Spider-Man debate settled for good: Tom Holland reigns supreme

Spider-Man and all his iterations have had fans come and go over the years, leaving the loyal few to debate who the best Spider-Man, or Peter Parker, even is. If you want to join in on the debate, be sure to check out all the movies before reading as this article contains major spoilers for all the "Spider-Man" movies.

Peter has always been my favorite character. I grew up watching Tobey Maguire and his iconic upside-down Spider-Man kiss, and I also fell in love with Andrew Garfield and his adaptation of Spider-Man. With Emma Stone being one of my favorite versions of Peter's love interest, I thought no one could ever top Garfield and Stone's "The Amazing Spider-Man."

But, after Stone, came a new love interest: Zendaya as MJ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's versions of Spider-Man. With Zendaya (who used to be on my favorite show as a kid, "Shake It Up" — seriously, if you’re looking for high-quality TV shows, Disney 2000s is the way to go) in the cast, my favorite version of Peter suddenly shifted to Tom Holland, who starred alongside Zendaya in this brilliant adaptation of Spider-Man.

Despite my new love for Holland, Maguire and Garfield still hold a special place in my heart.

Maguire has been a fan favorite since the very beginning, and I had gone to every single premiere of the Spider-Man series (except for the 2002 film). I absolutely loved his “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” story, and with Maguire’s acting and phenomenal performance, it had me standing in my seat.

The one thing that I didn't enjoy was Sandman. While Thomas Haden Church really did an excellent job portraying the character, I felt the storyline of Flint Marko was somewhat of a drag and wanted to see more of the Green Goblin instead.

But, with Maguire, came many of the iconic Spider-Man lines and scenes that he managed to snag as the first Spider-Man on the big screen.

Due to Peter's optimistic personality, he always seems to see the best in people, especially in the villains. One of my favorite quotes from the series comes after the death of Harry Osborn at the end of Maguire's "Spider-Man 3." A resilient and empathetic character, Peter breaks down over Harry's death, despite the fact that his friend and his father had turned Peter's life into shambles as the Green Goblin.

The scene is incredibly emotional as Peter says, "Whatever comes our way, whatever battle we have raging inside us, we always have a choice. My friend Harry taught me that. He chose to be the best of himself. It's the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what's right."

Despite its many good aspects, one thing I disliked about this iteration was the lack of humor that comes along with Peter's role. This usually allows Peter to showcase his confidence throughout the villain’s scene, or whenever he put on his mask, but I didn't feel the humor in Maguire's movies.

Garfield was introduced as Spider-Man in 2012, and at that point, I was incredibly invested in the "Spider-Man" franchise.

I really loved what Garfield did with the Peter character. Although Garfield was older and not really suited to play a high-schooler, he still brought to the screen a charismatic, humor-filled character that I absolutely loved to watch.

It was a shame that Garfield didn't get a third film, but I lived vicariously through Garfield and Stone’s real-life relationship. And when Garfield showed up in "Spider-Man: No Way Home"? I nearly died right there in my seat.

Garfield really gave a lot of confidence to the role of Peter, and I appreciated his sarcasm and sense of humor, like in the hilarious scene where he's trying to stop a car thief and is mistaken for being a police officer and quipped, "Really? You seriously think I'm a cop? A cop in a skin-tight red and blue suit?"

While Garfield as Spider-Man was iconic, no one can defeat the duo of Holland as Peter and Robert Downey Jr. as his mentor, Iron Man. I absolutely love Zendaya as MJ, too, so maybe I'm a bit biased as to which Spider-Man series is my favorite.

Holland was first introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016, at the age of 19, to play Peter. Tony Stark said the iconic line of "so you're Spider-Boy?" in "Captain America: Civil War," the first Avengers movie that Holland had a part in.

For me, seeing the "Spider-Man" franchise as a kid, and now as an adult, it allowed me to really reflect on why Holland was really the best Spider-Man. For one, he was closer to the age of Spider-Man.

His humor also resonated with me more, and I loved the chemistry between him and his best friend Ned Leeds, played by Jacob Batalon, as well as him and Zendaya. It was also really refreshing to see them in a setting where the stakes were high and were always close to death.

His suit is also epic — thanks to Tony Stark, it's incredibly high-tech, and I love the design of it.

"Spider-Man: No Way Home" definitely allowed me to fully understand who my favorite Spider-Man was. I really loved the scene after Holland, Garfield and Maguire's Spider-Man iterations were all brought together, where they were working together to create solutions for each villain. It showed “Spidey-sense” as being real, and I loved how they all worked together to take down their pasts.

I will always have a special place in my heart for Garfield and Maguire, but to me, Holland will always be the best Spider-Man out there.