Summary
WithSpider-Manhaving one of the biggest and best rogues galleries in all comics, these antagonists often follow the character into other adaptations. As such, the likes of Green Goblin and Venom have become household names thanks to their appearances in movies and animated shows. However, these villains also pop up a lot inSpider-Manvideo games.
Like with the comics, video games have evolved throughout the decades. Therefore, each version of a Spider-Man villain will change depending on the platform. While each newSpider-Mangame does a great job of adapting these characters straight from the comics, some do it better than others.
Herman Shultz is the Spider-Man villain known as The Shocker, and he is a simple-minded goon for hire who often robs banks or kidnaps people using his suit that emits vibrating energy blasts at will. As a character, this villain is not very complex, and he appears in almost every new Spider-Man adaptation on TV or in a video game.
With The Shocker being sucha simple villain in Spider-Man comics,he is difficult to get wrong. That is why there hasn’t been a bad version of The Shocker in a video game yet. However, the version from theSpider-Mangame based on the first Sam Raimi movie seems to be the best. From his comic accurate costume, to his banter with Toby Maguire’s Spider-Man, the developers at Treyarch clearly knew what fans wanted to see from The Shocker in a video game.
Much like a lot of Spider-Man’s villains, Flint Marko was a common thug before an accident turned him into the powerful Sandman. After his accident, Sandman gained the power to grow into sand, using it to craft new weapons or just to become a hulking mass. However, there is more to Sandman than meets the eye.
Flint Marko only commits the crimes he does to help pay for his sick daughter’s medical treatment. Fortunately, the opening sequence ofMarvel’s Spider-Man 2starts by showing exactlyhow threatening this titan can be in a great tutorial sequence, and then uses the following side quest to highlight the more sympathetic side of this villain. Not many video games have shown both sides of Sandman like this before.
A regular member of The Sinister Six, Rhino is a super strong villain who is trapped inside a giant rhino costume. He is slow-moving and dim-witted, but he can cause some big damage if he manages to charge into something at speed. Normally, every Spider-Man video game displays this power well, and players get to try and trick Rhino into charging at something deadly. However,Marvel’s Spider-Manshows another side to this hulking threat.
In the main story, players get to face off against Rhino in the usual fashion. However, a new mission where players have to avoid Rhino as a civilian, Miles Morales,displays just how scary a villain like this is to someone without superpowers.
Before Jake Gyllenhaal arrived as Mysterio in the MCU, the character was often used as a punchline in the comics. Quentin Beck was a special effects artist who used his technological skills to create illusions to commit crime and fight Spider-Man. Unfortunately, his silly name and choice of headwear usually meant that he was mocked by the hero. Various video games toyed with this concept, but only one nailed it perfectly.
Instead of foolishly trying to establish Mysterio as a menacing threat, the game based on the Sam Raimi sequel movie,Spider-Man 2, decided to lean into the silliest aspects of the character. He is first used as a villain staging a goofy alien invasion of New York, and is then quickly dispatched by Spider-Man in a humorous and memorable boss fight that takes out the antagonist with one punch.
As Spider-Man villains go, Kraven the Hunter is an odd one. He is a big game hunter, who seeks to use his skills to hunt and catch Spider-Man. This trope normally sees the pair facing off in New York City, though Kraven’s aesthetic is more suited to the jungle. Fortunately,Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensionsplaces the player in a level that takes place in Kraven’s domain, which makes the villain all the more intimidating.
The plot of this game features four versions of Spider-Man on the hunt for fragments of a tablet that has been spread across the multiverse. Sadly for the Spider-Man of the 616 continuity, one of these fragments is located in a jungle, and players must navigate this terrain while being stealthily hunted by Kraven. It ends in a hard boss fight, that shows just how volatile this villain is. Other games have done Kraven well based on his personality, butShattered Dimensionsdoes a great job of showing how dangerous the hunter can be.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s depiction of Kraven is also intimidating and fantastic, and his more prominent role allows his personality to shine through more than inShattered Dimensions. Both games present different but great versions of the beloved villain, and this pick could have easily gone the other way.
Venom is a relatively new villain in the Spider-Man mythos, but comics writers were keen to thrust this dark reflection of the hero into the spotlight after his debut in 1984. There has been lots of lore added to the alien symbiote that attached itself to Eddie Brock, yet most new adaptations of the character focus on his traits from his initial run. This dark and angry villain has slowly become more humorous over the years, and the dichotomy between parasite and host is much more balanced.
While many video games have tried toportray Venom accurately,the one that most represented the character at the time of launch was theSpider-ManPS1 game that tied into theSpider-Man Animated Series. In this game, Venom and Spider-Man team up in a way that shows a comical and unhinged version of Venom unlike any other adaptation. There are also plenty of references to Venom’s cannibalism, his love of chocolate, and other ideas that come later in the character’s life cycle.
2Doctor Octopus
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Doctor Otto Octavious is a tragic character. This once brilliant scientist initially wanted to bring renewable energy to the planet, but unfortunately, the cybernetic arms he created to help in his experiments were grafted onto his spine and now control the man to commit evil. It is a simple story, and this villain is sometimes listed as Spider-Man’s main nemesis due to the teacher/student relationship the pair shared before the character’s accident.
While many video games have done a great job of displaying this villains' powers and motivations, none have explored Doc Ock’s relationship with Peter Parker quite as well asMarvel’s Spider-Man. The game starts out by showing the gentle scientist working with Spider-Man before the arms come along to ruin both his and Spider-Man’s lives. It is a truly emotional tale, one that leaves Doc Ock tortured by the past and Spider-Man feeling betrayed by his former mentor.
With Green Goblin being considered as Spider-Man’s most deadly foe, his appearance in major video games is scarce. As a result, the best adaptation of this Spider-Man villain is found in an odd place. Rather than showing the maniacal and threatening version of Norman Osbourne’s dual identity in a solo Spider-Man title, the best version of the Green Goblin so far is found in the Marvel team-up game,Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3.
Other video game adaptations of this villain are too focused on the movie interpretation of this character, or they debuted on hardware that could not portray him correctly. However, the version of Green Goblin inUltimate Alliance 3is a cackling menace, a man who is daring enough to steal the time stone and use it to take on many of the stronger Marvel heroes in a true lust for power.Marvel’s Spider-Man 2didtease a new Green Goblin for the sequel,so that version may finally give fans the villain they have been waiting to see in a video game. Still, until then, the best version of Green Goblin is still the one that players battle inMarvel Ultimate Alliance 3.
