Your top 10 Spider-Man villains

[Obeythemoderators]

It's hard for me to divide favorites from those I think are greatest in terms of threat level or qualities of stories.

So here's my list:

1) The Green Goblin/Norman Osborn

2) Doctor Octopus

3) Kraven the Hunter

4) Mysterio

5) Venom (during David Michelinie's run)

6) The Vulture

7) The Sandman

8) The Rhino

9) Carnage

10) The Spider-Slayers

Spider-Man is odd because sometimes you have great stories with weak villains (like The First Clone Saga where Jackal sucks but the story is great) and villains with great designs who arguably never had a single great story yet (Electro, Chameleon, Lizard, The Scorpion). One off villains like Morlun who were great in their original story but not enough of a follow-up. Kingpin who became a big villain outside Spider-Man but only scored about two great stories with him as a villain (Back in Black, Spider-Man no more albeit in a minor vein).

Then you have Venom who is one of his greatest villains but he became anti-hero early on.

Just wondering why you put the Spiderslayers as one entity when they have more then one creator.

[Ursalink]

Much like Dr. Doom, Mephisto is everyone's enemy.

My top 10...


1. Dr. Octopus
2. Venom
3. Any and every Goblin
4. Electro
5. Carnage
6. Mysterio
7. Rhino
8. Lizard
9. Sandman
10. Kingpin

Not really. Dr Doom fights against everyone, but he's still mainly an enemy of the Fantastic Four.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Just wondering why you put the Spiderslayers as one entity when they have more then one creator.

Because obviously the Robots are the main important thing and not whoever is operating them. Just as the Sentinels are great X-Men villains even if they're operated by many different people and factions over the decades.

I include the Spider-Slayers because they have featured in a few great stories and issues - ASM#25, Annual #19, ASM#290-292 (aka "The Big Question") which I like.

[HypnoHustler]

Spider-Man is odd because sometimes you have great stories with weak villains (like The First Clone Saga where Jackal sucks but the story is great) and villains with great designs who arguably never had a single great story yet (Electro, Chameleon, Lizard, The Scorpion).

Chameleon was in a brilliant story by Paul Jenkins in Webspinners #10-12. It’s over 20 years old and came out at the same time of the awful Mackie/Byrne relaunch, so unfortunately very under-read and relatively forgotten today. Worth hunting down if you can, for sure. Would undoubtedly make my top 50 Spidey stories of all time (and maybe my top 30). Beyond that, JM DeMatteis also wrote a pretty good story with him in Spectacular just after the clone saga ended.

As for Scorpion, while it isn’t a deep dive into his psychological profile (as most great stories do with their villains) he is one of the main antagonists of the 12 issue ‘Marvel Knights’ run by Mark Millar. When he’s overtaken by the Venom symbiote and confronts Peter, it’s definitely an “oh shit” moment.

Electro and Lizard… hmmn…. Electro has ‘Light the Night’ and ASM#425, which are both good, but not quite great.

Lizard has ‘Shed’, and it’s certainly memorable, but very divisive… people either love it or hate it.

[Obeythemoderators]

Because obviously the Robots are the main important thing and not whoever is operating them. Just as the Sentinels are great X-Men villains even if they're operated by many different people and factions over the decades.

I include the Spider-Slayers because they have featured in a few great stories and issues - ASM#25, Annual #19, ASM#290-292 (aka "The Big Question") which I like.

I respect your opinion, but to me that sounds kinda like saying that the Orcs are the most important villains in Lord of the Rings not Sarun and Saruman who are commanding them.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

I respect your opinion, but to me that sounds kinda like saying that the Orcs are the most important villains in Lord of the Rings not Sarun and Saruman who are commanding them.

It's possible one can argue as a reader you find the Orcs more interesting and memorable than Sauron and Saruman. Since most of the time the heroes attack and rail on these guys whereas Sauron is non-corporeal for the entirety of the books and is a giant blazing eye in the movies.

Hierarchy doesn't matter when it comes to valuing a character or concept. The Storm Troopers of STAR WARS for instance are one of the most iconic villains in popular culture even if they are a bunch of clones of Boba Fett's Dad.

Anyway I like the Spider-Slayer robot and designs and they make for interesting stories.

[Obeythemoderators]

It's possible one can argue as a reader you find the Orcs more interesting and memorable than Sauron and Saruman. Since most of the time the heroes attack and rail on these guys whereas Sauron is non-corporeal for the entirety of the books and is a giant blazing eye in the movies.

Hierarchy doesn't matter when it comes to valuing a character or concept. The Storm Troopers of STAR WARS for instance are one of the most iconic villains in popular culture even if they are a bunch of clones of Boba Fett's Dad.

Anyway I like the Spider-Slayer robot and designs and they make for interesting stories.

Actually Sauron does have a physical body in the books. That is how Gollum knows that he only has 9 fingers.

Speaking of Storm Troopers I miss those Storm Trooper looking henchmen who used to work for Doctor Octopus
for old times sake.jpg

[Lukmendes]

Spider-Man is odd because sometimes you have great stories with weak villains (like The First Clone Saga where Jackal sucks but the story is great) and villains with great designs who arguably never had a single great story yet (Electro, Chameleon, Lizard, The Scorpion). One off villains like Morlun who were great in their original story but not enough of a follow-up. Kingpin who became a big villain outside Spider-Man but only scored about two great stories with him as a villain (Back in Black, Spider-Man no more albeit in a minor vein).

Then you have Venom who is one of his greatest villains but he became anti-hero early on.

Chameleon had a nice era on the 90's where he was trying to become the next Kingpin, was staying behind the scenes, manipulating people, even disguised himself as JJ for a while to piss off Spidey to be able to **** him over.

Can actually see where Spencer got the way Chameleon acted on his run from.

Wouldn't say it was "great", but he had that going for him.

[kingaliencracker]

1) The Green Goblin/Norman Osborn
2) Venom
3) Carnage
4) The Hobgoblin (original Stern version)
5) Doctor Octopus
6) Kraven the Hunter
7) The Kingpin
8) The Scorpion
9) Martin Li/Mister Negative
10) The Burglar

[NC_Yankee]

Beck? You mean Mysteriou as in Quentin Beck?

Exactly. He is one of the great villains ever

[NC_Yankee]

Much like Dr. Doom, Mephisto is everyone's enemy.


My top 10...


1. Dr. Octopus
2. Venom
3. Any and every Goblin
4. Electro
5. Carnage
6. Mysterio
7. Rhino
8. Lizard
9. Sandman
10. Kingpin

I agree with you about Mephisto and Doom. Although I think Peter handles Doom better then most heroes do. Why? Because he can talk to him (it certainly helps that he has plenty of practice dealing with an arrogant douche because of Otto).

[Kaitou D. Kid]

This will be hard since my tastes fluctuate a lot, but I'll give it a try:

1. Green Goblin / Norman Osborn
2. Doc Ock
3. Mysterio
4. Hobgoblin
5. Kraven
6. Venom - a tad bit overrated, but still a good villain
7. Sandman
8. Rhino
9. Lizard
10. Electro

One thing I disagree with is the notion that most of Spider-Man's villains are interchangeable blue-collar criminals. I actually do think there's differences between them and that they're mirrors of Spider-Man in different ways. Mysterio was a nerdy guy who became a performer like how Spider-Man became one prior to Uncle Ben's death. Electro worked the same job as Uncle Ben and refused to help anyone without getting compensated. Sandman had a rough high school life and the thrill he gets from being Sandman and making shapes out of sand is similar to the fun Peter often has with his webshooters. Vulture has a sense of responsibility to his grandchildren in spite of being a villain. And Rhino has some of the funniest interactions with Spider-Man due to being the ultimate dumb brute that you can contrast with Spidey.

[Iclifton]

Who are your favorite Spider-Man villains and why these are mine.

10. Morlun: Probably a controversial choice but I like many others could not take my eyes of how much of an unstoppable force of death he was to Spider-Man when they had that fight in The Other storyline. It is actually in this case more appropriate then most times since Spider-Man was diagnosed with an untreatable syntom that as far as he knew would kill him. So despite people objecting to Morlun returning I think he was actually a very fitting menace in this Straszynski story purely from a thematic point of view. I also like how he seems to have multiple mouths on his palms when he decided to suck out Peter Parker life force, comes of like a nodd to Spider-Man 1994 were Morbius had mouth on his palms which as a fan of said series I appreciate. Also his grizzly death is one of the best villain deaths in comics, I mean we have gotten monster Spider-Man before but none of them have ever eaten a person before as far as I am aware of.

9. the Chamealon: Has the honor of being Spider-Mans first supervillain and if you take Kraven the Hunters first appearence into consideration then he is actually the instigator of the first supervillain team up in Spider-Mans history and him getting the ability to change appearence via a hologram during the bronze age only made him more awesome, I mean it got to be stressfull having to apply all that makeup and clothing everytime he has to change appearences. Finally as far as villainy and stuping low goes raping Mary Jane by disguising himself as Peter Parker has to be up there with some of the most heinous things Spider-Mans villains have ever done. So yeah this one takes the spot for not just being an effective thorn in Spider-Mans side but also the best excempel of dispicable villany in general.

8.Spencer Smythe: This guy actually has quite allot of character development for a supervillain. If anybody reads his first stories he actually is not that Sinister, sure he is trying to help Jameson capture Spider-Man but he is not trying to kill or injure anybody. Later on he becomes more a typical supervillain by using his mechanics to steal fortunes. My favorite version tho is the sad vengeafull Smythe blaming Jameson and Spider-Man for him having cancer after all the atomic energy driven robots he has been making ever since Peter Parker and Jameson got him to help the Bugle capture Spider-Man(If you are confused by that last part about Spider-Man getting Jameson to use the original Spiderslayer just look it up). Also despite what a remarkable villain he was he died and has never come back since, Miles Warren and Norman Osborne take notes.

7.the Lizard: Not the most effective villain infact I say that in the 1994 cartoon series and Amazing Spider-Man film he is far more affective, but it is still quite dramatict to have Spider-Man constantly having to punch one of his best friends in order to save him. I also don't think that his wife dying and him eventually eating his son at his most Lizard like ruined the character but only made him so much more tragic.

6.Senator Steward Ward: This character is in my opinion the ''taking over the world as another lifeform then human'' aspect of the Lizard done right in the comics. Senator Steward Ward also is a villain taking the form of a bacteria which is actually more menacing and fitting for a symbol of global domination then a Lizard. Also similar to Norman Osborne in the Fox Kids cartoon series he comes of as a minor crook who needs saving from bigger badder villains only to later become a much more dangerous supervillain himself, which I kinda like. Speaking of Norman Osborne this villain died a memorable death and did not come back and honestly he does not need to. He also royaly kicked Venoms ass.

5.Thousand: Is an enemy of Peter Parker even before he becomes Spider-Man, kills his own parents has a both a more sinister and effective way of disgusing himself then the Chameleon, knew of Spider-Mans identity from the very beginning, died and never came back. Also people always argue that do to the big Spider symbol on his chest Venom, Venom is a antiSpider-Man however giving that Thousand became a Supervillain do to the same Spider that gave Peter Parkers his powers initially I think he fits the bill better. What is not to love about this guy?

4.the Black Costume: Almost drained Spider-Man of adrenalin and made both Eddie Brock and Angelo into Supervillains not to mention gave the Scorpion one of his more memmorable upgrades. Also has a track record of causing more problems for it's hosts then good. Look up what happened to Angelo Fortuna and Anna Weying and I do not mind the addition originally from the 1994 cartoon series of driving it's host to kill and be more aggresive in general even if it is to the detrement of the ones wearing it. Although his spot on here might seem hypocritical given my stance on Norman Osborne and Miles Warren given that the black costume has come back to life 2 times now.

3.the Scorpion: In hinesight he is nothing special but before there was Thousand before there was Morlun or even Venom Scorpion was the big bad guy that seemed to hard for Spider-Man to ever be able to take down. A real power house the Scorpion at the time was presented as the biggest threat that Spider-Man had ever faced, the front cover of the issue even said ''How can Spider-Man defeat a villain who is stronger then he is?'' he was also kind of an antiSpider-Man given that he got his power from a arachnid. But all in hinsight with the exception of the story the Scorpion Takes a Bride which happen to be my favorite issue of Spider-Man ever and that one time were Garry Conway decided to make him a bit insane thinking he was stuck in his costume very little interesting has really been done with the character since his first appearence except that he has had some pretty neat looking outfits and tails through out the year.

2.Carnage: CARNAGE RULES! Nuff said.

1.Alistar Smythe: I prefer his Spiderslayers to those of Spencer Smythe from a purely astethic point of view, also unlike his father he can actually fight the Wall Crawler himself he can actually fight him in person. Actually why is Doctor Octopus considered a antiSpider-man for being a scientist like Peter Parker when this guy can shoot webs just like Spidey not to mention that there are tons of Spider-Man villains who are scientist, Mendel Strom, Norman Osborne, Miles Warren, Doctor Johnathan Ohnn the list goes on. Also Peter Parker himself has never actually defated this guy in person and brought him in despite having been able trash his robots I mean that's got to count for something I would think. Also unlike Carnage this guy seems not to have just been killed because the higher ups at Marvel hated him and should therefor unlike Carnage stay dead. I should probably mention that much like the Scorpion this guy has a habit of having alternative designs.

So who are yours. Don't be shy to say Norman Osborne if you like him I just don't see the appeal of a super powerfull guy who is mostly out of prison and mental hospitals and is all about hurting Parkers loved ones, yet knowing Spider-Mans true identity has not done so since he killed of Ben Reily and on top of that seems quite inconsistant depend on who is writing him.

Uhhh when did Chameleon hook up with Mary Jane? Did that really happen.

[Huntsman Spider]

Uhhh when did Chameleon hook up with Mary Jane? Did that really happen.

Not really. He tried to, disguised as Peter when Peter and Mary Jane were married and after he'd left Peter in a deathtrap. Mary Jane saw through him right away and distracted him for a bit before she grabbed a baseball bat and beat him unconscious with it, just when Peter himself got back home after escaping Chameleon's death trap.

[babyblob]

Didnt The Chameleon sleep with the sister of Peter's cop roommate when he was disguised as Peter? I thought that was pretty damn low. I know she was about to throw Peter out of the apartment and he stood up and kissed her and they fell to the floor. I assume the way she acted towards him after that they had sex.