnimation/BamanPiderman "Piderman"]].

*** For bonus points, both Bruce Banner and Norman Osborn develop split personalities with a green color motif as a result of the super serums they receive.
*** The rivalry between Oscorp (a company attempting to create super soldiers) and Quest Aerospace (an aeronautical research company) could be seen as foreshadowing of the ideological conflict between ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (a super soldier) and ComicBook/IronMan (an engineer who built a flying suit of armor) in ComicBook/CivilWar.
** One of Peter's black-and-red costume concept later served as an inspiration for ComicBook/MilesMorales' Spider-Man.
** When ''Spider-Man'' was originally released back in 2002, it wound up setting new box office records and broke several records that [[Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone the first Harry Potter film]] had previously set just six months prior. Ten years later in 2012, [[Film/TheAvengers2012 another hotly anticipated film based on a Marvel Comic]] was released and likewise also topped several records that [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows a Harry Potter film from the previous year]] had just set.

** Fans have always compared [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom a superhero Nicktoon series that premiered two years later]] to the Spider-Man franchise, but so many of the elements responsible for the resemblance were used in Raimi's first film that watching it after 2004 produces a downright eerie feeling of deja vu -- you half-expect Peter to tell the rich supervillain who wants to be his father figure, "Dude, you are one ''seriously'' crazed up fruit loop!"
** "That's a cute outfit, did your husband give it to you?" has been invoked in the FandomRivalry between Raimi and MCU fans, since the MCU Spider-Man got his first high-tech suits from Tony Stark/Iron Man.

** During the scene in which Peter says Jameson doesn't trust anyone, Jameson replies that he "[trusts] [his] barber". [[spoiler:Come ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'', MCU Jameson, again played by Creator/JKSimmons, is almost completely bald. Seems his barber wasn't all that trustworthy.]]
** In his final moments, Norman tells Peter to [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann "Believe in me, as I believed in you".]]
** The Green Goblin's iconic bellowing of "WE'LL MEET AGAIN, SPIDER-MAN!" becomes this after the promotional trailer for ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' revealed that Norman would be returning in this film to battle the MCU's Peter Parker.

* SignatureScene: The Upside-Down Kiss. Alongside that, there's Peter's wrestling match sequence, Green Goblin's first fight with Spider-Man in the parade, J. Jonah Jameson's opening scene, the bridge scene, and the final fight between Norman and Peter in the greenhouse. The montage of Peter drawing up costume ideas on a piece of paper is also well-known and often-referenced in parodies, and later Spider-Man works (for instance ''Videogame/SpiderManPS4'' pans over a book of sketches in the opening cutscene).

** "[[https://i.redd.it/fjq6gbbhkk521.jpg You're on the wrong side of history, Spider-Man.]]"

** "You can't do this to me."
*** "YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I SACRIFICED?"

** "[[Wrestling/RandySavage BONESAWWWWWW ISSSSS READYYYYY!]]"

** Peter follows his enemy's dying wish at great personal cost. In the ''Amazing'' series he ''doesn't'' follow his ''ally's'' dying wish at great personal cost.
** At the end of the film, Peter's voiceover repeats the iconic line "WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility", first said by Uncle Ben. Peter adds that "Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words." The other two movie versions go out of their way to avoid simply using the iconic line again, going for paraphrases which emphasize different aspects or interpretations of it. [[spoiler: Until the events of ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', that is, where all [[Creator/TobeyMaguire three]] [[Creator/AndrewGarfield cinematic]] [[Creator/TomHolland iterations]] of Spider-Man acknowledge these exact same words, despite one of them actually only hearing a paraphrase from his uncle Ben and the other hearing a paraphrase from his aunt (which is the actual more comic accurate line)]].

** During the proposal he makes to the webslinger, the Green Goblin declares that no matter what Spider-Man does for New York, the public will eventually come to hate him. This comes to fruition in ''Film/SpiderMan3'' when the public briefly turns on Spider-Man after Eddie Brock doctors photos to depict him robbing a bank. Then ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' has the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse's Spider-Man gets that treatment from his universe's New York [[Film/SpiderManFarFromHome after being framed for a crime based on flimsy evidence]]. Even worse in that Peter's attempt to CosmicRetcon the situation with Doctor Strange's help brings back the Goblin from this trilogy into the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse as a major threat once more.
** [[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, the 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.]]

** The film features Norman Osborn trying to get the military to invest in his SuperSerum to create SuperSoldiers. A competing company is instead proposing PoweredArmor. Then a [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse few years later]] at the end of ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008'' cue Tony Stark lecturing to General Ross about how he'd been telling them that PoweredArmor was a better idea than using SuperSerum to create a SuperSoldier. The big difference being which method the military brass in each movie was in favor of.

** As an alternative to "Green Goblin," Hoffman suggests "Green Meanie." Some fifteen years later, there's a costumed slasher who goes by that alias in ''Series/ScreamQueens2015''.

** The beginning of the film has a girl [[AllThereInTheManual who eventually turned out to be]] Liz Allan telling Peter to not even think about sitting beside her. [[Film/SpiderManHomecoming Fifteen years later]] she's Spider-Man's LoveInterest, [[spoiler:and they ultimately didn't end up together there, either]].
** During the scene in which Peter says Jameson doesn't trust anyone, Jameson replies that he "trusts his barber". [[spoiler:Come ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'', MCU Jameson, again played by Creator/JKSimmons, is almost completely bald. Seems his barber wasn't all that trustworthy.]]

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

** Creator/ElizabethBanks as J. Jonah Jameson's recpetionist Miss Brant.

** During the wrestling match against Bonesaw [=McGraw=], his opponent, Peter taunts him by saying "That's a cute outfit. Did your husband give it to you?", which comes off as a homophobic slur nowadays. It should be noted that casual homophobia used to be common in the early [[UsefulNotes/The2000s 2000s]] media, but given the acceptance gay people have now, this joke has aged poorly. There are however, some gay or queer people who don't mind the joke and actually chuckle at it.

* 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.