Marty Michaels

I heard some wierd news not long ago. Apparently, the word on the street is that the plug has been pulled on Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies and the next cinematic adventure of everyone’s favorite webslinger will be a Batman Begins style franchise reset. Seems a bit pointless. Especially since two of the three Spidey movies we already have are pretty fucking good. More worryingly I heard that Rob Pattinson may be pulling on the tights. If there is a god, now might be a good time for him to reveal himself and put an end to this madness. Anyway, until we hear more on this most worrying of situations, let’s take a look at the top ten Spider-Man badguys. Onward!

10. MAN-WOLF

Ok, first up on our countdown is J. Jonah Jameson’s son John, astronaut, future husband of She Hulk and lycanthropic thorn in the side of your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. After a space mission goes wrong, a ruby on the moon grafts itself to Jameson’s body causing him to become a werewolf upon his return to earth. Don’t ask me how, just accept it and move on. When John Jameson was introduced as MJ’s new fiance in Spider-Man 2, I had high hopes Man-Wolf would put in an appearance in Spider-Man 3, but alas, it was not to be.

9. KRAVEN THE HUNTER

Yeah, his costume is one of the silliest in comics but it’s my list and if I want Kraven to be number nine, then Kraven’ll be number nine goddamnit! Like the giant octopus on the Harryhausen list, Kraven is a sentimental favorite of mine. First appearing in 1964 and appearing (as a ghost, granted) in comics to this day, Kraven may be a Marvel C-Lister, but the whole concept of a “great white hunter” type trying to hunt and kill Spider-Man is pretty cool.

8. LIZARD

When Dr. Curt Connors lost his arm and replaced it using reptilian DNA a classic Spider-Man villain was born. Of course, it didn’t end with just a reptilian arm – the DNA slowly took over his body turning him into a reptilian humanoid mutant. Supernaturally strong and agile coupled with Connor’s huge IQ, the Lizard has been one of Spidey’s most enduring enemies, making his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #6. Like Man-Wolf, the Sam Raimi Spidey movies hinted at maybe including Lizard as one of the badguys, but – if current Hollywood rumor is to be believed – it may be some time before the Lizard stalks the screen.

7. MYSTERIO

Mystero has a complex backstory and it’s very retcon heavy, but nonetheless he’s a cool character. A special effects technician and stunt man who realises that he’s never gonna make it big in Hollywood, but his expertise in creating illusions and knowledge of special effects could serve him well as a supervillain. His costume is pretty cool too. How can you hate a guy with a purple cape and a goldfish bowl on his head? Like most Spider villains, Mysterio was created by Lee and Ditko and he made his first appearance in either Amazing Spider-Man #13 or #2 depending on who you speak to.

6. HOBGOBLIN

Often unfairly dimissed as a Green Goblin ripoff, Hobgoblin was created by Roger Stern when he was pressured to feature the long-dead Green Goblin in regular continuity. Being unwilling to bring Norman Osborn back from the dead (again) he created an entirely new character to pass the mantle of the Goblin to. The matter of Hobgoblin’s true identity went unresolved for some time (even after Stern left the series) and the matter was not resolved until almost three years after his first appearance. Just for the record, Hobgoblin was Roderick Kingsley, fashion designer and employer of Mary Jane Watson, but there’s been, like, five Hobgoblins since them, including bizarrely enough, Deadpool.

5. CARNAGE

After the popularity of Venom soared in the late eighties, Marvel decided that two was better than one and introduced the character of Carnage, an utterly psychopathic, utterley remorseless and utterley terrifying version of the already badass Venom. Cletus Kasady was a vicious and violent serial killer (who looked a lot like the Joker – didja ever notice that?) who shared a cell with Eddie Brock before becoming bonded with a simbiote and becoming the superhuman Carnage. Carnage has greater physical strengh than Spidey and Venom combined and, like Venom, is undetectable to Webhead’s Spider-Sense.

4. ELECTRO

Classic Stan Lee: Max Dillon is an electrician who is struck by lightning and electrocuted on some power cables but rather than, yanno, die horribly he survives and discovers he has superpowers. Taking on the flamboyant persona of Electro he becomes one of Spidey’s arch nemesis, a role he continues to fill to this day. Written by Lee and drawn by Ditko, Amazing Spider-Man #9 was Electro’s first appearance and he’s been an electricty charged annoyance ever since, with the power to generate up to a million volts of electricity to make him superhumanly strong and fast. On more than one occasion he has been seen to ride on lightning bolts – tell me that’s not freakin’ cool.

3. VENOM

After looking at Carnage at number five we find Venom at the number three spot. Created by David Michelinie in 1986, Venom has become one of Spidey’s most popular villains. After the events of Secret Wars which saw Spidey gain his oh-so-awesome black suit, the wallcrawler discovered that the suit was in fact an alien inteligence known as a simbiote. Spidey got rid of the simbiote, but it found its way to Eddie Brock and a great comics villian was born. The long awaited screen debut of Venom came in 2007 with Spider-Man 3, but the character was badly mishandled by Sam Raimi, a self confessed lover of the early Spidey comics. Hopefully things will go better in the rumoured Venom spinoff movie.

2. DOCTOR OCTOPUS

Speaking of characters apperaring in movies, the Doctor is most assuredly in at number two. Doc Ock has another of those great Stan Lee penned backstories that the best Spidey villains seem to have: during a lab explosion a set of metal arms become fused to the body of Dr. Otto Octavius; radiation floods his brain making him able to control the metal appendages using soley the power of his brain. Despite being overweight, near sighted and insane, with his metal tentacles he is more than an physical match for “that infernal arachnid.” Played by Alfred “throw me the idol” Molina in Spider-Man 2, a film considered by many to be one of, if not the best comic book movies ever made. I may dispute that, but it doesn’t change the fact that Doc Ock is a great comics badguy.

1. THE GREEN GOBLIN

Very often in comics the villains seem to get away with murder – quite literally. Joker goes on a killing spree, Batman collars him, Joker is tossed in jail. Outside the pages of stuff like the Punisher, the villains never seem to pay a heavy price for their crimes. Except, of course, in the case of the Green Goblin. Introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #14, the Goblin was in fact Norman Osborn, father of Peter Parker’s friend Harry and CEO of OsCorp. Driven insane by a chemical solution known as the Goblin Formula, Osborn used his technological knowhow to construct a flying surfboard type thing and, assuming the mantle of the Green Goblin st out to terrorise New York and Spider-Man. Goblin’s reign of terror concluded in Amazing Spider-Man #121 in which he is responsible for the death of Gwen Stacy (in an infamous panel featuring a sound effect that has haunted comics fans for decades). Spidey, almost insane himself with rage, tracks the Goblin to his hideout and, as the Goblin attempts to kill Spidey with his glider, turns the tables on the Goblin causing his glider to plow into his body killing him. It’s a great story and a fitting end to the character, but this is the Marvel Universe and everybody knows that unless your name’s “Bucky” you’re not likely to stay dead for very long. The Green Goblin returned from his death to plauge Spidey once again and he’s been doing just that ever since in various guises and incarnations.

And that’s that, true believers! After Batman’s rouge’s gallery, Spidey probably has the best villains in comics, but as always if you’re unhappy with the picks outlined above, you know what to do. End transmission.

Tags: comics, spider-man, top ten