Panels from Marvel® Spider-Man Blue and Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin (2000 - Issue #3)
By Brandon T. McClure (@btmcclure @fakenerdpodcast)
There has been so much that has come out about Spider-Man: No Way Home over the past few weeks. Rumors began so long ago with the casting of Jamie Foxx as Electro. Even before learning that it was a multiverse adventure, the question on everyone's mind was… what was happening? Alfred Molina let it spill that his Doctor Octopus was pulled out of his universe just before his climactic end. So using that logic here’s a list of every live-action Spider-Man villain that could or is showing up in the latest MCU Spider-Man film and where we last saw them.
GREEN GOBLIN (Spider-Man - 2002 )
ACTOR: Willem DaFoe
STATUS: Dead
For Sam Raimi’s first outing with the web-slinger, he chose arguably, Spider-Man’s greatest villain: The Green Goblin. Portrayed by Willem Dafoe, the character became immediately iconic. Faced with losing a major defense contract, Norman Osborn took the risk experimenting on himself to prove that his formula would work. This only turned him into the deranged killer; the Green Goblin. The film’s climactic battle saw Goblin try and trick Peter into getting stabbed by the Goblin Glider, but Peter’s spidey sense saved him in the nick of time. The glider skewered and pinned Goblin to the wall, killing the villain.
Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man and Willem Dafoe as The Green Goblin in Sam Raimi’s 2002’s Spider-Man
DOC OCK (Spider-Man 2 - 2004)
ACTOR: Alfred Molina
STATUS: Dead
With the success of the first film, it was only natural that a sequel would come. Naturally, another classic Spider-Man foe was picked, this time Doctor Octopus who is played by Alfred Molina. With his hero firmly established, Raimi was able to work on creating a villain that audiences would find endearing and tragic. Fueled with the desire to complete his experiment, but manipulated by his own robotic arms, Doc Ock set about trying to destroy Spider-Man and the city of New York. Although in a turn of events and with the help of Spider-Man, Doc Ock saw clearly and was able to heroically sacrifice himself.He plunged himself and his destructive experiment into the bottom of the ocean, saving the city.
Alfred Molina as Doctor Otto Octavius in Sam Raimi’s 2004’s Spider-Man 2
SANDMAN (Spider-Man 3 - 2007)
ACTOR: Thomas Haden Church
STATUS: Alive?
The first of many new villains introduced in the third Spider-Man film, Flint Marko (played by Thomas Haden Church) escaped from prison, only to find himself in some sort of sand experiment that accidentally turned him into the Sandman. Revealed to be the man who killed Ben Parker, he became the target for Spider-Man’s unresolved revenge. His life of crime ended when, after a failed team-up with Venom, he expressed remorse for the killing of Peter’s uncle and let the wind carry him away. Though that doesn’t mean he’s dead, supposedly he could put himself back together?
Thomas Haden Church as Sandman in Sam Raimi’s 2007 Spider-Man 3
Venom (Spider-Man 3 -2007)
ACTOR: Topher Grace
STATUS: Dead
This was Sony’s first attempt to bring the symbiote to the big screen. Introducing Eddie Brock (played by Topher Grace) as a rival photographer to Peter, the second villain introduced in Spider-Man 3 started life as a black suit that made Peter into… well… a jerk. After Peter rips the costume from his skin, it falls on Eddie and they hatch a plan to stop Spider-Man by teaming up with The Sandman to put Mary Jane in danger. Spider-Man uses sound against Venom to separate the symbiote from Eddie. Spider-Man then throws a New Goblin Pumpkin Bomb to vaporize both Eddie and Venom, leaving their fate sealed. (NOTE: If any Venom shows up in No Way Home it would be the Tom Hardy one)
Topher Grace as Venom in Sam Raimi’s 2007 Spider-Man 3
NEW GOBLIN (Spider-Man 3 - 2007)
ACTOR: James Franco
STATUS: Dead
Five villains in three movies is kind of crazy when you think about it. The final villain introduced in Spider-Man 3 is New Goblin played by James Franco. Admittedly Harry Osborn has been in the franchise since the beginning, but his villain turn was happening in the background of Spider-Man 2 as his hatred for Spider-Man grew. With the help from the spirit (?) of his father, Harry turned himself into New Goblin. His time as a villain was cut short when his first battle with Peter ended with him losing his memory of the last three films. When he regained his memory, he saw the error of his ways. While his time as a villain ended up being relatively short, his turn to a hero helped save Mary Jane and defeat both Venom and Sandman, but not without costing him his own life.
James Franco as Harry Osborne aka New Goblin in Sam Raimi’s 2007 Spider-Man 3
THE LIZARD (The Amazing Spider-Man - 2012)
ACTOR: Rhys Ifans
STATUS: Alive
Due to a fourth Sam Raimi Spider-Man film falling apart, Sony rebooted the franchise with Marc Webb and Andrew Garfield. A new villain was needed to go up against this new Spider-Man, and the Lizard was the villain to kick off this new era of the web-slinger. Doctor Curt Conners, played this time by Rhys Ifans, desires to regrow his arm but in doing so, he turns himself into The Lizard. Conners is cured and sent to prison after Spider-Man thwarts his plan to turn all of New York into Lizard people.
Rhys Ifans as The Lizard in Marc Webb’s 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man
THE RHINO (The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - 2014)
ACTOR: Paul Giamatti
STATUS: Alive
The first villain introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is Aleksei Sytsevich, played by Paul Giamatti and who will call himself The Rhino by the end of the movie. A goofier villain than others introduced in the previous Spider-Man films, Aleksei was stopped after stealing an Oscorp truck full of chemicals. After going to jail, the mysterious “Gentlemen” (The guy with the Fedora that everyone forgets) gives him the use of a robotic Rhino mech suit that ends the film without any closure to the character.
Paul Giamatti as Rhino in Marc Webb’s 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2
ELECTRO
ACTOR: Jamie Foxx
STATUS: Dead
The main villain of Andrew Garfield’s second turn as the Wall-Crawler was Electro. Electro is introduced as mild-mannered Oscorp worker Maxwell Dillon (played by Jamie Foxx), who is initially saved by Spider-Man and grows an unhealthy obsession with him. After a tumble in a tank filled with electric eels, Max becomes the villain Electro. Electro goes on to fight Spider-Man a number of times, the final time being at a power plant. With the help of Gwen Stacey, Peter is able to kill Electro by overloading him with power, thwarting his plan to control the power grid.
Jamie Foxx as Electro in Marc Webb’s 2014 The Amazing Spider-Man 2
GREEN GOBLIN
ACTOR: Dane DeHann
STATUS: Alive
Much like Spider-Man 3 before it, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 bit off a bit more than it could chew with the introduction of Harry Osborn, this time played by Dane DeHaan. In this reboot, Harry returns after the death of his father, Norman Osborn, and looks to find a cure for the illness that killed Norman (since that same illness is killing him). He believes this cure lies in Spider-Man’s blood. Spider-Man’s unwillingness to give him the blood leads Harry to take matters into his own hands. Mixing Spider-Man’s DNA with the disease turns him into this film's version of The Green Goblin. Spider-Man does defeat the last-minute villain but at the cost of Gwen Stacey’s life. Harry is sent to prison where the “Gentleman” pays him a visit to end the film.
Dane DeHann as The Green Goblin in Marc Webb’s 2014 The Amazing Spider-Man 2
THE VULTURE
ACTOR: Michael Keaton
STATUS: Alive
The first proper villain that audiences saw the MCU Spider-Man fight (and one of the best in the MCU) is Adrian Toomes (played by Michael Keaton). Toomes, known as The Vulture to fans, was a contractor who felt wronged by Tony Stark’s new Department of Damage Control He spent the next “eight” years stealing technology from Avengers battles to sell on the black market. Business was good until Spider-Man got wind. What’s worse is that Spider-Man’s alter-ego, Peter Parker was dating Adrian Toomes’ daughter! Spider-Man had to do what was right and stopped Toomes from pulling off the “big one” and it landed him in jail.
For some reason though, Toomes didn’t give away Parker’s identity to Mac Gargan (the man destined to be Scorpion). So what is Toomes planning? Could he escape from prison to unite the multiversal villains against his Peter Parker?
Michael Keaton as The Vulture in John Watt’s 2017 Spider-Man: Homecoming
THE SHOCKER (Spider-Man: Homecoming - 2017)
ACTOR: Bokeem Woodbine
STATUS: Alive
Both Jackson Brice and Herman Schultz appear as the shocker in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Brice, played by Logan Marshall-Green, plays a small part before being accidentally killed by Toomes and the mantle is passed to Schultz, played by Bokeem Woodbine. In this film, he’s not really a major player, although he does try to distract Spider-Man from coming after Toomes before being defeated and arrested. While it is possible that someday, if the MCU does their own Sinister Six with MCU Spider-Man villains, Shocker could come back. It’s unlikely he’ll be part of this multiversal team-up.
Bokeem Woodbrine as Herman Schultz (aka Shocker) in John Watt’s 2017 Spider-Man: Homecoming
MYSTERIO (Spider-Man: Far from Home - 2019)
ACTOR: Jake Gyllenhall
STATUS: Dead?
Our first tease of the multiverse came from the hero Mysterio… or so he said. In reality, Quentin Beck (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), aka Mysterio, is a disgruntled Stark employee. He originally developed B.A.R.F. and was attempting to get the glasses that Tony bequeathed to Peter so that he can upgrade his holographic technology to solidify himself as an Avengers-level hero. After his betrayal was revealed, Peter set out to stop him which ultimately led to Quentin’s death. At the time of his death, Dr. Riva (played by Peter Billingsley), took a flash drive, seemingly to leek Peter’s identity. What if he showed up as the new Mysterio? Perhaps Mysterio could come back and play a role in uniting these multiversal villains against the MCU’s Spider-Man.
Jake Gyllenhall as Mysterio in John Watt’s 2019 Spider-Man: Far from Home
There’s a lot of questions leading up to Spider-Man: No Way Home. One of the biggest questions about the upcoming film is why these villains are fighting this Spider-man? The Spider-Man films make a point to make sure the villains are emotionally connected to Peter Parker. They aren’t just characters that Peter has to physically overcome but they have their own emotional arcs within the films. In the second trailer, Dr. Strange reveals that all the villains that have invaded the MCU died in their universes and timelines implying that what’s happening in this film would be set after their emotional arcs were over. Obviously the question of “how” is a big one, but Tom Holland’s Peter Parker has some villains in his canon that could offer some insight into why they’ve decided to go after this Spider-Man.
Let’s not forget some other intriguing questions as well:
• What was the deal with the post-credits sting in Venom: Let There Be Carnage?
• Is Charlie Cox in the movie?
• Why won’t Sony let Andrew Garfield say he’s in the movie?
• What’s going to happen to Tom Hollands Peter Parker?
• Will this finally fulfill Sony’s dream of having a live-action Sinister Six, or will they be one short?
These questions and more will have to wait until the film is released. Until then, speculation continues to ramp up for the hotly anticipated Spider-Man. Regardless of who’s in the movie or not, it’s fun to revisit these villains and their stories because, at this point, who even knows what’s really going to happen.