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Spider-Man Villains Who Could Join the MCU

Mysterio is in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but there are plenty of others we still haven't seen on the big screen who would work in the MCU.

By Marc Buxton | June 18, 2019 | | 0

Considering how many villains already appeared in the five Spider-Man movies released since 2002, not to mention the ones we already know are coming to Spider-Man: Far From Home, a fan would think that Hollywood has covered all the great Spider-Man villains (just think of how many were set up or teased in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, for example). With Marvel and Sony promising at least one more Spidey movie after Spider-Man: Far From Home, not to mention the Spider-Man spinoff movies Sony is readying with Venom 2, Morbius, and others, Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal, and friends are eager to give audiences something they haven’t seen before…and that means new villains.

Since Spidey has one of the greatest rogues’ galleries in all of comics, there are still plenty of quality bad guys who we haven’t seen on the big screen yet, not just in the MCU movies. Sure, it’s inevitable that Marvel Studios will want to tackle Norman Osborn again at some point, but since he’s already been such a presence in five other movies, we don’t think we need to go into details about that here. So here is a look at the Spider-Man villains who might share the screen with Tom Holland as we go forward…

Stegron, the Dinosaur Man

With ties to the Lizard, Stegron might be obscure, but he could be an intriguing possibility for a future Spidey film. Who wouldn’t want to see Spider-Man fight dinosaurs? Stegron controls dinosaurs, which if you think about it, might be the most useless power ever. Let’s say Oscorp creates dinosaurs and then creates Stegron. It could happen right? There’s some strange things going on behind Oscorp walls.

Let’s not pretend that Spidey fighting a T-Rex wouldn’t make the five year old in all of us hyperventilate with excitement.

Videoman

Yeah, Videoman. To any child of the ’80s, Videoman was as integral a part of the world of Spider-Man as the Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus. Videoman was introduced in the first season of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends and he trapped our intrepid heroes in a stand up arcade console.

Listen, in the ’80s, there wasn’t a comic film every two months, or a bunch of TV shows featuring our beloved comic icons. We took what we had, and what we had was Videoman, and we loved him.

Man Wolf

Poor John Jameson was sort of wasted in his first and only film appearance in Spider-Man 2. The son of J. Jonah Jameson was left at the altar by Mary Jane and then never heard from again. An American hero and astronaut deserves better, especially one that has a tendency to transform into a werewolf. J.J.J. will probably be reintroduced in the new Marvel Spider-Man movie so it would be a simple matter to introduce his son, a character Spidey rescued in his very first issue back in 1963.

When Jameson is exposed to the Godstone during a space mission, he was transformed into the Man Wolf. At first, Man Wolf was a fairly typical werewolf, but then he took to the cosmos and found that in space; he could control the wolf and became a galactic champion called Stargod. Yes, he was like Flash Gordon, but a werewolf. Can you say: solo movie?

Speed Demon

The Flash is a TV star while Quicksilver has appeared in two, count ’em two, film franchises. As all this proves, everyone loves a speedster and with the comic’s heroic runners present and accounted for across all platforms of media, maybe it’s time fans get to experience a faster than light douchebag like Speed Demon.

In the pages of The Superior Foes of Spider-Man (you need to go read this comic), the Speed Demon stole a puppy. At super speed. He’s a dick. And if featured in a future Spider-Man film he can be a high profile dick.

Swarm

He’s a Nazi made of bees, what else do you need to know?

Who can forget his signature cry of “SWWWWARRRRMMMM” from his appearance on Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends? Swarm could be an Oscorp experiment gone horribly wrong. I mean really wrong. I mean “Nazi made of angry bees wrong.” In a cloak.

Big Wheel

Of all the villains that have not yet appeared in a Spider film, none are more worthy… no, I can’t DAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Big Wheel, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, what an ass. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I’d like to buy a vowel HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Look at this schmuck HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ok, moving on…

Hydro Man

First appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #212 (1981)

Created by Dennis O’Neil and John Romita, Jr.

Seriously, this list could almost be called the top 25 villains created by John Romita Sr and Jr…jeez, what a creative force of nature that family is. Anyway, we got to see Sandman featured in Spider-Man 3, and while that isn’t the best Spidey movie of the bunch, the Sandman scenes were really powerful and visually stunning. If you think about it, Hydro Man has a pretty terrifying power, the ability to drown anyone, anywhere, or sneak into any facility through a faucet or a, eww, toilet.

The comics never really gave Hydro Man his due, but let’s all be honest, the second you saw the water aliens in The Abyss back in the day, you thought of old Hydro Man. And who can forget, Amazing Spider-Man #217 (1981), where Hydro Man and Sandman bonded to form the gigantic Mud Thing, an event so traumatic, it led to Sandman reforming, another seminal Spider event that would make good film fodder.

And think of the Poland Spring endorsement deals!

Spider Queen

Lots of classic villains on this list, but other than Morlun, there’s not a great deal of modern baddies. Well, the Spider Queen is certainly deserving of consideration. The Queen was originally the first female Marine to go into combat in World War II, when she was exposed to radiation from an atomic bomb test; her “insect gene” is activated. She wants to transform the world’s population into arachnid hybrids like her, and was the big bad in Dan Slott’s fantastic Spider-Island event.

Jack O’Lantern

Another heir to Green Goblin legacy, the villain known as Jack O’Lantern started out as something of a joke. There have been a number of Jacks over the years, and they have gotten more deadly as time has marched on. The original Jack, Jason Macendale took up the legacy of the Hobgoblin, but it’s the newest Jack O’Lantern introduced in the pages of Venom, that has become one of the most horrific new villains in the Marvel Universe.

As a child, this new, unnamed Jack O’Lantern murdered his own parents under orders from the Crime Master and claims to have killed all the former wearers of the Jack O’Lantern suit. Ties to the Goblin legend and ties to Venom, and a cold blooded psychotic freak, this often overlooked creep show has all the makings of an A-list film villain.

Hammerhead

Spidey’s war with organized crime is on hold while he deals with Oscorp and their future cadre of enhanced killers, but crime is still rampant and the tattooed killer is still out there. Hammerhead is the most Dick Tracy-esque of all Marvel villains, and might be a bit anachronistic for the big screen, or he might be the exact thing future Spidey films need to be different.

How many hi-tech villains can one franchise have? Maybe we need a little old school evil, and this cigar chomping old school douchebag fits the bill.

Tarantula

What’s cooler than a mustachioed mercenary with pointy shoes? Pretty much nothing really, am I right?

Tarantula was one of the cooler Spidey villains introduced in the ’70s and in the pages of the comics, he sometimes transforms into a Man Spider, and we all know how much Hollywood likes its giant beasties.

C’mon, it’s a dude with a bandana mask and stabby boots, how is that not marketable?

The Beetle

The original Beetle was created by Carl Burgos, the creator of Marvel’s original super-hero the Golden Age Human Torch. That’s some cool stuff right there.

Anyway, the Beetle is a unique visual with his odd extendy fingers, his unique helmet and his funky wings. The original Beetle armor would have a really cool retro vibe if put in the film, or Marvel can go the route of the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon by making the Beetle a silent, armored killer.

Whatever way they go, as all Thunderbolts fans know, Abner Jenkins becomes more than a one note villain when he turns to the side of the angels while a member of the T-Bolts, and that little added wrinkle could be just the edge the Beetle needs to be a pretty compelling movie villain.

Sin Eater

When Sin Eater arrived on the scene in the early ’80s, things got very real for Spider-Man and his world. The Death of Jean Dewolff was the first major work by legendary writer Peter David and it remains one of the most intense, grounded, and violent Spider-Man stories of all time. Any true Spider-Fan should be giddy with anticipation at the prospects of seeing the Sin Eater on the big screen.

read more: Who is Carnage?

It can be argued that the Sin Eater saga was when Spidey grew up and the saga also started Eddie Brock on his dark path as the photojournalist wrongly accused the wrong man of being the Sin Eater. Any movie focused on Sin Eater would be a departure for the Spidey films, but it would certainly make the new Marvel Spider-Man movie stand out from the crowded superhero pack.

Vermin

Spider-Man movies certainly like their human/animal hybrids, and there are none of those combos more horrifically disturbing than Eddie Whelan, the creature known as Vermin. In the comics, Vermin was created by none other than Arnim Zola, who we’ve gotten to know in movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and on Agent Carter.

Vermin was the perpetual victim, a misunderstood and tormented creature suddenly given unspeakable power. Like Curt Conners’ ability to control lizards, Vermin can control rats and stray dogs, so there is film precedent for Vermin’s abilities. Vermin also ties into the classic Kraven’s Last Hunt storyline, and wouldn’t we all like to see that story adapted to the screen with Vermin along for the ride!

Tombstone

Lonnie Lincoln, albino gangster and cold-blooded killer, has been one of Spidey’s most enduring street level foes. In fact, when Daredevil absconded with Kingpin, Tombstone took over as head gangster of Spidey’s world.

Tombstone is an incredible visual and is a very different animal than the science freaks Spidey has been fighting in the recent set of films. The comic Tombstone has a deep connection to Daily Bugle editor in chief Robbie Robertson, so once the Bugle crew is introduced in earnest; it could also be time to introduce the iciest gangster in Spidey history, the stone cold killer, Tombstone.

Carrion

Whoa Nellie, is this a complicated one. Carrion started out as the rotting clone of Miles Warren (more on him in a bit) but the Carrion persona ended up being wielded by two other sick and twisted individuals. A future film could jettison all that and just focus on the villain’s horrific power set, the ability to turn organic matter to dust, telepathy, levitation, telekinesis, and intangibility.

No matter who wielded the power, Carrion was a freak of science, a lab-created nightmare and could be Harry Osborn’s ultimate weapon against Peter Parker or a master villain in his own right. Carrion was also a running buddy of Carnage and could fit into any saga that utilizes that particular maniac, like teaming John Wayne Gacy and Jeffry Dahmer, but with really, really scary super-powers.

Morlun

Not every idea J. Michael Straczynski presented in his run on Amazing Spider-Man was gold (Gwen and Norman Osborn having an affair my webbed butt), but the introduction of the villainous Morlun was the stuff of legend. When Morlun appears, fans get the feeling that Spidey cannot win; he is the ultimate test for Peter and one that Peter has barely survived. Morlun is the devourer of those with Spider powers, an ancient evil that does not rest.

To Morlun, the ol’ Web-Head is a totem, a being that carries an animal spirit, and to Morlun, these beings are dangerous and must be destroyed. As we all know, there are plenty of totemistic beings in the Spider film universe, which could be just what Morlun needs to make his big screen debut. Morlun would up the ante for Peter, a foe that really tests Peter’s power and will.

Plus, Morlun rocks an ascot, so you know he’s badass.

The Jackal

The mad geneticist Miles Warren, a former professor of Gwen and Peter, cloned poor Gwen, kicking off a cycle of torture for Peter Parker that ended with one of the most infamous stories of all time, The Clone Saga. The Jackal was in love with Gwen and couldn’t live without her; he blamed Peter for her death and created a clone of Gwen and later, a clone of Spider-Man himself.

Okay, maybe he’s best saved for later movies…

Chameleon

He was the first costumed villain Spider-Man ever faced. Chameleon has deep familial ties with Kraven the Hunter, a character who has also never been seen on film. Whether with Kraven or solo, the Chameleon is one of Spidey’s deadliest foes because he could literally be anyone. The first Spider-Man villain definitely deserves some film love, and his power set would bring some unique challenges to the big screen.

Hobgoblin

Spider-Man’s greatest foe of the post Bronze Age era. Many different men have worn the mask of the Hobgoblin to bedevil Peter Parker for decades. Whether it was the original Hobgoblin Roderick Kingsley or the arrogant scoundrel Phil Urich of the modern era, the image of the Hobgoblin has always caused Spidey fans’ hearts to skip a beat. The Hobgoblin has always been the next step in the Osborn heritage of evil. Maybe the MCU Spidey movies can distinguish themselves by skipping the “green” and going straight for the “hob.”

Marvel needs a new kind of villain for their movies, and could feature different men behind the Hobgoblin mask. Seriously, who can forget the cover of Hobgoblin’s first appearance? The villain ripping an effigy of Spider-Man in half is burned into the brains of Spider-fans forever. Not many villains secure their legacy on their first cover appearance alone, but Hobgoblin did and it’s time that legacy extended to other media.

The Scorpion

Yeah, we know, Michael Mando already showed up as Mac Gargan in Spider-Man: Homecoming and his villainous future was teased even further in that movie’s post-credits scene. But until he’s in that green suit, it doesn’t count! Possibly the longest running and most important Spidey villain not yet featured in a film, the Scorpion has deep ties to Spidey, Venom, and the freshly sort-of introduced J. Jonah Jameson. Mac Gargan was a salty dude, a skell that was hired by Jameson to at first track Peter Parker and then, to be grafted into the Scorpion battle suit, a suit which he got trapped in, making him into a freak and a bitter killer. The hate filled Gargan dedicated his life to destroying both Spidey and Jameson. The insect motif, the quest for vengeance, the obsession, all these aspects of the Scorpion would make Gargan a perfect screen villain.

Spider-Man: Far From Home opens on July 2.

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Written by

Marc Buxton

Marc Buxton is an English teacher/private tutor by day,and a super-hyper-uber geek by night. Marc spent six years on the frontlines as a comic retailer before…