Villains That Should Appear In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Summary

• Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man offers a fresh take on Spider-Man with the opportunity bring in many kinds of villains.
• Vermin would allow for Spider-Man to have an adventure with Captain America.
• The show could turn Peter’s mentor Carla Connors into the new Lizard, testing his friendship and want to protect New York City.

The long line of Spider-Man animated shows continues to expand with Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Disney+. It not only tells a different kind of origin story for the famous web-slinger, but multiple villains, both famous and obscure, are in the show, including Norman Osborn, Butane, Scorpion, and Tarantula.

With more episodes ahead and the potential for future seasons, Your Neighborhood Spider-Man has the potential to introduce many villains over time. Some can be iconic foes who have appeared in many Spider-Man incarnations, while others are lesser known but just as deserving of time in the spotlight in the animated series.

10

Lightmaster

A Classic Disgruntled Scientist Turned Supervillain

• First Appearance: Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #3
• Creators: Jim Shooter, Sal Buscema

Since Tarantula is set to be part of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, there is the chance to have one of his known associates: Lightmaster. Lightmaster is a prime example of a superiority complex, delving right into villainy the moment all funding for his research on harnessing light was cut off.

In the comics, Lightmaster worked with Tarantula and Kraven to kidnap those who wronged him. This storyline could easily be the plot of an entire episode of the series and could end with Lightmaster being transformed into a person of pure light energy, setting up his return in a future episode.

9

Vermin

The Rat-Like Monster Could Allow A Team-Up With Captain America

• First Appearance: Captain America Vol. 1 #272
• Creator: J. M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck

Between Doctor Strange and Daredevil, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is embracing being part of an extended Marvel universe. One villain that could continue that pattern is Vermin, because while he is known for fighting Spider-Man, he began as an experimental monster created by Baron Helmut Zemo to kill Captain America.

In the second episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Norman Osborn is confirmed to have had past encounters with Captain America. As a result, the introduction of Vermin would be an ideal excuse for Norman to perhaps call in Cap to help Spider-Man on the case to defeat the rat-like monster who lurks in the sewers.

8

Hammerhead

Spider-Man Could Be Humbled By An Old-School Gangster

• First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #113
• Creators: Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr.

Whether it’s games, movies, or shows, Spider-Man is always so based on his technology. A villain like Hammerhead is a reminder that it takes more than fancy toys to be powerful, as he is an old-school gangster with a pension for violence and destruction to make entire neighborhoods fear him.

The nickname Hammerhead is not just to sound scary, as behind that deceptively average-looking exterior, he is a relentless killer who can take on multiple foes with his bare hands. He also earns his name because of the plate inside his forehead, which he has used in the past to harm Spider-Man. Having Hammerhead in the series would be a more grounded threat that could humble Spider-Man slightly.

7

Silver Sable

Spidey And Sable’s Relationship Is Always Complicated

• First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #265
• Creators: Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz

While she is not necessarily evil, at least in comparison to some villains, Silver Sable is still a foe to the web-slinger due to her mercenary lifestyle as head of Silver Sable International. Spider-Man is a character who is very much against taking lives, which puts him at odds with Sable many times in comic book history, even in the few instances where they have feelings for each other.

Silver Sable is one of the few who can outmaneuver Spider-Man with her skills, even against his Spider-Sense. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man could showcase their rivalry while highlighting her homeland’s struggles, Symkaria, as Spider-Man protects more than just New York City.

6

Man-Wolf

J. Jonah Jameson’s Son Is A Space Werewolf

• First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #124
• Creator: Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas

Mixing fantasy and science-fiction, astronaut John Jameson, the son of J. Jonah Jameson, is cursed by the very amulet he wears to become the Man-Wolf. However, said amulet was crafted from gemstones from the moon, which activates when the full moon is out, thus transforming him into a bloodthirsty werewolf that will rampage through New York City.

Spider-Man has many villains he has reformed into his greatest allies and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man could do the same. Man-Wolf can be a terrifying threat, but the comics also showcase that he can become a power sword-wielding agent of S.H.I.E.LD. and a protector of Earth.

5

Mysterio

Illusions And Theatrics Have Allowed Him To Break Spider-Man

• First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #13
• Creators: Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

Mysterio is not an enhanced individual or a master of the mystic arts, he is essentially the world’s greatest illusionist. Quentin Beck combines his skills as an actor and special effects artist to craft illusions that can fool even great minds like Peter Parker. It takes great ingenuity to overpower and even come close to destroying Spider-Man.

Even in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Mysterio proved to be one of Spider-Man’s greatest threats by simply fooling him and the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which the series could probably do. Mysterio could deceive New York City into making them believe that he is a hero and Spider-Man has to prove the contrary.

4

Kingpin

Spidey And Daredevil Have A Common Enemy

• First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #50
• Creators: Stan Lee, John Romita Sr.

Charlie Cox returns as Daredevil in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which sets up the potential for Wilson Fisk, Kingpin, to join the series. In the comics and previous animated shows, Kingpin being a plague on the streets of New York City caused Spider-Man and Daredevil to work together multiple times to stop him and the series could do the same.

Not only would the inclusion of Kingpin allow modern audiences to see the friendship of Spider-Man and Daredevil that they’ve asked for in the M.C.U., but it could also allow for the return of Vincent D’onofrio. Many consider him on par with Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man for a perfect adaptation of the comics. If Charlie Cox could return as Daredevil, then the same could be done for Vincent D’onofrio.

3

Alistair Smythe

Toxicity And Pettiness Created An Obsessive Spider-Man Villain

• First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19
• Creators:

Sometimes known as the Spider-Slayer, Alistair Smythe is one of the most petty and evil of Spider-Man’s rogues. He shares the same seething unwarranted hatred for Spider-Man as J. Jonah Jameson, but far more extreme, to the point of creating robots known as Spider-Slayers to hunt down the web-slinging superhero and kill him.

In a modern world where toxic negativity is high, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man could use Alistair Smythe and the Spider-Slayers to give commentary on such behavior. In some versions, Smythe earns the Spider-Slayer name by transforming himself into a cybernetically enhanced being, becoming the very thing that he thinks he hates Spider-Man for being.

2

Mister Negative

A Villain That Struggles Between Good And Evil Personalities

• First Appearance: Free Comic Book Day: The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (2007)
• Creators:

His dark past as a gangster and human trafficker combined with the experiments on light and darkforce energies that created Cloak and Dagger transformed him as well. Mister Negative has two personalities, the evil and superpowered side known as Mister Negative and the light side named Martin Li, who runs the charitable F.E.A.S.T. organization.

Mister Negative is a more recent Spider-Man villain, but one that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years, especially after being adapted into the Marvel’s Spider-Man games as a major villain. It also helps that Mister Negative is as much of a psychological threat as he is a physical one, with the evil side committing evil acts without the good side remembering.

1

The Lizard

Carla Connors’ Introduction Might Have Also Sealed Her Fate

• First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #6
• Creators: Stan Lee, Steve Ditko

Carla Connors already plays a major part in Peter Parker’s life in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. She is a leading scientist at OsCorp Industries and an amputee, which means that she is this universe’s take on Curtis Connors, who is known for transforming into The Lizard. It may not be in the first season, but her being in the show plants the seeds for such a change.

In many versions of Spider-Man lore, The Lizard is the first time Peter struggles with a friend becoming a monster. Carla has already shown to be a kind and wholesome mentor for Peter, which would make her character arc even more sad to witness as she devolves into a ruthless reptilian monster that Peter is forced to fight.