Random thoughts: Spider-Man villains ranking

Spider-Man is a lot in my mind lately, thanks in no small part to the retrospective. Since the Villain origins mostly skipped his foes, let’s have a look on how I personally rank them.

I’m basing this on how interesting I find them, on how many good stories and adaptations they’ve received, and obviously personal taste.
Naturally since Spider-Man’s rogues gallery is VAST I can’t possibly include ALL of them.
I’m including the main ones, a few minor, and a couple of oddballs for fun.

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NOT RANKED

J. Jonah Jameson
Doesn’t belong in this list. And if you think he does, you haven’t read enough good JJJ stories.

Joe Quesada
Marvel editors
Mephisto

Despite having done more damage to the brand than almost anyone else, he’s not REALLY a Spider-Man villain.

Zeb Wells
Marvel editors
Paul

The “almost anyone else”. Yes it would be kind of funny to rank him, but come on.

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D ranking: Legion of Losers

I’m not going to mourn if Spider-Man never fights these villains ever again.

#43: Morlun (2001)
I rather enjoyed his first storyline. But he really, really, REALLY overstayed his welcome.
An energy vampire that only targets people with an incredibly specific backstory and leads a dimension-hopping crossover?
I’d rather read Spider-Man fighting ANYONE ELSE.

#42: Stegron (1974)
You will see the Lizard is WAY above him, so I still can’t grasp how they managed to make Dinosaur Lizard so incredibly boring.

#41: Jackal (1974)
The one from the original Clone Saga from the 70s was the poor man’s Green Goblin. I’m one of the few who rather enjoyed the cloned Jackal from the 90s, when they basically turned him into Slightly Furry Joker… but only for the first couple of issues, then it got old. FAST.

#40: Overdrive (2007)
I only know him from the “Superior Foes of Spider-Man” series, which is a true masterpiece… and where Overdrive was the only villain I couldn’t care for. He might be decent somewhere else, but that’s my only exposure to the character.

#39: Silvermane (1969)
I wish I could like him more, but he’s overshadowed in all of his roles. As the mob boss he’s nothing next to Kingpin, and once they turn him into a cyborg old man he can’t be taken seriously… but if you want to go for camp or for ridiculous villains, Spider-Man has WAY better options.
Even as “the villain who is very old and it shows” there are better alternatives!

#38: Molten Man (1965)
He’s this low in the list because he doesn’t spend much time as a villain, despite being the stepbrother of Liz Allan. But he’s a decent threat and there IS something to be explored about his characterization.

#37: White Rabbit (1983)
Sometimes you need a stupid villain to laugh at and make Spider-Man crack jokes, and few fulfill the role as well as this airhead golddigger turned supervillain.

#36: Black Cat (1979)
Hold your pitchfork! She’s this low EXCLUSIVELY in her role as a villain. She’s an amazing character, but being a villain is by far her least interesting role.

#35: Tinkerer (1963)
Spider-Man barely ever fights him, but the Tinkerer is behind A LOT of supervillains, and he’s been doing this since Amazing Spider-Man #2. So I have to give him a lot of points for consistency.

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C ranking: Lethal Foes

These are my “not great but they have potential for a good story” villains.

#34: the Enforcers (1964)
They’re a throwback to the earliest Lee & Ditko stories. I’ve never found them to be compelling or a good match for Spider-Man, but whenever they show up it’s straight up nostalgia.

#33: Doppelganger (1992)

The twisted mockery of Spider-Man created during Infinity War, who inexplicably hung around for a while. Nothing serious was ever done with him, and there are WAY better “evil Spider-Man” villains… but I still think there’s potential to be mined there.

#32: Morbius (1971)
He’s been oscillating between villain and anti-hero from the beginning. He provides the same kind of moral questions that teaming up with the Punisher does, but he adapts better to the antagonistic role and he can be a physical threat.
So the potential IS there, and since I don’t think there’s ever been a particularly good Morbius vs Spider-Man story I wouldn’t mind seeing it.

#31: Looter (1966)
This guy’s a real lunatic and an idiot, and you have to respect the jobbers that even C-list supervillains think are lame.

#30: Chameleon (1963)
Controversial opinion, but I think Spider-Man’s very first supervillain is not very interesting.
In fact, he’s such a blank slate that the most important stuff about him has been lifted straight from Kraven. He would honestly work better as the villain of a hero without a Spider-Sense.

#29: Hammerhead (1972)
I have a soft spot for this guy. Like Silvermane he’s incredibly overshadowed by Kingpin in the “mob boss” role… but he makes up for it with enough personality and ridiculousness.

#28: Vermin (1982)
He has two problems. The biggest is that someone has already written the Vermin masterpiece (“The Child Within”), but he’s also kind of a repeat of Lizard’s themes with a slightly less interesting human form. But come on, there HAS to be at least a SECOND really good Vermin storyline somewhere, right?

#27: Spider-Slayers (1965)
I wouldn’t classify any of the stories where Spider-Man has to fight his own personal version of the Sentinels “groundbreaking”, or most of them “good”, but sometimes all you want is to see a superhero punch robots.

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B ranking: Superior Foes

These are my “fine every once in a while” villains.

#26: Spot (1985)
He was one of the very first supervillains I read after becoming a regular Spider-Man reader.
Finally he’s managed to make an impression on the rest of the audience, and given enough time I’m sure he’ll get enough good storylines to significantly get higher in this list.
Who would’ve thought that we would get a movie that adapts him being an ineffectual loser…

…but also revealing that he can be SHEER NIGHTMARE FUEL ?

#25: Mister Negative (2008)
I haven’t read any of his appearances in the main Spider-Man books, but I’ve seen him in multiple other series and in a couple of adaptations where he’s really good.

#24: Shriek (1993)
Spider-Man really needs more female villains. She’s been overshadowed by her relationship with Carnage since her creation, but she’s a pretty complex character worth exploring.

#23: Carnage (1992)
Everyone makes fun of “Maximum Carnage”, but while that storyline was definitely longer than it should have been that’s not when the character was overexposed. That came shortly thereafter though, and it was to his detriment.
Carnage showing up should always be A Very Big Deal, especially since he’s definitely THE villain who makes anyone question the “no killing” rule.
He’s not complex and he shouldn’t be, since he’s more of a force of nature than anything.
Useless trivia: his first appearance is the first Spider-Man story I ever read in English.

#22: Vulture (1963)
Another villain whose appearance is immediately a throwback to older stories, but he’s most definitely NOT a joke. He’s had his fair share of good stories, and he has a unique relationship with most of the original Spider-Man villains.
But I think he works best as a supporting villain for whatever formation of the Sinister Six shows up than as a solo act.

#21: Beetle, Abner Jenkins (1964)
One of the villains I hoped would get more attention. Which he DID by turning into a superhero thanks to the Thunderbolts. I generally don’t like when the character development of a villain-turned-hero is forgotten… but considering Marvel hasn’t done anything substantial with him since his version of the Thunderbolts was over, I would welcome an exception.

#20: Hydro-Man (1981)
One of the best “would be a huge threat if he wasn’t an idiot” jobbers. Works perfectly fine in the villain-of-the-first-act role; almost no personality, the sheer versatility of his powers can lead to good action. He’s also higher than Carnage because you don’t have to use him sparingly.

#19: Hobgoblin, Jason Macendale (1981)

The second Hobgoblin. He’s just a mercenary and not anywhere NEAR the other goblins, but it’s also why I like him. He allows you to do all the fun goblin action without any of the baggage.
Bonus point for eventually being given a personality and a tragic backstory.

#18: Beetle, Janice Lincoln (2010)
Another villain who I know mostly from “Superior Foes of Spider-Man” and other appearances. She fulfills three roles: she’s the rare female Spider-Man foe, she’s the even rarer daughter of another supervillain (her father is Tombstone), and most fascinatingly she’s the rarest kind of supervillain… she has a secret identity with a job more interesting than her crime one!
Because under the Beetle armor, she’s a crooked lawyer. Let’s hope Daredevil doesn’t steal her.

And while we’re on the subject…

#17: Tombstone (1988)

An underrated villain who’s been getting some recognition lately. He was already very compelling when he didn’t have any powers, being involved with a very interesting storyline with Peter’s occasional mentor Robbie Robertson. He’s only been getting more interesting over the years, and getting legitimate superpowers in the 90s (invulnerability and super-strength) means he can now get decent action scenes too.

#16: Kraven (1964)
He’s this low because he’s already had his perfect storyline. The fact that they resurrected him should have hurt his ranking more… except for the fact that, in-universe, Kraven KNOWS that he peaked. He didn’t want to get resurrected and he doesn’t want to do supervillain stuff anymore!
Which ironically enough makes him a more interesting character… but in his role as a villain, he shouldn’t get involved TOO often.

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A ranking: Sinister Syndicate

These are the villains that I would love to see fight Spider-Man at least once every couple of years, if not more.

#15: Boomerang (1966)
Not everyone can be a complex character and not every villain needs to conquer the world, which is why this category is filled with jobbers who just want to rob banks.
And Boomerang fulfills the role better than most.

#14: Speed Demon (1960)
Precisely the same motivation of Boomerang, but super-speed is a better power than throwing boomerangs. Plus while there are several Spider-Man villains who are stronger than him, Speed Demon is one of the few who are faster.

#13: Sandman (1963)
One of the most entertaining villains to watch in a fight. But I can’t get TOO invested in him being a big threat because it means forgetting the EXCELLENT character development he received in the 90s, where he was redeemed to the point of joining the Avengers. Only for it to be retconned by John Byrne, one of the few of his weird decisions that stuck.
But unlike Beetle I can accept him better as a villain because he was so good in the role!

#12: Scorpion (1965)
It’s weird that he was never even considered as Spider-Man’s nemesis, since he WAS created specifically to defeat him AND to be his dark reflection… in a way, he’s the Silver Age Venom.
He’s been all over the place over the years, and if they just stuck on ONE characterization I’m sure he can be awesome.

#11: Mysterio (1964)
He’s been one of the most consistent Spider-Man foes across his career. He can be a joke villain or a legitimate threat: he works very well in both roles, as well as support to other villains.
But you can’t use him TOO often, otherwise the reveal that he’s behind the mystery spoils his involvement.

#10: Rhino (1966)
Sometimes you just want to watch the hero defeat a villain who is both stronger and dumber than a pack of rhinos. He’s just fun and there’s something refreshing about his simplicity.

#9: Shocker (1967)
He didn’t start out as “the loser villain”, but it’s made him so much fun. He’s one of the few jobbers you actually root for! Not because he has a tragic backstory or a complex character… but because sometimes he deserves a win.

#8: Electro (1964)
I consider him the ideal version of the “I just want to rob banks” supervillain. They have tried to make him complex, but it doesn’t seem to stick. Possibly because it would just overcomplicates something that already works perfectly.
Plus I love that he’s the villain-of-the-week for Spider-Man only, but when he interacts with other heroes he becomes a much bigger deal. Ironically, that alone really hypes Spider-Man.

#7: Lizard (1963)
The only villain in the category who doesn’t rob banks! He works on SO many levels: he’s an incredible threat, he’s a tragic figure, he can be either horrific or kind of silly, and he brings with him Curt Connors as part of the deal.
Only two things prevent him from getting a higher ranking: the fact that whether Lizard has a personality or not changes every other appearance, and the fact that you shouldn’t use him TOO often if you still want to have Curt Connors around. And why wouldn’t you?

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S ranking: the Sinister Six

I consider these to be the best of the best.
Or, given the subject, the worst of the worst.

#6: Venom (1988)
He has several things that hold him back for me. He was overexposed and overhyped to extreme lengths in the early 90s, and the same happened again in the 2020s when he became even more of antihero than he already was.
But thinking back to his time as a straight-up Spider-Man villain, it’s incredible how much he REALLY worked. Things were VERY personal between the two, and everything even remotely associated with him was a really big deal.
I don’t find him very interesting NOW, but back then? The initial hype was backed up by a tremendous villain.

#5: Green Goblin, Harry Osborn (1964 as Harry, 1974 as Green Goblin)
And speaking of personal: what more can you get than being Spider-Man’s best friend turned into his worst enemy? As a supporting character Harry was already the best, although his initial stints as the Green Goblin were a disappointment. But when he put on the mask again in the 90s he was able to damage Peter like very few villains had, while also remaining a sympathetic and tragic figure.
I know he’s come back after One More Day, but that’s after I stopped regularly reading Spider-Man so anything he does there doesn’t affect the ranking.
He’s had a few good adaptations in other media, but mostly as Harry. As Green Goblin, not so much.

#4: Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley (1983)
His first appearance is one the very first Spider-Man stories I read, and I plan to review it next year.
I read him much earlier than I read Green Goblin stories, and he definitely left an impression! The mystery surrounding his identity was butchered by editorial miscommunications, but it still remains incredibly compelling to read.
If they hadn’t changed their minds about his identity in such a convoluted manner and if they hadn’t decided to double down on Norman Osborn, I truly believe Hobgoblin could have risen to the main Spider-Man villain.

#3: Green Goblin, Norman Osborn (1964)
Unpopular opinion perhaps, but I think the modern version of Norman is overrated. They just keep rehashing his rivalry with Peter and twisting the knife about him knowing the secret identity, and that doesn’t feel as fresh as it did in the 60s.
Turning him into Marvel’s own Lex Luthor was a good move in my opinion, but it stumbled because he was overused and didn’t interact with Spidey anymore.
Making him the guy behind the scenes in EVERYTHING has made him very boring to me, and these days whenever he shows up again I just roll my eyes.
He’s also a bit hurt by the adaptations, because the movies and the “Spectacular Spider-Man” cartoon where the only ones that I’m aware of that really gave him justice.
Still, how can you beat THAT influence? Well, see who’s next.

#2: Kingpin (1967)
He might have transitioned to being THE Daredevil villain for sure, but he’s never left Spider-Man. He’s the constant threat in the background, whether it’s pulling the strings of other villains or profiting from behind their backs.
Things are not personal with him as they are with Norman, and they rarely get into a physical fight. But Kingpin is a more stable presence: he’s a consistent villain, and while Norman has a bigger impact he tends to then disappear for longer stretches of time.
Plus, since Kingpin is mostly in the background, he’s not as overexposed as Norman can be.
Also helped by the adaptations, since they range from good to amazing.
If this list was based entirely on how a villain is important to the hero, Green Goblin would certainly outrank Kingpin… but weighting how much I find them interesting, I think there are almost no Norman Osborn stories worth telling.

#1: Doctor Octopus (1963)
Since I became a regular reader when Green Goblin had been dead for more than a decade and wouldn’t come back until much later, I’ve always felt Doctor Octopus was THE Spider-Man villain.
Unlike Norman he didn’t disappear for decades, and he wasn’t overused until the 2010s… by which point I wasn’t reading Spider-Man regularly, so it didn’t bother me.
And considering both the whole “Superior Spider-Man” thing AND Norman becoming more of an Avengers villains for a significant stretch of time… I believe Doc Ock is back on top.
Plus, when compared to Norman, I believe Doctor Octopus has more good adaptations.

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Just for fun, a couple of statistics from the above ranking:

CREATORS

• 16 out of 43 were created by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
• 4 out of 43 were created by Stan Lee & John Romita Senior
• 1 out of 43 was created by Stan Lee & Carl Burgos (the original Beetle)

ERAS

• 20 out of 43 are from the 60s
• 5 out of 43 are from the 70s
• 11 out of 43 are from the 80s
• 3 out of 43 are from the 90s
• 4 out of 43 are from the 2000s and later

VARIOUS

• 38 are males, 4 are females and 1 is a robot
• 5 out of 43 first appeared fighting a different superhero
• 7 out of 43 acted as a superhero or antihero at some point of their career