My Favourite Spider-Man Villains

My Favourite Spider-Man Villains

A Blog by

Mitchell A. Quondam

Spider-Man is my second favourite superhero (Behind Batman), and in my opinion, he has the best rogues gallery of any superhero. They could announce just about any villain to be in the next Spider-man movie and I'd be stoked. His villains have a wide variety of abilities, ranging from electricity, to transforming into an animal, to simply being an incredibly skilled hunter. One of my criticisms of Batman's rogues gallery is that, while they are all fantastic, well-developed characters, there are not many that can challenge Batman physically beyond Bane, Killer Croc and sometimes Ra's al Ghul. Spider-Man doesn't have this problem. Realistically, a B-list villain such as Rhino or Shocker offers just as much physical harm as the mainstays like Venom.

10 - Kraven the Hunter
His fanciful costume and lack of superpowers have turned many off of him, but I've always thought that he was pretty cool. The story arc in which he succeeds in killing Spider-Man also dove into the character's mentality. With the greatest prey now defeated, what does he do next? This was one of the finest arcs in the Spider-Man comics, because it was villain-centric. We are led to believe that Spidey was dead and Kraven was driven to depression, and eventually, suicide. I'm not a big fan of the heirs to Kraven's name, but the original, Sergei Kravenoff, is still awesome.

9 - The Lizard
The Lizard has always been a fan-favourite. He is one of those villains I discussed that provides a very real threat to Spider-Man. It seemed like Spidey always lost more fights against Lizard than he won. Along with being a threat, he looked very cool in all of the incarnations I can remember. A lot of people criticize the Amazing Spider-Man for taking away two Lizard signatures in his lab coat and his snout, but I forgot about those little gripes when watching the movie, and I thought that what they did worked with the story. I also think that both Rhys Ifans and Dylan Baker played the role of Curt Connors very well, although the nod has to go to Ifans, because he also got to play the lizard.

8 - Carnage
The first experience I had with Carnage was in the 2000 Spider-Man video game, and it was love at first sight. He was like a more vicious Venom. Since reading the comics and other source material, my love for the character has only grown. He was extremely dangerous even before he got the alien costume, and after, he killed more people than the Punisher and Judge Dredd combined. I have never seen a comic book character with a higher body count than Carnage.

7 - Venom
A lot of people are very high on Venom, and have him listed in the top three, but I feel he suffers from over-exposure. Ever since the original arc, he has been in every media available, even more than the Green Goblin. Besides comics, he's been on TV Shows, a live action movie (sadly), action figures, video games, including several where he is the playable character, and it would appear that he has his own stand-alone movie coming soon. Mac Gargan getting the Venom suit mixed it up a bit, but not much. I may be in the minority here, but I’m not a fan of the Flash Thompson Venom at all. It reminds me too much of Spawn for some reason.

6 - Hobgoblin
I recently went back and read the original Hobgoblin story arcs, and I was very impressed. I always liked his look more than the Green Goblin's, but he also has a great story to fall back on, and the mystery of who was behind the mask was intriguing to me. If I was to do a Spider-Man film, I would leave his identity a mystery until the very end. He would not be built up; he would just appear as a mad bomber and start wreaking havoc, until Spider-Man finally stops him at the end. Joker never needed his origin told, Nolan just threw the Joker into the mix. If Hobgoblin had the right story, he could top Green Goblin in terms of coolness.

5 - Mysterio
I like his look, and his illusions always add something unique to every battle. My criticism is that he is not truly a physical threat to Spider-Man by himself. He always needs traps or trickery on his side. However, we need not worry about that anymore as, unfortunately, he has passed away. Much like Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio has committed suicide, and we may never see Quentin Beck again in Marvel Comics.

4 - Scorpion
One of Spider-Man's earliest villains, Scorpion was always a favourite of mine. I liked his look, his powers and his character. In most continuities, he doesn't even want to be a villain, but is prompted to by either J. Jonah Jameson or Norman Osborn. He was an outcast, and after his first couple issues only wanted to steal enough money to get out of the suit. He has also appeared in many mediums, but I am still looking forward to finally seeing Scorpion on the big screen.

3 - Doctor Octopus
I've always liked Doctor Octopus. My first experience of him was in reruns of the 1967 Spider-Man, and back then he was my second favourite villain, only to Scorpion. Throughout my history with comics and superheroes, he slowly fell down the ladder until 2004. The performance of Alfred Molina in Spider-Man 2 propelled Doc Ock back up the list. Molina brought such depth to the character that it was impossible not to like him. Many mediums have not given Octopus justice, but, like Hobgoblin, if he is given the right story, he could easily top Norman Osborn

2 - Electro
Electro is another favourite from the 60's Spider-Man show. I didn't like that he wasn't in the 1994 show. Apparently James Cameron's Spider-Man had him and Sandman as the villains so they were locked up. Nonetheless, I also very much enjoyed the Playstation game Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro. He had a great showing in Web of Shadows also. In Amazing Spider-Man 2, he is being played by Academy Award winning actor Jamie Foxx. A lot of people are complaining about Electro being played by a black actor, but I do not see the issue with it. Foxx is, credential-wise, the best actor ever cast as a comic book villain (besides maybe Tommy Lee Jones). Comic fans should just be happy that he is not being played by some pro wrestler like Bane and Sabretooth were, or played very campy like the Riddler and Two-Face were.

1 - Norman Osborn
Was there ever any doubt? Norman Osborn is lie Spider-Man's Joker, the antithesis to everything Spider-Man believes in. He also has a cool look, plenty of gadgets, and is a super soldier. He also did the ultimate evil in comic books by killing Spidey's first squeeze Gwen Stacey. Like Dr. Octopus and Venom, he has appeared in a lot of Spider-Man media, although my favourite depiction of him is in the 2002 film with Willem Dafoe. I wasn't a fan of the costume, but Dafoe's manic performace helped to put the character over. Rumor has it that Stormin' Norman will be making an appearance in the Marc Webb saga (and depending on who you want to believe, already has in the form of Michael Masse) and I hope that his version of the Goblin does this amazing character justice.