When it comes to supervillains, no Marvel hero has a lineup of foes that can match Spider-Man. While The Fantastic Four’s Doctor Doom or the X-Men’s Magneto are certainly heavy hitters in the Marvel Universe, Spider-Man’s rogues gallery has been one of the most enduring in all of comics that is rivaled only by DC’s Batman. There are so many great villains that filmmakers have leaped at the chance to put them on screen. Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Venom, Sandman, Lizard, Electro, Rhino, Vulture, Shocker, and Mysterio have all been adapted to live-action to fight Spider-Man.
Yet it speaks to the character’s vast library of characters; there are plenty more that Spider-Man has yet to cross paths with. It is easy to see why Spider-Man can not only be rebooted so many times but also could sustain so many movies because he has plenty of villains that would make for worthy antagonists with compelling backstories, dangerous powers, and plenty of storytelling opportunities. Instead of redoing Green Goblin or Venom again, maybe it might be time to look at some other names from the comics. These are the ten most powerful Spider-Man villains he has yet to face off against in live-action, but we sure want him to.
10

Chameleon

Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963)
The first of many villains on this list who has appeared in live-action thanks to Sony’s failed attempts at a cinematic universe but still has yet to cross paths with Spider-Man is Chameleon. Chameleon is the very first supervillain Spider-Man faced off in the comics. Dmitri Smerdyakov is a master of disguise who can take the form of anyone. The ability to take the form of anyone, even someone close to Peter Parker, could do a number on the hero’s psyche; would he ignore his spider-sense going off if he was around faces he trusted?
On the surface, Chameleon doesn’t seem like the most dangerous villain, as shape-shifting might not be the most powerful in combat. Yet, like Mysterio, Chameleon can attack Spider-Man psychologically, making him distrustful of everyone around him, forcing the hero to isolate, and taking away the sense of community that is one of the hero’s strengths. Chameleon could take over the position of key figures in power, which could make Spider-Man look more like a menace in the eyes of the public. He certainly would add the flair of a psychological thriller, which would be a nice change of pace for a Spider-Man movie.
9

Scorpion

Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #19 (December 1964)
While the MCU introduced a version of Scorpion’s alter ego, Mac Gargan, in Spider-Man: Homecoming, it has been nearly eight years, and the character has not suited up as the villain. In the comics, Gargan was a private eye hired by J. Jonah Jameson to undergo a procedure to turn him into a natural hunter of spiders and scorpions. Equipped with a dangerous tail that can both cut his foes and inject them with poison to disorient them, Scorpion is a foe not to be taken lightly.
We’ve written before about how Mac Gargan/Scorpion could be made into the MCU’s version of Venom as a way to tie up the symbiote thread for Spider-Man: No Way Home. That is still something that Marvel should consider. However, Scorpion on his own is a compelling villain, one that could make for some exciting fight sequence given he is one of the few villains that can fight Spider-Man by crawling on walls, potentially allowing a filmmaker to match the first battle with Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2. He might not be a grand villain, but he is the small-scale threat that fans want to see the franchise return to in Spider-Man 4.
8

The Spider-Slayers

Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #25 (June 1965)
The Spider-Slayers are to Spider-Man what the Sentinels are to the X-Men, a robotic force that is designed to hunt and kill him. Professor Spencer Smythe created the first Spider-slayers with the financial backing of J. Jonah Jameson, and they have evolved over the years. In the comics, Spencer’s son, Alister Smythe, took over the Spider-Slayer project and even mutated himself into a human Spider-Slayer. Yet the most iconic incarnation of the foes are the robotic weapons that are created for the sole purpose of hunting down Spider-Man.

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Spider-Slayers as a concept changes the dynamic of a Spider-Man fight. With them being essentially an army of robots, Spider-Man is not fighting one foe one-on-one, but an army, which is something audiences haven’t seen from Spidey before. A massive wave of drones might be familiar to every other superhero movie, but not Spider-Man (save for his brief fight against E.D.I.T.S.’s drone army at the end of Far From Home).
Filmmakers could draw from the fun variety of designs the Spider-Slayers have had over the years. They also could be the attack of another villain, possibly The Kingpin or even the Chameleon, as we mentioned earlier.
7

Molten Man

Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #28 (September 1965)
While one could technically argue that Spider-Man did fight Molten Man in Spider-Man: Far From Home, as the fire elemental was a homage to the character, it only had simulated versions of his powers and not the unique circumstances that make Molten Man a dangerous and compelling foe for Spider-Man, so we say it doesn’t count.
Molten Man’s real name is Max Raxton, and he is the stepbrother of Spider-Man’s love interest, Liz Allen. Molten Man’s origins are tied to the Spider-Slayers, as he was the assistant of Professor Spencer Smythe and ended up stealing an experimental material that was to be used on a new prototype. Instead, it turned Raxton’s skin gold and covered in fires, making it impossible for Spider-Man to web him up or even lay a hand on him without getting burned.
Molten Man, being the stepbrother of one of Spider-Man’s romantic interests, and later the wife of his best friend Harry Osborn, creates a unique type of drama that elevates Mark as a villain. While there is the immediate danger of a villain who creates dangerous fires when he walks that he cannot control, there is also the added drama of not wanting to hurt a family member or someone you love at the risk of them hating you.
With Liz Allen being established in the MCU and likely already having a hatred for Spider-Man after putting her dad, The Vulture, away, having her stepbrother (or brother if they take The Spectacular Spider-Man route) turn into a foe as well would likely make her hate Spider-Man even more.
6

Morbius

Created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #101 (October 1971)
It’s Morbin’ time! While Morbius might have been given the big screen treatment with 2022’s feature film, the movie’s box office and critical reaction is one many would likely want to forget. Dr. Michael Morbius is a famous biochemist who contracts a rare blood disease, which he then tries to cure by using a combination of experimental chemicals and samples of vampire bats, which ends up giving him powers similar to that of a vampire, including the thirst for human blood to keep his condition at bay.
Morbius debuted as a Spider-Man foe but was given a sympathetic backstory from the beginning and eventually morphed into a full-blown anti-hero, so the movie’s attempt to make him one was not without precedent. Yet, he is a character that needs Spider-Man, as he is a different type of threat to the hero.
Spider-Man fighting a vampire is already a cool pitch, and it is one Sam Raimi would likely have had a field day with. With so many superhero stories about fighting and defeating a villain, Morbius is a foe that Spider-Man wouldn’t just want to defeat but would be actively working to save. That tragedy behind the character and potential for good would make for a compelling story and terrifying action.
5

Man-Wolf

Created by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #124 (June 1973)
Speaking of Spider-Man foes that are scientific-based spins on classic supernatural monsters, The Man-Wolf feels like an ideal candidate for Spider-Man on several levels. Initially introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 as astronaut John Jameson, the son of Spider-Man’s number one critic, J. Jonah Jameson, in the 1970s, Marvel turned John into Man-Wolf. On a trip to the moon, John Jameson finds a mythical ruby called a Godstone, which is grafted to him. When moonlight hit it, he transformed into the monstrous Man-Wolf, a feral monster similar to that of a werewolf. Spider-Man fighting a werewolf is a blockbuster pitch as far as we are concerned.
John Jameson was featured in Spider-Man 2, played by Daniel Gillies, as the fiancee of Mary Jane Watson, who she left at the alter. Spider-Man 3 honestly could have followed up with him becoming either Man-Wolf or Venom, and it likely would have been better than the finished project.
Man-Wolf, like Morbius, is a foe who starts out as a monster but later becomes an ally of Spider-Man. Man-Wolf also has a long-term romantic relationship with Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk, with the two even being married for a short time. Man-Wolf could face off with Spider-Man in an MCU movie and later be redeemed in a She-Hulk follow-up that puts the two together.
4

Mister Negative

Created by Dan Slott and Phil Jimenez
First Appearance: Free Comic Book Day: The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (May 2007)
One of Spider-Man’s newest foes in the comics, Mister Negative, is likely best known for his role in Insomniac’s Marvel Spider-Man game from 2018 and its sequel, 2023’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Originally a Chinese gangster who underwent experimentation, the character can harness both Darkforce and Lightforce energy. He is split into two personalities. The Mister Positive posing as a benevolent and kind philanthropist named Martin Li, who founded the F.E.A.S.T. Project as a means to help homeless people, and the ruthless crime lord Mister Negative, who leads the Inner Demons gang and desires to take over the criminal underworld.

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Mister Negative has the ability to channel his energy into blast and individual weapons, but he also can manipulate a person’s mind by corrupting them. Spider-Man has fought many low-level criminals and supervillains on screen, but they tend to be separate cases. He has never taken on a supervillain with his crime organization, particularly one with a powerful energy that even Spider-Man might not fully understand. Mister Negative is a new foe but a powerful one who would make for a great big-screen antagonist who would be one of Spidey’s most dangerous threats yet.
3

Kraven the Hunter

Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August 1964)
Just forget that recent Kraven the Hunter movie (based on the box office; everyone just ignored it). Kraven the Hunter is one of the Spider-Man’s most powerful foes. Every director who has helmed a Spider-Man movie, from Sam Raimi to Marc Webb to Jon Watts, considered Kraven the Hunter as a potential Spider-Man movie villain. Why Sony decided to waste him in a spin-off movie and make him an anti-hero is a mystery, but when it comes to great villains, Spider-Man fights on screen, Kraven has been a fan-favorite for decades. He deserves redemption because the 2024 film can’t be his only live-action appearance.
Everyone’s natural inclination for a Kraven the Hunter vs. Spider-Man project is to pull from “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” the definitive Kraven the Hunter storyline and one of the best Spider-Man comics of all time. Yet that storyline has a lot of specific context, one informed by years of history between Spider-Man and Kraven.
A potential storyline that would fit well with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man would be Spider-Man: Blue, a story that retcons Peter Parker’s early relationship with Gwen Stacy, but it also retcons that Kraven the Hunter was behind many of the villains who attacked Spider-Man between The Amazing Spider-Man #40–48 and #63. Kraven the Hunter, a villain who not only stalks Spider-Man waiting for the perfect time to strike but also strengthens him to make him a worthy foe, would make for a compelling Spider-Man movie.
2

Morlun (and the Inheritors)

Created by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr.
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #30 (June 2001)
If you followed superhero movie rumors in the late 2000s, you might remember that before Spider-Man 3 hit theaters, Cinemablend ran a rumor that one of their sources said the villain Morlun was being considered for the main villain of Spider-Man 4. This rumor turned out to be bogus, as Spider-Man 4 was set to feature The Vulture as its central villain before it was canceled. Yet, along with the presence of the Multiverse and particularly the Spider-Verse concept in recent years, Morlun feels like an ideal antagonist.
Morlun is a villain to all Spider-Men across the multiverse, hunting all spider-themed heroes across different realities. He is best described as a cross between Kraven the Hunter and Morbius. He is the main antagonist of the original 2014 Spider-Verse story but is often overlooked when it comes to adaptations of the story because of how complicated his lore and mythology can be. His family, The Inheritors, hunt and kill Spider-themed heroes because they are prophesied to overthrow them.
With the Multiverse Saga still in full swing, Morlun might be the perfect foe for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man 4 as he would provide not only a great excuse to reunite Tom Holland with Andrew Garfield and Tobey Magurie’s Spider-Man but also possibly crossover with Nicolas Cage starring Spider-Man Noir series, Emma Stone appearing as a live-action Spider-Gwen and other spider variants. Morlun could easily be a foe that unites these different heroes.
1

Carnage

Created by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #361 (April 1992)
One of Spider-Man’s most popular foes that he has yet to face on the big screen is Carnage. Carnage did get the live-action treatment in 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which was a better-than-expected take on the character, but it was not the same without Spider-Man. Carnage, along with Venom, was THE Spider-Man foe in the 1990s and, for an entire generation, is one of his greatest foes that they’ve always wanted to see on the big screen.
Serial killer Cletus Kassidy bonds with a piece of the symbiote that Eddie Brock/Venom leaves behind, becoming the more powerful and dangerous villain Carnage, ultimately leading to Venom and Spider-Man teaming up.
While Morlun might be more powerful than Carnage on a cosmic level, Carnage is undoubtedly more dangerous because of how vicious and chaotic he is. Similar to the Joker in The Dark Knight, Carnage’s violence is random. He kills for pleasure, a type of foe that no live-action Spider-Man has faced. Every other villain is motivated by revenge or power, but Carange loves killing for the sake of it, and the symbiote gives him the power to do as he pleases.
Carnage being so powerful not only calls for Spider-Man and Venom to form an alliance but is likely someone so strong that it could draw in other Marvel heroes to assist Spider-Man. Carnage is the Spider-Man villain that fans most want to see fight in live-action, and one whose power levels would demand an epic team-up.