They say that a hero is only as good as their villain, and while that definitely isn’t all true, there’s no denying that a great villain can elevate a story from good to fantastic. Spider-Man is one of Marvel’s biggest, most-beloved heroes, and he’s a prime example of this phenomenon. Everyone loves Spider-Man, and his stories routinely top sales charts, but he wouldn’t be nearly as popular as he is today without the eclectic, iconic group of bad guys he regularly throws down with. Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Electro, Rhino, and so many more are names that’ll go down in the supervillain hall of fame. That doesn’t mean Spidey can’t always use some new foes to fight.
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DC has plenty of awesome villains that can improve stories on their own, and the thought of them meeting a character like the Wall-Crawler is out of this world. So, let’s take Spider-Man out of his friendly neighborhood and pit him against some of DC’s nastiest criminals. We’re going to be looking at five supervillains who would be right at home challenging Spider-Man as they would their own heroes, and dissecting exactly why these new dynamics would be out of this world. Without further ado, let’s swing into Spidey’s new string of supervillains.
5) Riddler
There’s always a lot of talk about Batman and Spider-Man switching villains. This is mostly because each fights an array of foes that would actually be very interesting for the other to throw down with, and today we’re using that talking point to bridge into the Dark Knight’s brainiest psycho, the Riddler. Edward Nigma is an intellect in a tier of his own, combining a genuine genius with an obsession with riddles and proving that he’s the smarter man. He constantly challenges Batman because the Dark Knight is the only person capable of besting his tricks and traps, and as much as Riddler wants money and fame, he craves the challenge more.
Spider-Man isn’t a slouch in the brains department, either. He has some genius foes, like Doc Ock, but none of them make it their goal to outwit the Wall-Crawler. Riddler could be the foe who actually pushes Spider-Man’s mental prowess as much as his physical abilities. A lot of the time, Spider-Man is actually outclassed in power and wins through outsmarting his enemy, but here, the dynamic would be reversed. Spider-Man could get the mental test his stories have been begging for, and give Riddler a new scientist to test all new riddles on. Also, Spider-Man laughing through Riddler’s questions would just be hilarious.
4) Mister Freeze
Staying on Batman, another of his illustrious rogues that would make a great addition to Spider-Man’s roster is Mister Freeze. Victor is one of Batman’s most tragic villains. He used to be a scientist working on cooling technology, but he lost his wife to a disease with no cure, so he froze the woman he loved until the day came he could cure her. Unfortunately, an accident made it so he couldn’t survive outside of freezing temperatures himself. Now he haunts the world as a husk of a man, unable to feel the warmth he lost when his wife was frozen, trying endlessly to fill the void in his heart.
Spider-Man is the exact type of hero who thrives when a villain has a tragic past. He brings out the best in these villains because he often tries his best to help them, even when they reject him and everything he stands for. Still, Spider-Man’s villains almost all learn to trust him, and Mister Freeze could be no different. They are both characters who love people they loved and blame themselves, and watching their opposing ways of moving on clash could generate some serious drama. Maybe Spider-Man could even help Victor cure his wife in a story that would be sure to bring endless heartbreak.
3) Mirror Master
Mirror Master is one of the Flash’s Rogues, in the literal sense. He started as just a petty thief, but upon discovering a special chemical combo that allowed him to jump in and out of mirrors, he became a much bigger threat, dubbing himself the Mirror Master and attempting to steal whatever his heart desired. This cleptomaniac was repeatedly put back in prison by the Flash. While his power to transport anyone and anything he desires into a realm only he can access is inherently terrifying, Mirror Master is generally more of a bank robber than a monstrous threat.
Mirror Master seems like the exact kind of villain Spider-Man would go up against during the Silver Age. He’s not interested in taking over the world or anything like that. He just wants to steal things, and that’s a great foil to Spider-Man. He could function in a role like Rhino or the Shocker, pushing Spider-Man with a ton of undeniable power, but using it only to further his criminal career. He also presents a genuinely unique challenge, as Spider-Man typically fights by outmaneuvering his opponents and webbing them up, but that won’t really work on a man who can escape into any reflective surface. It’s a great fight that would be plenty entertaining to watch.
2) Doctor Phosphorus
Doctor Phosphorus is definitely the most obscure villain on this list, with his only real claim to fame being his appearance in the Creature Commandos animated series. He’s actually a minor Batman villain. Originally, he was a nuclear scientist who was caught in a meltdown that transformed his skin into burning phosphorus, letting him shoot nuclear flames at will. His New 52 incarnation reimagined him as the ruler of the underground city of Charneltown, poised beneath Arkham Asylum. Either way, he possesses the powers to fire or absorb nuclear energy and burn anything he touches, making him very, very dangerous.
Doctor Phosphorus would make a great Spider-Man villain because the Wall-Crawler’s powers are based in radiation. Imagine a story where Doctor Phosphorus learned this and used his power to literally drain the radiation from Spider-Man, stealing his powers. Or maybe he floods him with even more radiation and triggers a monstrous spider transformation. Either way, Doctor Phosphorus’s powers have a very unique relationship to Spider-Man’s, and I’d love to see that explored in a comic.
1) Gorilla Grodd
Grodd is another of the Flash’s biggest villains, and he’s in a class all his own. As his name implies, Grodd is a hulking gorilla, only he also boasts incredible intellect and mental powers, letting him do everything from control minds to rip into a person’s psyche. Grodd is a terrifying mix of brain and brawn, able to throw down with the best of them and out-think nearly all of his opponents. Grodd actually hails from Gorilla City, where an entire civilization’s worth of sentient gorillas also live, although he gained his powers from contact with a meteorite. He’s cruel, calculating, and unendingly petty in pursuit of absolute power.
The vast majority of Spider-Man’s classic villains have an animal theme, from Rhino to Kraven being an actual hunter. Grodd would slot right in perfectly, and even better, Spider-Man lacks a popular gorilla analogue villain, so the spot is more than open. Grodd is just the right kind of petty, villainous, and monstrous to bounce perfectly off of Spider-Man’s jovial personality. I can easily imagine Grodd teaming up with someone like Norman Osborn or Doc Ock to seek revenge on Spider-Man, and that’s a sign that Grodd is a perfect fit for this new role. He’d be a fantastic new villain, even if Spidey spends most of his time monkeying around.
DC has plenty of awesome villains that could make the jump to making Spider-Man’s life miserable, but which of these is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
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