For over 20 years,we’ve seen live action Spider-Man on the big screenacross three different interpretations of the wall crawler in three wildly different universes. We see different takes on Peter Parker, his family, his friends, his powers, his skills, and above all else, the villains that he faces. While every iteration of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has their own strengths that makes each one of them unique and enjoyable in their own ways, the good and the badSpider-Manfilms can truly be separated by the strength of their villains.
The top tierSpider-Manfilms are elevated by incredible villain performances, such asSpider-Man, Spider-Man 2,andSpider-Man: Homecoming,while the worst of the bunch are overstuffed with bad villains that don’t have enough time to flesh the characters out, likeSpider-Man 3orThe Amazing Spider-Man 2.Since there have been so many villains throughout Spider-Man’s film history going from good quality to bad quality, ranging from all different kinds of powers and motives for wanting to take out our favorite web slinger, it’s only right to rank all the villains that the different live action Spideys have faced. Here’s every main live action Spider-Man villain, ranked from worst to best.
10Green Goblin (Amazing Spider-Man 2 Version)
Harry Osborn’s transformation into the maniacal Green Goblin could have been interesting, withThe Amazing Spider-Man 2taking time to explore Peter and Harry’s relationship. Unfortunately, with Harry being the second villain introduced in the film, there just wasn’t enough time to truly see his turn to madness, making his flip to the Green Goblin feel rushed.
Maybe if he was the only villain in the film, and we didn’t see Electro introduced first, Harry at least wouldn’t be dead last on this list. But, with multiple villains in his film, there already being an iconic Green Goblin before him, and not having a chance to redeem his character inSpider-Man: No Way Homelike some other villains on this list, it’s hard to put him anywhere other than the bottom, strictly as a villain. He was responsible for the death of Gwen Stacy, however, which was a shock that many viewers didn’t see coming. Regardless though, this iteration of the Green Goblin is the worst live-action Spider-Man villain we’ve seen so far.
Not far behindAmazing Spider-Man’sGreen Goblin however isSpider-Man 3’sVenom. Venom is another character that fell victim to its film trying to do too much at one time, with three main villains all vying for Peter Parker’s attention. However, even with the film having a lot going on, the character itself was definitely the weakest of the three villains.Topher Grace’s portrayal of Eddie Brockjust doesn’t fit into the film, and doesn’t play the villain convincingly enough when the Venom symbiote eventually takes over. And now that we’ve seen Tom Hardy’s take on the character in theVenomfilms, Venom’s black suit inSpider-Man 3looks even worse now, and so does Grace’s performance.
At least the symbiote gave us Peter Parker’s awesome black suit, despite the now infamous personality of Peter we see in the film. Otherwise, Venom could have been taken out of the film entirely, and it would not have suffered much at all.
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8New Goblin
Harry Osborn’s turn to evil in the Sam RaimiSpider-Manfilms could have really been something special. We’re with Harry for all three films, right there alongside his best friend Peter as his hatred for Spider-Man grows. Believing that Spider-Man murdered his father, Harry finding out that his best friend was the one behind the mask led him on a path of revenge that would have been awesome to see fully fleshed out, until they decided to give him amnesia after hitting his head. This was likely becausethere was already so much going on inSpider-Man 3that they needed this to happen but the New Goblin/Spider-Man dynamic would have been much more interesting than the villain trio we ended up with.
Despite the character’s flaws, Harry was still able to redeem himself at the end of the movie, sacrificing his own life to save the life of Peter. While he wasn’t the best villain ever, they were able to give more meaning to his character, something that not all villains have.
Max Dillon’s goofy appearance before turning into Electro was a little over-the-top from Jamie Foxx, but Max was still just someone who wanted to be noticed. He was stepped on, overlooked, and misunderstood, but goes a little mad with his newfound powers once he acquires them. Of course, the blue CGI face doesn’t help Electro’s case either, as he’s certainly one of the silliest looking Spider-Man villains that we’ve seen. While he’s definitely over-the-top and has strange motivations inThe Amazing Spider-Man 2,more justice was done to his character inNo Way Home.
Not only is he given a brand-new look that works so much better than his first appearance, his more fleshed out character makes Electro so much better to see on-screen. However, while his appearance inNo Way Homedefinitely helps make him a better character, we still can’t look past his first big-screen appearance entirely.
Speaking of villains with strange motivations, Dr. Curtis Conners wanting to turn the rest of New York into lizards just like himself is definitely out there. But motivations aside, Conners' transformation into the Lizard inThe Amazing Spider-Manis still an enjoyable story as we see one of Peter Parker’s mentor figures accidentally turn himself into a monster, similar to Otto Octavius inSpider-Man 2.
While most fans will agree that the mentor-turned super villain storyline definitely wasn’t done as well in this story as it was inSpider-Man 2,it still made for great moral ambiguity as we see Peter Parker take on the creature that Conners has become. We see the Lizard return inNo Way Homeas well, but he has a much smaller role as the focus is shifted to other villains, so that isn’t enough to greatly affect someone’s opinion on the character.
Definitely thebest of the villains that we see inSpider-Man 3,the reveal that Flint Marko was the man who actually killed Uncle Ben was a strange retcon, but it was all so that his character would have more meaning to Peter Parker. Sandman’s character is also made better by the fact he’s not inherently being evil to be evil, he just needed money in order to help his sick daughter, and became the Sandman as a byproduct of his criminal deeds.
Sandman exists more as a character for Peter Parker to face his demons and come to terms with why he really is Spider-Man, which really helps to elevate Peter’s character, which in turn makes Sandman better too. It also helps that his powers are awesome to see on screen, along with the fact that he also returns forNo Way Home,albeit in a smaller role similar to the Lizard.
While a lot of these villains were turned into monsters unintentionally with the powers they acquired, Mysterio knew what he was doing the entire time. Creating the guise of a global threat while pumping himself up to seem like the greatest superhero in the world in order to manipulate Peter is truly malicious and uses his illusions to trick the entire world as well. He’s definitely one of the most intentionally evil characters that we have seen any Spider-Man face up against, and it makes Mysterio all the better for it. Mysterio also helps Tom Holland’s Peter Parker come to terms with the man that he needs to be if he truly wants to be an Avenger. Plus, Mysterio’s actions put into motion the events ofNo Way Home,which ended up having some of the greatest Spider-Man moments we’ve ever seen.
Related:MCU: Why Peter Parker is the Most Tragic Hero to Date
The MCU is known for its massive stakes and universe ending implications with things such as alien invasions, quantum realms, ancient gods, and mad titans. Vulture’s biggest strength is that he brings a smaller scale to the MCU that we really don’t get to see anymore, especially with time-bending characters like Kang the Conqueror being introduced now.
Spider-Man: Homecomingshows that he’s just a man trying to support his family, and he would do whatever it takes to make sure they’re secure. Plus, he’s the father of Peter’s high school crush, making the matchup feel a little more personal than any old villain. He’s a perfect first villain forTom Holland’s Spider-Manto go up against, and puts Peter on the path to becoming the man and the hero that he was always meant to be.
2Doctor Octopus
The top two characters on this list could be easily interchangeable, as they really are in a league of their own when it comes to the best Spider-Man villains. But in the number two spot, we have Doctor Otto Octavius, or Doctor Octopus.Spider-Man 2is arguably the best Spider-Man filmthat we have ever seen, and that is largely in part to Alfred Molina’s portrayal of Doc Ock. On one hand, Doc Ock is menacing with his giant metal tentacles that allow him to maneuver just about anywhere and do whatever he wants.
On the other hand, viewers can’t help but sympathize with the character is it’s the tentacles themselves that have taken over Otto’s body and are manipulating him to do the terrible things he does. Plus, his relationship to Peter made it even harder for Peter to face off against him. And along with that, Otto realizing his errors at the end of the film and sacrificing himself to save everyone else gave him a full and satisfying character arc. Plus, his appearance inNo Way Homeonly elevated his status as a character that fans can sympathize with, showing that he is a brilliant mind that was tainted by his own experiments.
1Green Goblin
Finally, we have the originalSpider-Manvillain, Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin. Green Goblin is a perfect storm to create an iconic villain, with an incredible performance from Willem Dafoe, his descent into insanity, his awesome glider and pumpkin bombs, and even his suit has a charm to it that you can’t help but love. Plus, his haunting cackle as he terrorizes New York City is enough to strike fear into the hearts of anyone.
He’s chaotic almost strictly to be chaotic, and is one of the most purely evil forces that truly gives Spider-Man a run for his money. We get to see that pure insanity return inNo Way Homeas well, making Tom Holland’s Spider-Man wonder if he can even be saved. Green Goblin is the definitive Spider-Man villain, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
