Spider-Man has some great villains, but there are several that nobody ever talks about, but deserve more respect. The big problem is that, in Marvel Comics, Spider-Man is a lot like Batman in DC, with so many villains that many of them end up neglected and ignored. This includes some big-name villains from early in Spider-Man’s career, but characters who have somewhat been forgotten over time, or worse yet, turned into a joke where no one can take them seriously anymore. However, many great Spider-Man villains were once big deals, and no one talks about them anymore, but more people should.
From Spider-Man’s first-ever supervillain to someone who has almost killed him more than once, here are seven great Spider-Man villains nobody talks about anymore.
7) Hammerhead
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Spider-Man has faced many street-level gangsters over the years. Everyone talks about Kingpin. The Hood has become popular thanks to the Ironheart streaming series, and Tombstone is popular again thanks to Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. However, no one really talks about Hammerhead anymore. Hammerhead debuted in Marvel Comics in Amazing Spider-Man #113, and he was part of the early Gang Wars with Doctor Octopus.
However, it seems that Hammerhead has become nothing more than a Spider-Man villain brought into stories during times of gang warfare on the streets, such as when Kingpin stepped down as mayor and a power vacuum emerged. Even in these moments, he is often just a nuisance and is nowhere near as respected as he should be, and he is almost always just shoved aside for more respected gangsters like Tombstone.
6) Rose
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Rose is a great Spider-Man villain who has been mostly forgotten and barely acknowledged, aside from his father resurrecting him a few years back. Rose is Richard Fisk, the son of Wilson Fisk and Vanessa Fisk. One would think that, as the son of the Kingpin, vying for power, he would have been in bigger stories, but Marvel mostly used him for a few great stories, and then time passed him by.
His first appearances saw him seeking to bring his father down because he didn’t know about Fisk’s criminal empire, and he was embarrassed when it became public. This made him a rare character who was both an enemy of Kingpin and Spider-Man. Rose was then part of the Hobgoblin storyline and ended up in a long-running story where he mentally fell apart and was killed by his own mother, who then died herself after this tragic act. He was a dark character with a lot of depth that more people should respect.
5) Alistair Smythe
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
The Spider-Slayers seem mostly tied to J. Jonah Jameson in the past, since he commissioned the robots’ construction to destroy Spider-Man. It was Spencer Smythe who built the originals, and even in Marvel Strike Force, it is JJJ’s face on the Spider-Slayer. However, the character’s best use came with Spencer’s son, Alastair Smythe. Alastair hated Spider-Man and blamed him for his father’s death, and he set out to avenge this, even teaming up with the Kingpin.
Smythe had a complicated history in Spider-Man comics, as he ended up severely injured in a battle with Spider-Man and then began to lose his mental faculties, eventually ending up in Ravencroft, where he now lived using a wheelchair. Most recently, he was part of the 2024 Gang War storyline, but, like Hammerhead, he was never really respected beyond being an afterthought.
4) The Chameleon
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
It seems wrong that no one talks about Chameleon, because this was the very first Spider-Man villain in comics. He was the bad guy in Amazing Spider-Man #1, but then became an afterthought, as the villains who followed him drew fans’ attention more than he did. Marvel tried to get him more involved when they revealed he was Kraven the Hunter’s half-brother.
This is unfortunate, since Chameleon was a great villain because he could do more than just brute-force fight Spider-Man. The master of disguise, he could become anybody and destroy Spidey’s life in more interesting ways. He was even given a chance in the movies, appearing in Kraven the Hunter, but even there, no one discussed the possibilities he offered for future stories.
3) Morlun
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Everyone should be talking about Morlun, although it is better that he is kept to a minimum in Spider-Man stories. That is because he is one of the most powerful and deadliest Spider-Man villains in existence. His first appearance was in Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #30 as part of the introduction of the spider-totem, and the fact that he is from Earth-01 and has lived for a millennium by draining the life from animal-totem characters.
Morlun came closest to killing Spider-Man than almost any other villain, and there is no chance Spider-Man really has to beat him by himself, and even with the other spider characters, he has little chance in a fight. He has had interesting storylines, such as in Last Remains, where he was starving to death, and in End of the Spider-Verse, where he even disgusted Carnage. He is a fantastic villain and should rank high on all Spider-Man villain lists.
2) Boomerang
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Boomerang was, for years, a joke villain for Spider-Man. There are plenty of characters in Marvel Comics who are lame and often one-hit wonders, but Boomerang ended up becoming special in later years for two reasons. The first came in the Amazing Spider-Man comics, where he became Peter Parker’s roommate and eventually became a reluctant ally before betraying Spider-Man in the end.
This made Boomerang a fan favorite, rather than a forgettable villain. He was then part of the hilarious Supervillains Anonymous support group and the fantastic comic book series, Superior Foes of Spider-Man, which really wasn’t about Spider-Man at all. Despite these great appearances, no one talks about Boomerang anymore, and it seems most people still consider him one of Spider-Man’s lame villains, even though he deserves much more respect than that.
1) Hobgoblin
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Hobgoblin should have a much better reputation than he does in Spider-Man comics. His most recent appearance saw him confront Tombstone, only to be brushed off like a joke. That said, at one time, there wasn’t a more exciting new villain in Spider-Man comics than Hobgoblin. He showed up, and no one knew who he was. Marvel kept this a mystery for a very long time, and it proved to be a great storyline.
There were so many great twists and turns, including Ned Leeds believing he was the Hobgoblin due to brainwashing. It turned out to be Roderick Kingsley, but once his identity was revealed, he wasn’t as interesting to fans anymore. However, he was, at one time, one of Spider-Man’s most exciting villains, and more people should be talking about his greatness.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!