The Best Spider-Man Villains That Did Not Debut In The Comics

Spider-Man has one of the most impressive rogues galleries in comics, which is absolutely packed with iconic (or silly) villains. Due to the sheer volume of characters available, adaptations usually just stick to the classic lineup, as there really is no need to create something completely new. However, every once in a while, a movie, show, or game dares to venture into parts unknown, creating an original Spider-Man villain who has yet to debut in the comics. They are not consistently great, but they are always fun and novel.

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These characters might not be as notorious as Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Mysterio, Lizard, Venom, and a dozen more villains, but they nevertheless played a part in shaping Spider-Man’s history. After all, plenty of people are introduced to this universe through other media, so they might not even be aware that some villains have nothing to do with the comics.

9

Stuntman

A Simple Enemy With An Iconic Voice

The 1981 animated Spider-Man series featured many one-off villains that strayed from comic book lore. One example of this, Stuntman, was memorable for one particular reason: his voice actor. In his debut appearance, Stuntman was played by the incomparable Peter Cullen, best known for voicing Optimus Prime across the entire Transformers franchise.

A Hollywood stunt performer-slash-criminal who was fought by Spider-Man, before a lightning strike fused his metallic costume to his body. Blaming the web-slinger for his condition, he forms a criminal trio called the Triangle of Evil and battles Spider-Man, and although he loses, he makes for an interesting enemy, showing the consequences of Spider-Man’s victories.

8

Shikata

She Showed A Lot Of Potential As A Recurring Villain

Hopefully, someday a comic book writer will give a little more for Shikata to do, given her promising yet lackluster appearance in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. The assassin’s past is unknown prior to being hired by a billionaire to kill Spider-Man, which she refused. This put a target on her back that made her an unlikely ally of the friendly neighborhood hero.

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Sadly, her appearance is limited to one episode, but she kicks a lot of butt, including Spider-Man’s, in that time. After discovering her powers come from her sword, Spider-Man is able to disarm her and destroy it, only to learn that Shikata’s life force was attached to the weapon, and she dies, which is a sad fate for a rather interesting TV-exclusive villain.

7

The Gentleman

The Films Never Let His Plans Go Forward

The Gentleman is one of the few Spider-Man characters who debuted outside the comics and has also appeared in live-action. Born Gustav Fiers, the Gentleman was introduced in a 1999 novel, revealing him to be the mastermind behind the Sinister Six, as well as an affiliated person in the deaths of Peter Parker’s parents, who were double agents working for him.

Fiers appeared, albeit shrouded in darkness, in both The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, as Marc Webb’s live-action films teased a Sinister Six in the future. That didn’t end up coming to pass, though the character has since made the transition to the comic book universe during the Civil War II story arc.

6

Scarlet Sorcerer

Spider-Man’s Villain-Of-The-Week-From-Another-Era

Kotep is another one-and-done villain from the 1967 Spider-Man animated series, though he’s quite a different enemy than Peter Parker is used to. Known as the Scarlet Sorcerer, Kotep was a demonic king from Ancient Egypt who was defeated by the magician Brazman. However, he ends up having a fan in one of Peter Parker’s history teachers.

After being summoned back from the dead after 7,000 years, Kotep leads his demon army against Peter Parker’s school. Thankfully, Spider-Man is there to save the day, which he does by destroying Kotep’s scepter, which sends the Scarlet Sorcerer into the depths of time, along with his army. However, it makes for one of the highest-stakes battles in Spidey’s history.

5

Arachnoid / Nephilia

Two Separate Villains Who Share Similar Stories

Technically, Arachnoid and Nephilia are two completely different enemies in different shows with different names. However, their origins are pretty identical, essentially making them multiversal variants of each other. The first to appear was Nephilia, a.k.a. Bradley Shaw, from the 1980s animated series, a scientist who creates a Spider-Serum to give him powers.

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Unfortunately, his mutated form ends up looking more like a centaur-esque creature with his lower half replaced by a giant spider’s body. Spider-Man defeats Nephilia with an antidote, which is the same way Zoltan Amadeus in 1983’s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends is defeated. He must’ve been a good villain the first time if he was reused so soon after.

4

Olivia Octavius

A Gender-Swapped Doc Ock Who Leaves Quite An Impression

Over the decades, we have seen plenty of classic Spider-Man villains reimagined for other media, particularly movies. Green Goblin in The Amazing Spider-Man is basically a completely new character, although he still has enough ties to his comic origins to not make it onto this list. However, Into the Spider-Verse‘s Liv deserves a mention, as she was and still is a fresh take on Doctor Octopus. While her inspiration is extremely obvious, Olivia Octavius’s manic energy and two-faced nature enable her to stand apart from her much more famous ancestor, and her design fits the movie perfectly and has its own identity.

Now, to be fair, comics had tried a gender-bent Doc Ock before 2018, but none of those versions are Olivia; consequently, she is a completely new villain created solely for the fantastic movie. Considering Into the Spider-Verse mostly sticks to characters from the comics, so Liv’s mere existence was unique.

3

Wolf Spider

A Much More Evil Peter Parker Than Earth-616’s

There is no shortage of Peter Parker variants in the comics, though few have been as sinister as Wolf-Spider, a short-lived villain from Ultimate Spider-Man. For a brief arc in the television series, this universe’s Peter Parker gained spider powers, including the rare addition of spider legs, and became a remorseless villain, killing Miles Morales and terrorizing multiverses.

This vampiric Spider-Person ends up catching the attention of the heroic Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Kid Arachnid. He nearly gets the best of the Spider Totems, but his weakness ends up being his insatiable lust for power, resulting in him becoming overwhelmed by the life forces of several dimensions’ Spider-People, destroying him from the inside.

2

Monster-Ock

The Great Final Boss To A Great Spider-Man Game

At one point or another, every Marvel hero and villain seems to spend some time with a symbiote, almost like it is a rite of passage. Consequently, these variants are not exactly the most original and tend to feel a bit unnecessary. That said, Monster-Ock is an exception. 2000’s Spider-Man might seem quaint by today’s standards, but the game marked a significant leap forward for the wall-crawler, granting Peter his breakthrough 3D gaming adventure. Lasting just a few hours, the campaign is a sprint rather than a marathon, and it ends with a great boss battle against Monster-Ock.

After defeating Carnage, Peter goes up against a fusion of the serial killer and Doc Ock, resulting in a monstrosity so terrifying that it has yet to make another appearance. As the campaign otherwise does not deviate from the comics for its villains, the decision to go with such an intimidating original creature helped cement the game’s legacy.

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