With the release date being pushed out to Fall 2023 for Marvel’s favorite hero, Spider-Man, have been driven out to the spotlight once again in films and the minds of Spider-Man fans.
As iconic and popular as Spider-Man’s villains are among many fans, some see his comic book villains as outrageously overrated. These thoughts inspired some fans to take to Reddit to discuss which of Spider-Man’s foes they see as the most overrated.
Chameleon
As Spider-Man’s first villain, Chameleon solidified his place in comics history and the hearts of many fans. As the master of disguises, Chameleon is ittedly one villain with interesting abilities, but his use in comics doesn’t seem to live up to readers’ expectations.
Panther1994 believes that “Chameleon is the most overrated because the nature of his gimmick makes his stories so repetitive.” There are only so many times a dramatic reveal of Chameleon having impersonated someone can truly have its maximum effect. Eventually, the gimmick gets old, leaving some to see Chameleon as overhyped.
Jack O’Lantern
Although he has since become Venom's major enemy, Jack O’ Lantern got his start fighting Spider-Man. With his time across comics, he’s earned a spot as one of the best Spider-Man villains not in the MCU yet. However, not all fans see him as deserving of that consideration.
Among a list of villains like Loki and Apocalypse, the final name to round out one deleted Redditor’s list of “boring/overrated” Marvel villains is “Jack O’Lantern.” With some seeing him as a knockoff Green Goblin, especially given his stint as Hobgoblin, Jack O’Lantern takes advantage of someone else’s success.
Jackal
While he’s widely hated among comics fans, some believe Jackal is one Spider-Man villain who should have a solo movie. Responding to seeing Jackal on a list of overrated villains, Cehabert says he is “overrated in a publishing sense, as in relation to how much they’re featured in stories. And Jackal is currently the main villain of a crossover event.”
As a main character in The Clone Conspiracy, Jackal’s presence in comics has not annoyed readers less than before. In fact, they were upset seeing Jackal pushed as a focal point in the story.
Mysterio
Mysterio was battling Spider-Man long before he made it to the big screen in Spider-Man: Far From Home. With his classic tactic of using his background in special effects and illusions, Mysterio is easily able to frame Spider-Man for crimes he never committed.
However, not everyone sees this Sinister Six member as a viable threat to Spider-Man. Timyturner22 sees Mysterio as nothing more than a “lame villain who just creates illusions.” While Mysterio’s illusions enable his criminal activity, they also make it difficult to see him as a serious threat compared to other villains.
Rhino
Although Rhino may be one of the best villains in Marvel’s Spider-Man game, he is still considered by some to be one of Spider-Man’s more overrated rogues. A deleted Redditor describes Rhino as “not all that deep or complex, but his character concept, design and “powers” are so memorable that you just kinda end up liking him anyway.”
Getting by on his iconic concept and design without having the depth other Spider-Man villains are known for leaves some seeing Rhino as having earned more praise than he deserves as a villain.
Kraven
As one of the most dangerous villains without superpowers, Kraven has a big fight ahead of him whenever he takes on one of the strongest Marvel heroes, Spider-Man. For some readers, Kraven’s Last Hunt finally marked the villain being dealt with properly, while others saw it as just another Kraven story they forced themselves to finish.
One Redditor sums this up, saying, “Reading through his comics made me realize I never liked any of his appearances.” This comment earned a fair amount of agreement, highlighting the disconnect between the excitement over his solo film and some fan opinions.
Venom
Although Venom is known to have some great comic book storylines, he hasn’t always delivered the most unique stories. One Redditor believes Venom needs to be considered the most overrated, even as a current anti-hero, because he was “cool early on, then burned out the idea with the dozen other symbiotes, and now just really bores me.”
Venom lost any edge he had over other characters since the flood of other symbiotes. When he was unique, people could stand behind any praise he received, but now that he’s like so many other characters, readers don’t see him the same.
Carnage
Carnage came about as the symbiote bonded with its host Cletus Kasady. With a stronger bond to the symbiote than Venom, Carnage is strong and dangerous when taking on Spider-Man or Venom.
Jviscake can’t understand Carnage’s hype because although he’s unique as a red symbiote, “Everyone acts like he’s the deadliest thing ever. He’s scary for sure, but in all honesty, he hasn’t really done much on a larger scale to imply he’s a threat.” Compared to other villains Spider-Man takes on, Carnage doesn’t pose as much of a threat. He’s a small-scale villain at best.
Doctor Octopus
While Doctor Octopus may be Spider-Man’s most powerful animal-themed villain, his time in the comics hasn’t proven to all readers that he deserves the love he gets from fans. One of the best comments regarding this lack of connection with Doctor Octopus comes from HexManiak, who says, “Superior [Spider-Man] is the only time Ock has ever been interesting (aside from the Raimi film).”
Without Spider-Man 2 and Alfred Molina, Doc Ock wouldn’t be nearly as well-loved if it was left up to the comics until his time as Spider-Man, leaving him overly celebrated as a comic villain.
Green Goblin
Surprisingly, one of the Spider-Man villains most named across threads was Green Goblin. This villain may have benefited the most from his presence in Sam Raimi’s films and Spider-Man: No Way Home, as his time in the comics left readers feeling like something was missing from his character.
But, because of Willem Dafoe’s outstanding performance as Norman Osborne and Green Goblin, he’s widely loved. Musingsmuses says, “He never seems to have any motive outside of just ruining Spidey’s life for moderately inconveniencing Osborn’s normal corporate crimes… He doesn’t seem to have anything outside of wanting to ruin Spider-Man’s life.”
