7 Spider-Man Villains That You Need To Know Before You Die

Aside from Batman, Spider-Man possesses the who’s who of villains. From the well-known Doctor Octopus to the more obscure Hammerhead, there has been no shortage of enemies who oppose him. I ask you, of all the Spider-Man enemies in existence, who are the ones that stand out to you? Who immediately comes to mind when I mention the words, Spider-Man enemies?

This list isn’t something that shows or states my opinion as to who is the worst, most deadly, most destructive, biggest pain to Spider-Man, or anything else that most others lists cover. No, this list is a reflection of who comes to my mind when I think of Spider-Man enemies.

Without further adieu…

1. Green Goblin

Norman Osborn is the co-owner of a powerful chemical and robotics firm called Osborn Industries. He rose to power by assisting known villains in their affairs so as to distract the known Superheroes and keep them from becoming involved in his work. In one of his ‘distractions’, he transformed an Osborn employee into a ‘Protogoblin’.

The transformation led the police to become suspicious of what he was doing. Fearing what might happen, Norman used the serum on himself. What he didn’t realize was that the chemicals inside the serum were unstable and their instability resulted in an explosion. Sadly, the explosion left Norman hospitalized for a short while. Upon awakening, Norman learned that he was granted Superhuman Strength, Increased Speed, Reflexes, and Endurance. On top of that, he also received, a Wolverine-like healing factor and Increased Intelligence.

Spider-Man and the Green Goblin have a longstanding history that is nearly unrivaled in the comic book world. He is to Spider-Man what The Joker is to Batman. Norman Osborn has achieved a level of success against him that most would dream of and worse yet, relishes the fact that he has done so. As far as Spider-Man enemies go, he is one of the worst.

Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that he single handily killed off one of the most beloved women in comics…

2. Venom

Eddie Brock was your average journalist whose job was to cover local stories for the newspaper he worked for. A little down on his luck, he turned to writing an inaccurate story of murder. After the release of the story, Eddie’s life began to turn. Unfortunately, the story that he had written proved to be untrue and Eddie became the laughing stock of the paper. Ultimately, he was fired.

Around this time, Spider-Man began wearing the black Symbiote costume. The more Spider-Man continued to wear the costume, the more he realized that it was consuming him. He researched for a way to remove it and through his research, realized that the costume was hyper-sensitive to loud sounds. He then made his way to a church, stood by the bell, and waited for it to chime.

Upon chiming, the now weakened and removed Symbiote crawled down the walls of the church looking for a new host. There confessing his sins and begging for forgiveness was Eddie Brock. To say the fit was perfect would be an understatement. Eddie Brock was everything that the Symbiote was looking for and the two bonded and formed the creature known as Venom.

Venom is a little different than the others on this list in the sense that he is more anti-hero than a villain. In saying that, he is still a thorn in the side of Spider-Man and for that reason, he deserves to be one of the top Spider-Man enemies.

3. Scorpion

Mac Gargan was a private investigator that had been hired by J. Jonah Jameson to find out why Peter Parker was always around to take the best photos of Spider-Man. After attempting to solve the mystery and coming up empty-handed, Jameson paid Gargan to undergo an experiment. The experiment would imbue Gargan with super strength, durability, among other things and allow him to battle Spider-Man on an equal level. Ironically, the experiment turned Gargan into a natural enemy of a real spider, a scorpion.

With his new powers in tow, Gargan sought out to destroy Spider-Man. He even accomplished victory during their first two encounters. This, of course, thrilled Jameson. Unfortunately, because of the experiment, Gargan was actually losing grip on reality. In effect, he was losing his mind.

Realizing what was happening, Gargan sought revenge against the man who caused this pain, Jameson. Luckily, just before he could exact his revenge, Spider-Man showed up and saved the proverbial day.

Around since the beginning, Scorpion has always proven himself to be as much as Spider-Man can handle. Furthermore, and more impressive was that at one point he even bonded with the Venom Symbiote. I can’t think of a better villain to be on this list.

4. Carnage

Cletus Kasady is the living definition of a homicidal maniac who came from a dysfunctional family. Not only did he kill his grandmother by pushing her down the stairs but he tried to kill his mother, and actually successfully killed his dog. Unable to live with her son, his mother then attempted to kill him only to be beaten to the brink of death by his father.

This led Cletus to be sent to and live in the St. Estes Home for Boys where he was abused and ridiculed by his classmates. While there he killed the Disciplinarian Administrator, pushed a girl in front of a moving bus, and burned down the orphanage. As he aged, he became a serial killer. Eventually, he would be caught and sent to live in Ryker’s Island (a prison). While staying here, he became cellmates with a symbiote-less Eddie Brock.

Eddie’s symbiote, looking to once again bond with him, eventually came looking to free him and during the escape, the symbiote left behind an offspring in the cell. Feeling no emotional attachment to Eddie, the symbiote latched onto a new host, Cletus, and transformed him into Carnage. Unlike the symbiote hosted by Peter Parker and Eddie Brock, the symbiote hosted by Cletus Kasady entered his bloodstream. This form of hosting created a much stronger and deeper bond.

Of all the Spider-Man enemies, Carnage is the most dangerous. He is ruthless, without remorse, and more violent than the Violent Femmes.

5. Vulture

Before Adrian Toomes could take flight he was a brilliant electronics engineer. Toomes and business partner Gregory Bestman had created a business in which Toomes handled the inventions and Bestman handled the finances.

After Toomes invented what would be the biggest invention of his life, a flight suit, he learned that Bestman had secretly and successfully been working on a way to acquire his portion of the company. In frustration, he did the only thing he knew how to do and continued his work. As he tweaked and played around with the suit, he learned that not only did it give him the ability to fly, but it also provided him with increased strength.

Now focused on destroying all that had destroyed him, he fashioned his device within a bird suit and took to the skies to unleash his frustrations.

Aside from Michael Keaton’s brilliant performance, Vulture is one of the more obscure and lesser-known Spider-Man enemies. His first appearance dates back to before anyone else on this list, yet he can’t catch a break when it comes to fanfare. And it is exactly this break that puts him on this list.

6. Kraven

Sergei Kravinoff was born and raised in Russia and belonged to an elite class of people. Unfortunately for Sergei, the collapse of elitism in Russia forced him and his brother on the run. While his brother used his ability to mimic others, Sergei opted to train himself to be the world’s greatest hunter.

His ability to hunt big game led him to wealth and notoriety and this, in turn, led him to a witch doctor who possessed a mystical potion. Pushed by his ever-increasing need to be the best, Sergei stole the potion and drank it. Now, stronger, faster and more durable than ever, Sergei developed a desire to hunt only the biggest and toughest pray. His brother suggested Spider-Man and Sergei accepted.

Kraven is one of the greatest Spider-Man enemies in history and is perhaps the only one to have ever buried him alive. While many others use brute force against the wall-crawler, Kraven prefers a more methodical approach.

7. Lizard

Curt Connors once lived a life that saw him as a Doctor to the military. In fact, he was held in such high regard that he was the go-to Doctor for the militaries wounded. Unfortunately, his life took a tragic turn for the worse after an explosion left him one limb short.

Looking for a higher purpose in life, he became obsessed with discovering the secrets that some of the world’s reptiles held. That is, he became fascinated with learning how some reptiles were able to regrow lost limbs. Working in the Everglades of Florida, he created an experimental serum that would allow humans to regrow lost limbs like their reptile counterparts.

He immediately sought to test his serum out and after successfully growing the lost limb of a rabbit, he opted to try the serum on himself. As luck would have it, his arm did, in fact, regrow. As a by-product of the serum, he unwillingly transformed into a human-like lizard. Tragically, his new form also took away his natural intellect, thus preventing him from finding a cure.

What makes the Lizard deserving of being on my list of Spider-Man enemies is that not only does he possess superhuman strength, speed, and has the ability to outmatch Spider-Man, he also has the ability to call upon other reptilian animals to aid him in his cause.

And there you have it. My list of Spider-Man enemies. Maybe you agree or maybe you disagree. I would love to hear in the comments below.

Cheers,

Joel