Every Spider-Man Movie Villain, Ranked

Image via 21st Century Fox

All things considered, Fox tried its best with this one. Spider-Man 3 folded because it was trying to do too many things at once. After coming off of what many consider the best Spider-Man movie from any franchise with Spider-Man 2, Sam Raimi and company bit off more than they could chew by trying to incorporate Sandman, Harry Osborn’s New Goblin, and Venom into the third film.

This version of Eddie Brock, played by Topher Grace, felt more like a slapstick character than a foil to Peter Parker, and Venom was introduced as a power-up for Spider-Man in the form of the dope black suit instead of his own character. However, that being said, the dopest thing Venom brought in this movie was the black suit—albeit coming with Peter’s very awkward, very meme-able bad boy attitude. Plus, Venom’s comic-accurate design revealed in the film’s final act pales in comparison to how he looks now in Sony's franchise.

I can’t even look at Dane Dehaan and not think of his angsty, sociopathic character in 2012’s Chronicle, and his take on Harry Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn’t too far off from that, either. This movie suffered from the same flaws as Spider-Man 3, where they tried to do too much in too little time. Jamie Foxx’s Electro could have sufficed, but then they introduce Dehaan as this ‘roided up Green Goblin, and it never felt like he was fully fleshed out as a villain. The movie did an OK job developing Peter and Harry’s friendship, but Harry’s turn to madness still felt rushed.

This Goblin’s greatest feat was that he was basically responsible for the death of Gwen Stacy, a twist that would have been interesting to dive into had Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man series continued. But beyond that, Harry never convinced us that the glider was his to ride, making him just another eccentric big bad for Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man to defeat.

Say what you want about Spider-Man 3, but James Franco’s portrayal of Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin, aptly dubbed the New Goblin, was one of the coldest villains in the movie. Harry had been with us throughout the entire Raimi trilogy and grew parallel to Peter, just dealing with different demons. Spider-Man remained the bane of his existence after he believed he murdered his father, and when he discovered that the masked menace is really his best friend, it made his quest for vengeance more morally ambiguous. The whole amnesia thing in the middle portion of the movie was dumb and likely due to Spider-Man 3 having way too many villains in it already. Still, the way Harry was able to redeem himself in the end gave his character more meaning. 

This version of Electro is greater than the sum of his parts because it’s easy to feel bad for him. All Max Dillion wanted was to be seen. He had been bullied and tossed aside his entire life, and Spider-Man was the first person to notice him. When he falls into his abilities, literally, he reflects a powerless person that’s become drunk off his newfound authority. He’s just misunderstood, and while that doesn’t excuse his turn to villainy, it does make him more relatable as an overall character.

This Electro is also kind of overpowered and presented one of the most difficult challenges for Garfield’s Spider-Man. Their battle in Times Square has some of the most impressive power feats from the webhead in any iteration of the character, and beating him represented a legitimate hurdle that he overcame to become a full-fledged hero. Considering he’ll likely be making a return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it will be interesting to see how he’s grown as a character since The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and how Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will fare against his impressive electrical abilities.

One of the qualities of a great villain is having a motive that makes sense. Sandman is similar to other Spider-Man villains in that he never wanted his powers. He just wanted to get medication to help his sick daughter and was at the wrong place at the wrong time, so many of his misdeeds feel like a byproduct of happenstance. However, what separates him from other villains in previous films is his pivotal role in Peter Parker’s character progression.

Sandman is the one that killed Uncle Ben in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, making him the reason Peter became a hero in the first place. Flint Marko sits at the pinnacle of why Peter Parker is Spider-Man and the item of some of his darkest desires. Sandman is the character that brings those demons to light and makes Spider-Man face the ugliest parts of himself, resulting in a suspenseful fight sequence in the sewer where Peter turns to the dark side and allows his black symbiote suit to consume him.

Without forgiving him later, Peter would never have fully accepted Uncle Ben’s death and, thus, grow from it. Sandman’s powers and how they’re displayed in Spider-Man 3 are cool, too. He’s sand personified which is a pretty broken ability. In reality, he should have been the main villain of Spider-Man 3. 

Lizard is a sleeper villain in the Spider-Man cinematic universe, but he deserves his credit. Following the same blueprint as Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2, Curtis Connors was a mentor figure for Garfield’s Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man, thus making their conflict that much more meaningful. Peter didn’t know how to be Spider-Man and definitely didn’t know how to fight a mutant reptile.

The Lizard is also another antagonist who became a monster by accident, and that adds another layer to his moral ambiguity and Peter’s struggle in defeating him. That moral battle helped this Spider-Man grow as a character and ultimately made The Amazing Spider-Man a franchise that could have been exciting if its subsequent film was better. His return in Spider-Man: No Way Home might be the most interesting because he’s not one-dimensional. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to help MCU Peter alongside Sandman against the likes of Electro, Doc Ock, and the Green Goblin.

Mysterio gets bonus points as a villain because he has genuine ill-intent the entire time. Unlike most Spider-Man villains, whose misguided decision-making results from a distorted moral compass or troubled past, Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home is just a bad guy who exploits Peter’s naivety and uses it to almost kill him. He’s a trickster with surgical precision who makes up for his lack of tangible powers with illusions like his abilities in the comics. And because he’s a mortal man, he knows he’s at a disadvantage and fights with an edge of desperation that makes him more dangerous.

Peter needed a villain like this to go up against so he could really be tested and to understand the risks that come with being an Avenger. After losing to Mysterio in the movie’s first half, he learns what it’s like living in a post-Endgame world where Tony Stark can’t save him. Through that experience, Peter finally finds his footing as Spider-Man, culminating in a mastery of his spider-sense. He needed Mysterio to overcome that hurdle, not to mention he literally ruins Peter’s life and basically sets up the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home by revealing his secret identity. All in all, Mysterio checks the boxes when it comes to being downright evil and still manages to get the last laugh in the end.

What makes Tom Holland’s Spider-Man special is that he feels like a real kid. He’s naive, curious, and is just trying to figure out who he is just like any other 15-year-old high schooler, with the added stress of having superpowers and trying to be an Avenger. Spider-Man: Homecoming brings the galactic battles we’re used to in the MCU back down to Earth, and there was no better first foe for Peter Parker to face than the father of his high school crush, Adrian Toomes, better known as the Vulture.

The Vulture’s MCU backstory is American in nature. Like many other regular people in the MCU, he had his way of life stripped by the Avengers and the collateral damage they create. His ambition comes from a willingness to do anything to support his family, which makes him more an anti-hero than a full-blown villain. But he’s a perfect antagonist for a freshman Spider-Man because he’s not some overpowered alien or mutant. He’s just a man similar to the way Peter is just a kid. Spider-Man: Homecoming is a coming-of-age story as much as it is a superhero movie, and the Vulture is a pivotal figure in helping Peter Parker figure out who he is as a person before he tries to figure out who he is as a hero later on.

When you think of Spider-Man, one of the first villains that come to mind is the Green Goblin. He is the pumpkin-bomb-throwing, glider-riding triple OG whose haunting cackle can be heard two universes away; and Willem Dafoe’s portrayal of Norman Osborn in Sam Raimi’s iconic Spider-Man has yet to be topped. The Goblin is a force to be reckoned with, no matter how you look at it. With his psyche tearing apart at the seems the entire film, the Green Goblin is an agent of chaos whenever he’s on-screen. He poses a legitimate physical threat to Peter Parker at all times, and he’s the first villain the burgeoning hero faced. There’s no better way to be introduced into the hero business than by getting launched through several brick walls and almost dying in a burning building. What makes the Green Goblin a great Spider-Man villain is that he forces Peter to become Spider-Man via trial-by-fire.

Goblin also beats the shit out of him in ways that have yet to be replicated in another Spider-Man movie. He was a full-blown savage who even bulldozed his way into Aunt May’s crib like some emerald devil. All of that, coupled with the guilt Peter feels after learning he just killed his best friend’s dad, makes the Green Goblin one of the best Spider-Man villains of all time, on and off the silver screen. Marvel’s Peter has seen nothing like him, and he’s definitely going to need some help to beat him in No Way Home.

Spider-Man 2 is (probably) the best Spider-Man movie ever, and Alfred Molina as Dr. Otto Octavius is one of the main reasons. Like the Green Goblin, Doc Ock is a classic nemesis to Spider-Man in the comics. Raimi maintains the character’s most menacing qualities while simultaneously inverting them, making us both fear and sympathize with the misunderstood mad scientist. Octavius and Peter engage in a war of ideologies that parallel the physical battles they were having on buildings, in coffee shops, and on that iconic train. These moments are paired with Peter Parker’s identity crisis as he begins to suddenly lose his powers, a dynamic that we follow alongside his duels with Doc Ock. And then there’s his monstrous strength and feats. The ominous music that proceeds the arrival of Doc Ock, four mechanical tendrils first, as they prepare to rain napalm and chaos is a feeling that can’t be replicated in another Spider-Man film. 

Doc Ock also made for such a great antagonist because he could see the error in his ways and redeem himself. Ultimately, he needed to fall from grace to rise above his mistakes using his claws, completing his character arc, and playing into Peter’s core principle—with great power comes great responsibility. There’s a reason why his introduction to the MCU will draw a significant crowd to see Spider-Man: No Way Home. Molina delivered an astounding performance in Spider-Man 2, and fans are just happy to have him back for another ride.