Summary

• Spider-Man's live-action films have featured a variety of villains, with some being disappointing and others becoming iconic.
• Characters, like Rhino, Electro, and New Goblin, fell flat in their respective films, lacking impact and adequate development.
• Some villains, like Doc Ock and Dafoe's Green Goblin, are now the definitive version of those characters for many.

Over the course of ten MCU, Sony produced two separate franchises featuring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in the lead role, though Tom Holland would portray the superhero in the MCU.

Sam Raimi led production on 2002's Spider-Man, 2004's Spider-Man 2, and 2007's Spider-Man 3, with Marc Webb taking over for 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man and its 2014 sequel. After a deal between Sony and Marvel Studios went into effect, Sony Spider-Man Universe focusing on Spider-Man villains, Tom Holland is still the only current live-action Peter Parker, though Miles Morales has adopted the moniker in two animated Spider-Verse projects so far. Every Spider-Man feature film has pitted the web-slinger against a slew of powerful villains, though some are considered much better than others.

22 Aleksei Sytsevich, A.K.A. Rhino - The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Played by Paul Giamatti

• No superpowers
• A goofy performance that's best consigned to history

By far the most disappointing Spider-Man villain seen in live-action is Paul Giamatti's Aleksei Sytsevich, a.k.a. Rhino, who appeared as a minor antagonist in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opposite Garfield's Peter Parker. Sytsevich is a killer for the Russian Mafia in New York who receives a bulky mechanized suit of armor after allying with Harry Osborn following his apprehension by Spider-Man. Sytsevich has no superhuman abilities aside from his armor, and his very brief appearance as Rhino in the final moments of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 fell completely flat. Luckily, the villain will be reinvented in the SSU's Kraven the Hunter, portrayed by Alessandro Nivola.

21 Harry Osborn, A.K.A. Green Goblin - The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Played by Dane DeHaan

• Twisted by personal trauma and poisoned by experimental serum
• Failed to live up to other Green Goblins

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 also featured the debut of Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn, Peter Parker's childhood best friend who returns home to be with his dying father. Osborn reconnects with Parker in the hopes that Spider-Man's blood could cure the genetic condition, but after injecting a serum of spider venom into his system, Osborn transforms into The Amazing Spider-Man 2's Green Goblin. While DeHaan probably could have delivered a strong performance as the Green Goblin had he been the film's only villain, the oversaturation of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 meant he lost any impact and had big shoes to fill following Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin performance in 2002's Spider-Man.

20 Eddie Brock, A.K.A. Venom - Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Played by Topher Grace

• An incredibly cool villain design
• Threat spoiled by too many villains in one movie

Similarly to The Amazing Spider-Man 2, 2007's Spider-Man 3 simply had too many subplots for any of the film's villains to truly land any punches. Long before Tom Hardy became Eddie Brock in the SSU, Topher Grace portrayed the journalist in Spider-Man 3 and bonded with the Venom symbiote after Maguire's Peter Parker removes it from himself. Elements of Spider-Man 3's Eddie Brock were interesting, including how he became a perfect dark mirror of Peter Parker, but overall the villain was simply shoehorned into the film and wasn't done justice as a consequence.

19 Jackson Brice, A.K.A. Shocker - Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Played by Logan Marshall-Green

• Short-lived but a logical addition to Spider-Man's street level rogues gallery
• Little more than a henchman

Tom Holland's first solo adventure as the MCU's Peter Parker in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming saw him go up a few minor villains, including Logan Marshall-Green's Jackson Brice, a.k.a. Shocker. Brice was one of two Shockers featured in Spider-Man: Homecoming, as he was quickly killed off by Adrian Toomes following an altercation with Spider-Man. Brice had very little impact on the storyline of Spider-Man: Homecoming, other than to see the second Shocker emerge, but at least his use of repurposed version of Brock Rumlow's Crossbones' gauntlets from Captain America: Civil War was impressive.

18 Max Dillon, A.K.A. Electro - The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) & Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Played by Jamie Foxx

• Envious and incredibly powerful
• Blue-skinned design made Electro too cartoonish

While Harry Osborn's Green Goblin was a present threat in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Jamie Foxx's Max Dillon, a.k.a. Electro, was the film's primary antagonist. Electrical engineer Dillon became Electro after falling into a tank of genetically modified electric eels, transforming him into a living electrical generator. While Foxx tries to deliver a good performance, Electro's design in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is off-putting and distracting. Luckily, Foxx reprised the role in the MCU's Spider-Man: No Way Home, where he returned with a more human appearance, helping at least a little to redeem the villain, though he still didn't pose much of a threat compared to others.

17 Harry Osborn, A.K.A. New Goblin - Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Played by James Franco

• Harry Osborn's vengeful drive was a real threat to Spider-Man
• Let down by inferior costume design

Following in the footsteps of his father, Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn, James Franco's Harry Osborn became the New Goblin in Spider-Man 3 after ingesting his father's performance-enhancing gas in an effort to exact revenge on Peter Parker for his father's death. Unfortunately, in a project stuffed full of villains including Venom and Sandman, Franco's New Goblin is all but forgotten, particularly after being saddled with an amnesia storyline. Nevertheless, it was impactful to see Harry Osborn's transformation into a villain with two movies' worth of backstory to build on, it's just a shame the execution wasn't as effective as it could have been.

16 Flint Marko, A.K.A. Sandman - Spider-Man 3 (2007) & Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Played by Thomas Haden Church

• Spider-Man 3's best villain
• Questionable CGI undermined his return in the MCU

Thomas Haden Church manages to bring sympathy, heart, and humanity to his performance as Flint Marko, a.k.a. Sandman, in Spider-Man 3. While he is certainly far from the most powerful Spider-Man villain seen in film, Marko is arguably the most effective villain in Spider-Man 3, particularly because of his previous connection to Peter Parker as the inadvertent killer of Uncle Ben in 2002's Spider-Man. Haden Church returned as Sandman in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but was seemingly given even less to do in the MCU project, overshadowed by more iconic Spider-Man villains such as Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus.

15 Tombstone - Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)

Played by Marvin "Krondon" Jones III

• A cool spin on an underused Spider-Man villain
• No major threat, and relegated to mostly playing Kingpin's bodyguard

Tombstone was introduced in 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Sony's animated project featuring the rise of Miles Morales as Brooklyn's Spider-Man on Earth-1610. Voiced by Marvin "Krondon" Jones III, Tombstone is Kingpin's personal escort, chief lieutenant, and head of security at Fisk Industries. He is a relatively minor inconvenience in Into the Spider-Verse, as other villains pose a much greater threat, even if he does make more appearances than others. Tombstone is easily defeated by Spider-Noir and arrested at the end of Into the Spider-Verse, having not actually said or done much during the animated adventure.

14 Maximus Gargan, A.K.A. Scorpion - Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)

Played by Joaquin Cosio

• Memorable, horrifying design
• Limited impact and beaten very easily

Similarly to Tombstone, Maximus Gargan, a.k.a. Scorpion, is another of Kingpin's henchmen in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and also doesn't actually have much to do in the 2018 film. Scorpion takes part in the battle against Miles Morales and the Spider-Man variants at Aunt May's house, and s in the final battle at the Super-Collider. Instead of showing his merciless strength, however, Scorpion is easily defeated by Spider-Ham, Spider-Noir, and Peni Parker and SP//dr. His appearance is terrifying, however, and it's great to see Scorpion get some action in a Spider-Man film following the unresolved tease of Mac Gargan in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

13 Norman Osborn, A.K.A. Green Goblin - Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)

Played by Jorma Taccone

• Monstrous kaiju-like redesign of Spider-Man's iconic nemesis
• Too little screen-time for major impact, but did massively weaken Spider-Man

Green Goblin has been adapted into most Spider-Man media outside Marvel Comics, but Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's interpretation of the legendary villain is something to behold. Instead of undergoing a small transformation after ingesting his performance-enhancing serum, Into the Spider-Verse's Norman Osborn transformed into a giant, goblin-like creature that wreaked havoc throughout New York City and eventually fell under the employ of Kingpin. Green Goblin is involved in Into the Spider-Verse's battle against Peter Parker's Spider-Man, leading to the wall-crawler's death on Earth-1610, so that proves the villain's power, though Green Goblin also died during this fight.