"Spider-Man" (2002) follows Peter Parker, a shy high school student bitten by a genetically altered spider, as he gains superhuman abilities and becomes a vigilante while industrialist Norman Osborn transforms into the villainous Green Goblin. The film ends with Spider-Man defeating the Goblin, losing Osborn's son Harry as a friend, and choosing to keep his identity secret even from the woman he loves, Mary Jane Watson, to protect her from the dangers of his new life. Directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, the film set the template for modern superhero origin stories: an ordinary person gains power, learns a hard lesson about responsibility, and pays a personal price for using that power to do good. The plot and its ending matter because nearly every choice Peter makes in later films traces back to decisions set up here.
Table of Contents
- How Peter Parker Becomes Spider-Man
- Who Is the Green Goblin, and Why Does He Attack Peter?
- What Happens in the Final Battle?
- What Does the Ending Mean for Peter and Mary Jane?
- Why Does Peter Keep His Identity Secret?
- Frequently Asked Questions
How Peter Parker Becomes Spider-Man
Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically modified spider during a school field trip to a lab run by Oscorp, the company owned by Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe). The bite rewrites his body: he wakes up with perfect vision, a muscular build, the ability to climb walls and ceilings, superhuman strength and reflexes, and an early version of a "spider-sense" that warns him of danger before it happens. Peter doesn't choose to become a hero right away. He first uses his new abilities to impress Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), the girl next door he's loved since childhood, and then to win prize money in an underground wrestling match under the name "The Human Spider." The ring promoter cheats him out of the winnings, and when a robber steals the cash moments later, Peter lets the thief run past him rather than stop him out of spite.
That decision has immediate, permanent consequences. The same robber Peter let go kills his uncle, Ben Parker (Cliff Robertson), in a carjacking shortly after. Uncle Ben had just given Peter the film's defining line, that "with great power comes great responsibility," and his death is the direct result of Peter ignoring it. Guilt over this moment is what turns Peter from someone experimenting with powers into someone who commits to using them to protect others.
Who Is the Green Goblin, and Why Does He Attack Peter?
Norman Osborn is an Oscorp scientist and executive under pressure to perfect a performance-enhancing serum for the military before his company loses its funding and gets absorbed by a competitor. Osborn tests the unstable serum on himself rather than lose the contract, and it drives him insane while granting him enhanced strength, speed, and healing, alongside violent, split personality-like episodes. He builds himself a glider, armor, and weaponry from Oscorp's own technology and becomes the Green Goblin.
The Goblin's connection to Peter is personal, not coincidental: Norman is the father of Peter's best friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco), and Peter spends time in the Osborn home throughout the film. Norman's unstable mental state causes him to murder the Oscorp board members who tried to oust him, and he later identifies Spider-Man as a potential ally, then as a threat, after testing him in battle. The Goblin eventually figures out Spider-Man's secret identity by tracking him home, and he retaliates by threatening the two people Peter cares about most: his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Mary Jane. This sets up the climax as a direct attack on Peter's personal life rather than a generic city-wide battle.
What Happens in the Final Battle?
The Green Goblin corners Spider-Man on the Queensboro Bridge and forces a version of the classic "impossible choice": he dangles both Mary Jane and a cable car full of children over the water and makes Spider-Man choose which one to save. Spider-Man refuses to choose and manages to catch both, but the Goblin then attacks him directly, badly beating him before a crowd of New Yorkers starts throwing debris to help Spider-Man fight back. The fight moves to an abandoned building, where the Goblin, badly wounded, offers Peter a truce and claims he could have been a mentor to him. When Peter rejects it, the Goblin attacks again with his glider.
In the struggle, the Goblin's own glider impales him, killing him by his own weapon rather than by a killing blow from Spider-Man. Dying, Norman Osborn begs Peter not to tell Harry what happened, and Peter agrees to protect his friend from the truth. He brings Norman's body home, and when Harry finds his father dead with visible wounds, he wrongly concludes that Spider-Man murdered Norman. This misunderstanding seeds the hostility between Harry and Spider-Man that carries into the franchise's sequels.
What Does the Ending Mean for Peter and Mary Jane?
At Norman Osborn's funeral, Mary Jane tells Peter she loves him, giving him the opening he's wanted throughout the film. Peter wants to be with her, but he turns her down and walks away, choosing instead to protect her by keeping distance between them. The reasoning is laid out through Peter's own narration and through Aunt May's and Uncle Ben's voices echoing in his head: being Spider-Man makes him a target, and anyone close to him becomes a target too, as the bridge confrontation already proved.
Peter decides that responsibility means sacrifice, specifically sacrificing his own chance at an ordinary life and relationship, rather than risking Mary Jane's safety. The final images show Spider-Man swinging through the city, having accepted this dual life as a trade-off rather than a reward. The ending leaves two threads deliberately open: Harry Osborn's misplaced belief that Spider-Man killed his father, and Peter's unresolved feelings for Mary Jane, both of which become the central conflicts of the 2004 sequel, "Spider-Man 2.".
Why Does Peter Keep His Identity Secret?
Peter's secrecy isn't driven by law enforcement or fear of Oscorp; it's driven by the people he loves. He's already seen what happens when the Goblin identifies him and immediately turns around to threaten his aunt and the woman he loves. Revealing his identity broadens the list of people villains can use as leverage against him.
There's also a guilt-driven component tied to Uncle Ben's death. Peter's defining failure in the film came from using his power selfishly; afterward, he treats secrecy and self-sacrifice as the price of using his power responsibly. Telling Mary Jane the truth, in his reasoning, would be another selfish choice that puts his own desire for closeness ahead of her safety.
- Aunt May never learns Peter's secret in this film, though she witnesses the aftermath of his fights and injuries.
- Harry Osborn doesn't learn the full truth about his father's death, only a damning, incomplete piece of it.
- Mary Jane is told nothing, leaving her declaration of love unanswered by the film's end.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Peter kill the Green Goblin?
No. Norman Osborn dies when his own glider impales him during their fight after he attacks Spider-Man again following a failed truce offer.
Does Harry Osborn know Spider-Man killed his father?
Harry believes Spider-Man killed Norman because he finds his father's body, delivered by Spider-Man, bearing visible wounds, though Spider-Man didn't deliver the fatal blow.
Why doesn't Peter tell Mary Jane he's Spider-Man?
Peter concludes that anyone close to him becomes a target for his enemies, as shown when the Green Goblin threatens Mary Jane directly, so he keeps the secret to protect her.