Though Marvel’s Spider-Man has been warmly received by fans, the game lacks a missing ingredient that is often present in the comics - the web-swinger’s villains often show moral shades of gray, and a few of them have even proven they can change for the good. However, reformed villains failed to make their way into Marvel’s Spider-Man despite having backstories relevant to the game’s themes.
The story of Marvel’s Spider-Man centers around Peter Parker and Dr. Otto Octavius. Otto is Peter’s friend and mentor until he becomes obsessed with his project to build prosthetic limbs that will save him from the disease that will shut down his body. These limbs use a technology that overtakes Otto’s mind, however, causing him to become the famous Doc Ock and the leader of a group of Spider-Man super villains.
This story would have been perfect for characters like the Lizard and Sandman to appear in. Much like Doc Ock and even Spider-Man, the Lizard and Sandman are victims of circumstance: their bodies have changed due to factors largely outside their control. However, where Marvel's Spider-Man's Doc Ock sought to fight against his body’s changes by surrendering himself to the whims of his own technology, the Lizard and Sandman have (save for in a few series of comics) been able to accept their new bodies like Spider-Man and have even gotten to use their new powers for good causes. This thematic relevance would have opened them up for perfect roles in Marvel’s Spider-Man.
How The Lizard And Sandman Could Have Been In Marvel’s Spider-Man
The best way Lizard and Sandman could have appeared in Marvel’s Spider-Man would have been as helpers of the web-swinger as he fights Doc Ock’s gangs of super villains. One way this could have happened is that the Lizard, or Dr. Connors, could have been a researcher monitoring Otto’s work. Dr. Connors could have then been the first person to learn of Otto’s transition into Doc Ock and the first person to warn Spider-Man about it. Perhaps the best villain the Lizard could help Spider-Man fight would be Scorpion. Because Scorpion’s mind was altered in a way not unfamiliar to how Dr. Connor’s was when he became the Lizard, their fight would be both thematically poignant and awesome to watch.
In comparison, the Sandman could have helped Spider-Man fight Electro. The Electro battle is already one of Marvel’s Spider-Man’s best boss fights, but including the Sandman would make it more than a little more cinematic. Indeed, having the Sandman fight Electro along with Spider-Man could serve as a reference to Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which the three encounter each other in a brief (but memorable) duel. Of course, Marvel’s Spider-Man came out long before No Way Home, so perhaps its sequel could see a fight play out that way.