The three Spider-Man superhero films are based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, portrayed by Tobey Maguire. The rights to a motion picture based on Spider-Man were purchased in 1985 and moved through various production companies and studios, at one point having James Cameron to direct, before being secured by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Sony hired comic book fan Sam Raimi to direct the films, and the series began with Spider-Man in 2002, continued with Spider-Man 2 in 2004, and became a trilogy with the release of Spider-Man 3 in 2007. Throughout the films, Spider-Man developed a relationship with his school crush Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). To date, he has battled the villains Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), New Goblin (James Franco), Venom (Topher Grace) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) throughout the series. While the films' central storylines have been concluded, the studio plans to develop more films, continuing Spider-Man's adventures.