EVEN by his own admission Tobey Maguire isn’t everyone’s idea of a superhero. Introverted and self-effacing, it’s beyond the powers of a mere mortal journalist to get him to bare his soul in interviews. Yet stick a camera in front of him and tell him to be somebody else and Tobey comes alive.

As Peter Parker in Spider-Man he has been at the helm of the most successful superhero series in cinema history. Combining unprecedented critical acclaim with box-office returns, the first two films have grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide. The third, and possibly final, instalment opened at cinemas on Friday.

“About two weeks after we released the second movie the studio said, ‘OK, our third movie is coming out in May 2007’. That put a ticking clock on us right away because they hadn’t even started to write a script,” says Tobey. 

“When we came to start shooting the movie, although the story was there and the script was written, it didn’t have the polish that you would normally have before you start shooting a movie, because of that ticking clock.

“So the whole process was one I really enjoyed because it became a more collaborative experience where we as the actors got to be part of the building of the story and the characters’ storylines.”

In Spider-Man 3 Peter Parker has finally managed to strike a balance between his devotion to M. J. (Kirsten Dunst) and his duties as a superhero. But there is a storm brewing on the horizon.

When his suit is taken over by a dark alien entity, Peter finds his powers enhanced, but his judgement skewed, as the new jet-black suit brings out the vengeful side of his personality. 

He becomes over-confident and starts to neglect the people who care about him most. At the same time three new villains appear on the Manhattan skyline, The New Goblin (James Franco), The Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and Venom (Topher Grace). 

Joining forces to wreak an unparalleled level of nastiness on the harassed citizens of New York, they spark a desire in Peter to return to the strong-willed hero he’d turned his back on. It’s essential if he is to have any chance of defeating his greatest threat yet. 

“A big theme of the franchise has been ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ which I think is a blanket idea of Peter learning lessons in each movie. There may be slightly different lessons in each, but they can all fall under that umbrella.

“I think there are a lot of themes running through this particular film, revenge, vengeance, forgiveness, and it all depends what you get from it, I guess.

“I don’t really look at it as being Peter as a good guy or a bad guy, although he does make some choices that I think are going to be a little shocking for people, and fans will be surprised at Peter going down that road.

“This is something Sam (Raimi, the director of all three movies) and I really worked on because we don’t want to lose the audience caring for the character, but we do want to push it. 

“We don’t want to make it too scary, we want it to be dark, but still have some humour and some fun with it. So we’re constantly working on the tone. As an actor I’d say that I had the most fun on this movie, in showing a different side of Peter Parker.”

Looking younger than his 31 years, Tobey is happy when talking about his new film but becomes less than comfortable when the subject moves on to himself. Would he ever show the darker side of his own character?

“This is where, if I could manufacture something, I’d be more famous,” he admits. “If I could think of some naughty stories! But, I’m such a boring guy now, I don’t really have any. Maybe in my youth.”

The fact that his life is settled is in fact the most interesting part about Tobey. Last year he got engaged to jewellery maker Jennifer Meyer, daughter of Universal Studios executive Ron Meyer.

And in November Jennifer gave birth to the couple’s first daughter, Ruby Sweetheart, who gets her middle name from a childhood nickname given to Jennifer by her grandmother, who died a few months before Ruby’s birth. The couple had hoped to marry before the birth of Ruby but were unable to do so due to Tobey’s busy shooting schedule.

Tobey’s own introduction into the world was in June 1975. His parents, Vincent Maguire, a cook, and Wendy Brown, a secretary, were still in their teens when they got together and they split two years after Tobey was born. As a result he moved constantly as a boy, spending time in California, Oregon and Washington.

At first, Tobey wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps but his mother, who is now a screenwriter and producer, offered him 100 dollars to take drama rather than home economics in high school.

He quit school at 14 and pursued acting roles, doing commercials and bit part roles before landing a starring role on U.S. comedy Great Scott!, which was cancelled after just nine weeks.

It was in these early years that he struck up a friendship with Leonardo DiCaprio whom he met at an audition for the TV series Parenthood. Leonardo got the part although Tobey would appear as a guest star in later episodes.

He finally gained attention of his own for his part in the 1997 film The Ice Storm, directed by Ang Lee, which led to starring roles in films Pleasantville, The Cider House Rules (opposite Michael Caine) and Wonder Boys.

None of it prepared him for the blockbuster role of Spider-Man, but he spun doubters into a web of contrition with his perfectly pitched take on Peter Parker. His box-office status meant that the $4 million earnings for his first movie quadrupled to $17 million for the sequel (enabling him to buy a $3.5 million Beverly Hills mansion).

Tobey is a vegetarian, chess player and keen exponent of yoga but with that sort of money burning a hole in his pocket, it was little wonder that, three years ago, he took up tournament poker and can often be seen on TV in America playing in professional competitions. He took home nearly $100,000 dollars at an event in 2004 and has since entered the 2005 and 2006 World Series of Poker Championship.

So he’s not as boring as he might like to think!

“I think fame is a really complicated thing,” he says. “At first, I wasn’t comfortable with it, it was a little harder for me to function normally in public. It can be a great challenge to handle the difficult parts of fame and you have to strengthen your character so you aren’t affected in a negative way. I’ve been scared and excited and hesitant and anxious about it.”

As far as pulling off a successful Spider-Man trilogy goes, that would appear to be a battle that Tobey has already won. Whether this weekend’s blockbuster is to be his final time in the latex suit, however, is open to interpretation.

“This film concludes some storylines that we opened up in the first two pictures. I think the studio is definitely interested in making more of them but I’d have to feel there’s a story to tell to be interested. I don’t know, we’ll see. I think three films make a good little box set!

“I’ve had a great time doing them, I’ve enjoyed it and I’m glad I’ve done all three. I wouldn’t say Spider-Man changed my life but certainly I’m recognised a lot more now.

“I want to continue doing good work and I also love being a dad, so I’m going to try and figure out the right balance.”

The scales are tipped in favour of Tobey Maguire.