PETER PARKER is meant to be a kid who was given super powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. He’s not a hulking mass mound akin to Chris Hemsworth’s Thor or Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam. While he has the ability to overhead press a school bus or stop a train at full speed, his strength is a product of his spider-like powers, not extreme weight training.
The actors who have played Spider-Man have reflected that. Their muscles don’t burst out of their suits, and their physiques imply a different kind of strength centred around flexibility and acrobatics. By today’s standards, it’s almost quaint.
Those physiques have changed, though. In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Tom Holland is the biggest Spider-Man ever. In the past, a CGI-assisted costume has done a lot of the heavy lifting for Holland. But now, he’s visibly carrying more size through his shoulders, arms and chest.
It’s in stark contrast to the much leaner physiques of some of the earlier Spider-Men, some of whom look like they’ve never seen the inside of a gym. Here we take a look back at how Spider-Man has evolved to go from scrappy to shredded.
Nicholas Hammond (1977-1981)
Nicholas Hammond, who starred in the 1970s television series The Amazing Spider-Man and three Spider-Man films, predates the modern superhero era. He wasn’t expected to be spilling out of his spandex, and it doesn’t look like he was trying to.
Tobey Maguire (2002-2007, and again in 2021)
There’s a scene in 2002’s Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire’s first outing as the character) in which the titular character is shocked to find that he’s suddenly jacked. Back then, it was seriously impressive. But by today’s standards, Maguire is on the smaller side for a superhero. If Tobey posted the above pictures on Instagram and asked people to rate his physique, he’d likely be told he needs to start lifting heavier and hop on peptides to make his muscles really pop.
Maguire’s transformation is impressive irrespective of today’s pervasive physique inflation. The actor had a six month runway and worked with celebrity trainer Duffy Gaver, who recounted to Men’s Health UK how Maguire’s vegetarianism being a hurdle that had to be overcome. “It was a lot of supplemental proteins, protein shakes,” he says. “A woman called Jackie Keller owns a company called NutriFit and we used her for that, she went out of her way to help us get his nutrition on point, including daily drop offs of food for him.”
Gaver recalls that Maguire was “very disciplined about showing up and making the workouts five or six days a week.” Those workouts were “basic strength and circuity stuff,” according to Gaver. “I like doing back and chest. My favourites are pull-ups, push-ups, goblet squats, pull-downs, more push-ups, dumbbell rows, sit-ups, some band work, flexibility stuff.”
Andrew Garfield (2012-2014, and again in 2021)
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man was leaner and lankier than Maguire’s. He had some decent biceps on him, but he didn’t get many opportunities to show off his physique. Little is known about how Garfield trained for the role, and that’s probably because he didn’t do much outside of base-level weight training and dieting. Garfield’s Spider-Man does look more agile and rangy than Maguire’s, so there’s that.
Tom Holland (2016-present)
For his first few films as Spider-Man, Tom Holland trained in gymnastics, dance, parkour and boxing. This gave him a lean, functional physique which, coupled with his 5 ft 8 stature, fit in nicely with what audiences expect of Spider-Man. Heading into Brand New Day, however, Holland wanted to pack on some muscle.
Speaking to Men’s Health last year, Holland explained that his focus had shifted from looking lean to bulking up in order to fill out the suit. “In these movies the suits are often padded,” Holland said. “Then they’ll add CGI to make the way the padding moves look more natural. I want to add enough muscle that the padding and CGI aren’t necessary.”
Holland achieved his goal by using a mix of bodyweight work, weighted vest training and traditional bodybuilding to add size without losing the athleticism that underpins the role.
