Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story conceived by Michael Chabon and the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Based on the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man, it is the second film in Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, and the sequel to Spider-Man (2002). Tobey Maguire stars as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, and Donna Murphy. The plot follows Peter Parker as he tries to manage his job, academics, personal life, and life as Spider-Man while also attempting to stop the scientist Dr. Otto Octavius from re-creating a dangerous experiment.

Principal photography began in April 2003 in New York City and also took place in Los Angeles. Reshoots took place later that year and concluded in February 2004. Danny Elfman returned to compose the score. Spider-Man 2 premiered at the Fox Westwood Village Theater in Los Angeles on June 25, 2004, and was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters on June 30. It received acclaim from critics, who praised its emotional weight and visual effects, the performances of Maguire and Molina, and Raimi's direction. The film grossed $797 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing film of 2004. It was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of 2004.

Spider-Man 2 won Best Visual Effects at the 77th Academy Awards, and was also nominated for Best Sound Mixing and . It received five Saturn Awards, including Best Fantasy Film and Best Director. Its success led to the production of Spider-Man 3 (2007). Maguire and Molina reprised their roles from Spider-Man 2 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which uses the concept of the multiverse to connect earlier Spider-Man films to the MCU.