Spider-Man has been appearing in big screen movies for over two decades, and with eight live-action and two animated movies, and one more of each on the way in the next two years, he has fought a plethora of his famous comic book villains. This all started with Sam Raimi’s trilogy in the 2000s, followed by Marc Webb’s two movies in the 2010s, and finally with the MCU bringing in Tom Holland and Sony bringing an animated version of Miles Morales to the big screen. While there are still some iconic villains still to come, Spider-Man had big screen battles with some of the most threatening villains from his comic book stories.
With so many great villains appearing, here are the 12 main Spider-Man villains appearing in his movies, ranked by their threat levels.
12) Prowler
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The Prowler appeared in the first Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie, and he was a villain who had a close relationship with Spider-Man in that world, since he was Miles Morales’s uncle, Aaron Davis. However, Prowler worked for the Kingpin and he had no idea that the hero he was trying to take out was Miles. He is a threatening force, as he worked with Kingpin on the Collider, which endangered New York City, but when he found out Miles was Spider-Man, he sacrificed himself for his family, showing where his true values lie.
11) Sandman
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Sandman made his debut in Spider-Man 3 in the original Sam Raimi trilogy. Played by Thomas Haden Church, he was a common criminal who was committing crimes to attempt to get money to help his daughter with her medical expenses. However, an accident at a particle accelerator turned him into a supervillain who could turn into sand. However, he is another family-motivated villain, and someone who didn’t want to be a villain and only wanted to help his family. When it came time, he actually saved Spider-Man’s life in the fight with Venom.
10) Electro
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Electro is Max Dillion, and he appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. He worked for Oscorp as an electrical engineer, and as a man with no friends, he believed Spider-Man really cared about him on a personal level when the two met. This misunderstanding allowed Harry Osborn to manipulate him when he realized Spider-Man was just being nice and didn’t really know who he as. He was a tragic villain who was lashing out in pain, and he was never someone with genuine malicious intentions. He was a dangerous threat because of his powers, but he wasn’t someone who really wanted to hurt anyone.
9) Vulture
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The Vulture was the first villain when Spider-Man moved to the MCU. Adrian Toomes here was very different from the comics, as this was not an elderly man, but a middle-aged father played by Michael Keaton. He was also someone who had a legitimate job until Damage Control pushed him out of a contract and threatened to bankrupt him. He turned to evil, using the Chitauri tech he had salvaged. However, like Sandman, he was stealing to support his family, and when he learned who Spider-Man really was, he couldn’t pull the trigger and kill him. He even kept Spider-Man’s secret when he went to prison.
8) Green Goblin (Harry Osborn)
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Harry Osborn was a part of several Spider-Man movies. In the original trilogy, he was Peter Parker’s best friend who turned into the Green Goblin in Spider-Man 3 when he thought Spider-Man killed his father. However, he turned good in the end and died to save Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson. A new version appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and he was more like his dad in the original movie, with the Goblin Serum destroying his brain. He did kill Gwen Stacy, which showed his massive threat levels, but he never seemed like a major threat when all was said and done.
7) Lizard
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The Lizard underwent some massive changes in The Amazing Spider-Man. In the comics, Curt Connors was a tragic case, as he wanted to regrow his arm and the reptile DNA he thought could do it turned him into a monster. However, Curt, himself, was a good man who fought not to lose control. In the movie, the Lizard maintained some of his intelligence and he became a deadly monster who lost his humanity and wanted to turn everyone into lizard-like creatures such as him. He had no problem killing people, and he even killed Gwen Stacy’s dad in a shocking moment that cemented his evil status.
6) Mysterio
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Mysterio was Quentin Beck, and unlike the comics where he was a movie special effects maestro who used his skills for evil, he was made more sympathetic in Spider-Man: Far From Home. In this movie, he worked for Stark International, but after Tony Stark died, he got other employees to help him create technology to create fake villains and trick the world into thinking he was a superhero. He was also one of the biggest threats to Spider-Man’s existence because he was able to expose Spider-Man’s secret identity after he died, and made it look like Spider-Man killed him, ruining Peter Parker’s life in the process.
5) Doctor Octopus
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Doctor Octopus appeared in what might be the best Spider-Man movie ever made, Spider-Man 2. Alfred Molina played Doc Ock, and his performance was so masterful that he went on to earn both an Saturn and Satellite Award nomination for his performance. What makes him so special is that he was a mentor and friend of Peter Parker, but that all changed when his wife died, and the octopus arms used AI intelligence to take control of his mind. When this happened, he was willing to kill anyone and had the plan to destroyed the world until he gained control at the last minute and died to save everyone.
4) Kingpin
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Kingpin was the main villain in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and he did the unthinkable. He killed Peter Parker’s Spider-Man. This was Miles Morales’s origin story and with Peter Parker dead at the hands of Wilson Fisk (literally), it was up to the teenage Miles to save him. Kingpin even killed the Prowler when he realized that his top henchman was not going to kill Miles, and then it was up to the youngster to stop Fisk from sending the entire world into another dimension just so he could bring his wife back from the dead. With nothing to live for, Wilson Fisk was willing to do anything to burn down the world.
3) Spot
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The Spot was always a B-level villain in comic books, but Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse showed how dangerous this villain really is. He is Dr. Jonathan Ohnn, and after an accident at the facility he worked at, he received the power to create interdimensional portals. While Miles Morales treated him like a joke villain (like he was in the comics), Miles soon learned how dangerous he really is since he could send anything into nothingness, making him an existential threat, and his powers just continued to strengthen until he finally became a threat to the entire multiverse.
2) Green Goblin (Norman Osborn)
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The Green Goblin has always been one of Spider-Man’s deadliest enemies, and this was proven in the movies as well. Played by Willem Dafoe, the Green Goblin was the wealthy CEO of Oscorp who began to lose his grip on sanity when he used the Goblin Serum, which gave him superhuman strength and durability. This made him a considerable threat on Spider-Man, and he only lost when he accidentally impaled himself. However, his threat continued when his son took up the mantle and went after Spider-Man. He was back as the most dangerous returning villain in Spider-Man: No Way Home, where the Green Goblin actually caused Aunt May’s death.
1) Venom
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Venom was the main villain in Spider-Man 3, although Sandman was actually the better character in that movie. However, while Sandman was sympathetic and received redemption at the end, Venom was pure evil. This movie showed how the symbiote attached to Peter Parker first, and then went to Eddie Brock when Peter rejected it and decided to kill his former host. He was unhinged and sadistic, and unlike the comics, had no redeeming qualities. The Venom movies has a much better version of Venom, but the one from Spider-Man 3 was the deadliest and the biggest threat Spider-Man ever faced.
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