Longtime readers of Purple Row may recall a silly little article I did back in 2022 while we waited for the MLB lockout to end. I’m very much an enjoyer of superhero movies, and I was eagerly waiting for the release of The Batman at the time. I also love Rockies baseball, so I married the two concepts and researched how the Rockies did each year a new Batman movie was released.
I recently went to see Spider-Man: Brand New Day and thoroughly enjoyed my time watching Tom Holland swinging around New York doing whatever a spider can. So, while I have to wait until 2028 for the sequel to that Batman movie to come out, tonight I figured I could look back on another one of my favorite superheroes, Spider-Man, and see how the Rockies have done each year a new theatrical movie has come out.
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Spider-Man (2002)
The film that catalyzed the rise of the modern era of superhero films into the cultural zeitgeist, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire, earned a massive $825 million globally in 2002. As far as origin stories go, this is pretty good as we hit all the notes of Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man while he ends up facing off against Willem Dafoe’s incredible performance as the Green Goblin.
As for the Rockies, they went 73-89 during the 2002 season. Hall of Famers Larry Walker and Todd Helton each delivered seasons worth over 6.0 bWAR to carry the team offensively. Jason Jennings also won the first, and so far only, Rookie of the Year award in franchise history after he posted a 4.52 ERA in 185.1 innings over 32 starts. Mike Hampton also won the pitcher Silver Slugger award.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Raimi’s second Spider-Man film is still considered one of the best superhero films ever made, and earned $797 million globally. Based on the Spider-Man No More! storyline from 1967, our titular hero finds himself struggling with a conflict of being Spider-Man but also wanting to have a normal life as Peter Parker. This causes his powers to malfunction while he also has to deal with the threat of Doctor Octopus.
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The Rockies weren’t as successful in 2004, posting a record of 68-94. This season marked more of a transition for the Rockies as “Generation R” started to take form with the arrival of players like Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins, and Brad Hawpe. Helton did his thing, putting up 8.3 bWAR, while the Rockies traded Walker to the St. Louis Cardinals. Often forgotten, Jeromy Burnitz hit 37 home runs and drove in 110 RBI during his lone season in Colorado at the age of 36.
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The end of the Raimi trilogy was a huge financial success, earning $890.9 million at the box office, while receiving mixed reviews from critics and audiences. Spider-Man is dealing with a troubled relationship with Mary Jane Watson while facing multiple threats on the villain front, including the Venom symbiote that enhances the rage he’s been feeling. It’s looked at more fondly nowadays, like the rest of the trilogy, partly because of meme culture like Bully Maguire.
The Rockies also had a great time in 2007, despite not exactly being the best overall team on paper, as they made a run to the World Series, where they were unfortunately swept by the Boston Red Sox. Troy Tulowitzki burst onto the scene as a rookie, Matt Holliday put up an MVP-caliber season, and Jeff Francis was an unlikely ace on the mound. It was a well-rounded team that just ran out of steam, but it is still one of the greatest stories in Rockies history.
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The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Sony decided to reboot the Spider-Man franchise after they couldn’t agree on a story for another Raimi-directed Spider-Man film. So, they turned to director Marc Webb and cast Andrew Garfield as the new titular hero. The movie wanted to focus on Peter Parker’s feelings as an outcast and add more drama into the story, while rehashing his origin story. He ends up having to face off against the Lizard while courting Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy. The film earned $758 million at the box office.
For the Rockies, 2012 was a forgettable season. Injuries decimated the team while pitching was some of the worst in team history. Despite strong campaigns from Carlos González, Dexter Fowler, and Michael Cuddyer, the team lost 98 games, and it remains one of the worst seasons ever for Colorado, even if things would get much, much worse in the future.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
If people thought Spider-Man 3 was messy with too many villain plotlines, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 turned that dial up to 11. Despite making $716.9 million globally, the film wasn’t well received, as its plot was a mess and Sony tried too hard to launch an expansive cinematic universe with it. Despite Garfield and Stone being excellent in their roles, the film just didn’t have the legs to sustain further installments, and a deal was cut to share character film rights with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reboot the character again.
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The Rockies also had a bad time in 2014, losing 96 games. Overall, the offense was solid, but not always great, while the pitching struggled quite a bit as usual. Injuries also played a part in forcing the Rockies to throw anything and everything at the wall to see what stuck, and it just didn’t pan out.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
After making his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War, Holland’s first solo film as Spider-Man kicked off an extremely successful era for the character. The film follows a young Peter Parker doing everything he can to impress Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and prove he should be an Avenger. This causes him to cross paths with Michael Keaton’s Vulture and forces him to learn that the suit isn’t what makes the hero. The movie earned $880.9 million worldwide.
The Rockies also had a coming-of-age story as well in 2017 as they went 87-75 and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2009. Sneaking into the playoffs as a Wild Card team, Colorado faced off against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Wild Card one-game playoff and lost in a back-and-forth affair. Led by a rookie starting rotation and an incredible core of position players, the Rockies seemed to finally have the makings of a team that could compete for years to come.
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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
In 2018, Sony released an animated film that would focus on fan-favorite character Miles Morales as he becomes Spider-Man and ends up interacting with other multiverse variants of Spider-Man. The film was meant to rehabilitate the Sony Spider-Man brand after The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s failure. It grossed $395 million worldwide against a $90 million budget and became the first non-Disney film in seven years to win Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards.
Building on the success of 2017, the Rockies won 91 games in 2018 and almost won their first division title with a Game 163 playoff against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They lost and settled for a Wild Card spot, heading to Chicago to face the Cubs in a marathon victory. They were then swept in three games in the Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. The offensive core continued to mash while the young rotation, led by an incredible year for Kyle Freeland, delivered on the mound all season. Unfortunately, they just ran out of steam.
Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
Holland’s second solo venture as Spider-Man served as the epilogue to 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. It sees Peter Parker feeling the pressure of following in the footsteps of Iron Man and just wanting a simple European vacation with his friends. He ends up running into Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio, who appears as a friend at first but turns out to be a disgruntled former employee of Tony Stark. Spidey saves the day, but Mysterio has the last laugh, revealing Spider-Man’s identity to the world. This movie became the first Spider-Man film to gross $1 billion at the box office.
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The Rockies fell from grace in 2019 as they lost 91 games. Failure to improve in the offseason and major regressions from the pitching staff negated any positives that the offense was able to provide throughout the season. Nolan Arenado belted 41 home runs and finished sixth in MVP voting at least.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
There is reason to believe that the third Tom Holland-led Spider-Man truly helped save the movie theater business in 2021. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, theaters were struggling as studios started putting things directly on streaming services on release day. Spider-Man: No Way Home became the highest-grossing film of 2021 with a box office take of $1.910 billion. The film focuses on Peter Parker enlisting the help of Doctor Strange to make the world forget that he is Spider-Man; however, the spell goes awry and inadvertently draws in legacy villains from the previous Sony Spider-Man films as well as the previous iterations of the hero. Spidey saves the day by making everyone forget that Peter Parker exists, setting the scene for his next adventure in 2026.
2021 was another lackluster season for the Rockies as they were never quite in contention, but not bad enough to inspire change. They ended up going 74-87. Arenado had been traded before the season, and both Jon Gray and Trevor Story would be free agents after the season. The offense had its moments, but the pitching was mediocre enough that it just didn’t move the needle enough in either direction.
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
The sequel to the 2018 animated film ended up grossing $690.9 million and also won Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. It follows Miles Morales as he struggles with figuring out who he is supposed to be and also forging his own destiny. He runs into more multiverse shenanigans with other Spider-people while the villain The Spot poses a big threat to the multiverse. The sequel to this film is supposed to come out next summer.
The year 2023 is etched in the mind of every Rockies fan as it was the first time the team had ever lost 100-games in a season. Going 59-103, the Rockies couldn’t hit, and they couldn’t pitch. Despite drastic changes needing to be made, the plan was to stay the course and hope the players just played better. They would not play better, and things would get worse over the next two seasons.
Keep swinging
Across the board, I’m sure the Rockies would love to have the financial success of every Spider-Man movie that has come out. It’s a beloved character that has featured in generally solid films as well as other types of media. I wish I could say a good Spider-Man film correlates with a good Rockies team, but that just isn’t the case, especially over the last couple of years. The newest film is doing quite well at the box office, and the current Rockies have been improved, but there is still a long way to go in Colorado.
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So tonight, let’s shift away from baseball for a second and talk Spider-Man. What is your favorite Spider-Man movie? Do you have a favorite comic book storyline? Is there any other piece of Spider-media that is near and dear to your heart?
Have some fun chatting about it below!
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