In Spider-Man 3, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) discovers an alien suit which makes him more powerful but also corrupts his personality. Peter sheds the suit, which is then discovered by Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) who assumes the identity of Venom. In addition to Venom, Spider-Man also must square with the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and Harry Osborne (James Franco) in this film.

Spider-Man 3 received mixed reviews, with a 62% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 59% metascore on Metacritic.

1. "In an era of cynical, cash-in sequels, Spider-Man 3, like its two predecessors, has a heartbeat that resonates just as strongly as its box-office ka-ching." — Rolling Stone
2. "Solidly entertaining and possesses dazzling special effects, but it falls short of the near-perfection of the Spidey sequel." — USA Today
3. "After the significant improvement of the second installment over the first, new entry reps a roughly equivalent dip in quality and enjoyment, with Spidey now giving off the faint odor of running on fumes." — Variety
4. "A tangled web of special-effects overkill and self-indulgence that all but destroys the fun and goodwill created by the first two movies." — Washington Post