Tobey Maguire stars as the eponymous superhero in this big screen adaptation of Marvel's comics. When high school student Peter Parker (Maguire) is bitten by a genetically-altered spider while on a visit to a scientific institute, he soon begins to experience unusual side effects including increased strength, enhanced wall-climbing skills, and the ability to spin webs out of his wrists. Peter first attempts to make use of these skills to impress girl-next-door Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), but after his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) is killed in an armed robbery, he is compelled to work for the greater good and reinvents himself as Spider-Man, the enemy of criminals everywhere. Meanwhile, arms manufacturer Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) transforms himself into the Green Goblin, begins to terrorise the city, and lays down the gauntlet to Spider-Man by abducting his beloved Mary Jane.