A hero, whether super or not, is only as good as their stable of antagonists. While Batman and Superman may have well-known antagonists, such as The Joker and Lex Luthor, our friendly neighborhood wall crawler's team as a whole has more depth than anybody else's.
Spidey’s supervillain gallery is unmatched, boasting characters like Doc Ock, The Green Goblin, Venom, Sandman, Kraven The Hunter, The Vulture, and more. And we should feel lucky because most of them have been recreated exceptionally well onto the big screen.
Check out the list below for the most fascinating facts about some of Spidey’s friendly neighborhood baddies.
1. Doctor Octopus
Source: YouTube
Alfred Molina was rehearsing for
Fiddler on the Roof while filming. A clip of the actor performing “If I Were a Rich Man” with the help of his tentacle puppeteers can be seen on the film’s blooper reel.
2. Electro
Source: Sony Pictures
Electro’s design was based on the one in
Ultimate Spider-Man. The electric blue meanie swapped the traditional green and yellow tights for a more Dr. Manhattan-adjacent design inspired by the character’s appearance in the
Ultimate Spider-Man comics.
3. Green Goblin
Source: Sony Pictures
The Green Goblin’s original mask was more flesh-like. Test footage and concept art show a much fleshier mask for Willem Dafoe’s Goblin. Thankfully, the production went with the metal version.
4. Vulture
Source: Sony Pictures
Michael Keaton isn’t sure which
Spider-Man universe he’s in. Keaton starred in 2017’s
Spiderman: Homecoming as the Vulture, who also appears in 2022’s
Morbius, which may have been in a separate universe. When producers attempted to explain the two timelines, Keaton said he had “no idea what you’re talking about.”
5. Lizard
Source: Sony Pictures
Dylan Baker was all set to portray the Lizard, but he didn’t. Despite appearing as the one-armed Dr. Curt Connors in both Spider-Man 2 & 3, with a mountain of hints to his future transformation, Baker never got to play the Lizard. Rhys Ifans played the scaly villain when he was ultimately featured in The Amazing Spider-Man.
6. Rhino
Source: Sony Pictures
Paul Giamatti felt pleased that he didn’t have to portray Rhino one more time. Plans for a sequel were scuttled because of a poor reception, causing the upcoming intention of Giamatti’s bad guy to be oblivious. This, however, didn’t seem to bother the actor, who seemed “pleased” to concentrate on other projects.
7. Sandman
Source: Sony Pictures
That clip of Sandman in Spider-Man: No Way Home is reused footage from Spider-Man 3. The character is completely CGI till the very end of the movie, when the actual Thomas Hayden Church makes a short appearance in a piece of footage from Spider-Man 3. With no true performance from Church, the character may be dubbed “sans-man,” too.
8. Vulture
Source: Sony Pictures
The Vulture was planned to feature in Spider-Man 4. John Malkovich was planned to introduce the winged villain in the sequel to 2007’s Spider Man 3, but the project was scuttled in favor of a full-on franchise reboot with The Amazing Spider-Man.
9. Venom
Source: Sony Pictures
Sam Raimi didn’t want Venom. He disliked the character, feeling that he had a “lack of humanity.” The studio felt otherwise, and forced Raimi to include the villain.
10. Doctor Octopus
Source: Sony Pictures
Alfred Molina named each of his Doc Ock tentacle puppets. The upper tentacles were named Flo and Moe, and the lower tentacles were Larry and Harry.