It's no secret that "Spider-Man 3" didn't receive the love it hoped for from Spider-Man fans but, eight years later, the 2007 film is still receiving hate and the wound remains open for Director Sam Raimi. Topher Grace who played Eddie Brock in the film came to Raimi's defense during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Oct. 16.

Grace responded to THR's question about what he thought of the end result as part of the cast, bearing in mind Raimi's recent Nerdist podcast where he admitted about the challenges he had to face directing the Spider-Man trilogy fronted by Toby Maguire as the web-slinger himself.

Grace said that he knows that "Spider-Man 3" did well enough for its studio, Sony Pictures, but he is also well aware that the film did not meet fan expectations. However, he still feels that Sam Raimi is a talented director and he has a lot of respect for the man. He also recalled that, during filming, it almost felt like Raimi was the president of a small country. "By the way, it had the gross national income of a small country, too," Grace adds.

Sam Raimi also admitted in the podcast that the third "Spider-Man" film was not up to par with the first two in spite of earning higher in the Box Office. "I messed up plenty with the third Spider-Man, so people hated me for years — they still hate me for it," Raimi said.

"I would love to see anyone who's slamming one of those movies try to fit in Sam Raimi's position," Grace said.

The actor who played Venom also said that he has a lot of respect for Raimi and that he did a fantastic job with directing the trilogy despite what critics say.

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