Spider-Man probably has more supervillains than any other invididual superhero. He's fought villains that were normally from Captain America (Red Skull), Fantastic 4 (Dr Doom) and X-Men (Juggernaut) but he still has his faithful foes that keep coming back for him. I thought I would share my list of who I think ranks hightest on the greatest villains scale and why. This is not me ranking villains on favoritism, this is me attempting to rank the villains in terms of popularity among fans, how dangerous or cunning they are, and have much trouble they have given the web slinger. So enjoy and share your thoughts.
15. Chameleon: Spider-Man's first foe; this guy aint much in the "deadly" scale in terms of fighting ability or advanced weaponry, but he is incredibly devious. He also helped Harry Osborn screw up Parker's life with the return of his "parents" and did eventually unmask the web slinger. He also is responsible for introducing Kraven to Spider-Man as "the most dangerous game."
14. Sandman: Sandy is a tough villain mainly because he's hard to injure and is one of Spidey's oldest enemies. Fortunately, for the wall crawler, Flint Marko doesn't have the brain to match his braun. The reason I didn't rank him higher is because he spent a fair amount of time with the Frightful Four and was an FF villain for a while and went "clean" when he joined Silver Sable. I certainly don't think he deserved to be in a movie, there are some foes that I believe rank a lot higher as arch enemies.
13. Shocker: Okay, so Herman Shultz may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he does have enough common sense to be a great mechanic. His knowledge of tools allowed him to build his own suit with built in weaponry: vibrating shock blasts that can punch through walls and anything else that gets in his way. No matter how many times Spider-Man throws him in jail, he always comes back for more.
12. Rhino: Yeah, he's big, he's dumb, but S&%@ is he strong! He may not be quite "Hulk strong" but he's still strong enough to throw a truck like a baseball. Spider-Man's speed and agility have usually helped him gain the upper hand, but I can't think of too many instances where he had an easy time taking the brute down.
11. Mysterio: Quinton Beck was a movie special effects producer who believed that whatever Spider-Man could do naturally, he could do artificially. Although no super powers of natural causes, he still had the knowledge to develop a suit that fits his needs with all the illusions, trickery and weaponry needed to make him one of the most manipulative foes Spider-Man has ever faced.
10. Scorpion: Jameson hates Spider-Man. In fact, he hates him so much he decides to invest in a special project to have private eye, Mac Gargan become a lethal killing machine. The only problem was...the costume never came off; he turned Gargan into a "freak." Gargan went crazy and decided to kill the very person who funded him. Jameson created a bigger menace than Spidey could every possibly be. Spider-Man was the only person who was finally able to subdue the Scorpion in time to prevent the old goat from kicking the bucket.
9. Lizard: Dr Conners is now the new movie villain. He's one guy that I can honestly say is a good man with noble intentions, but used the wrong method. His serum with reptile dna DID work in regrowing his lost arm, but the side effect was worse than anything listed in a TV medicine ad. He became the Lizard and the alter-ego wanted to turn all of mankind into reptiles or at least use them for food. Nearly every time he has battled with Spider-Man, the web head barely escapes with his life.
8. Electro: Talk about persistance. This guy just does not know when to give it up. He doesn't care who gets in his way, he'll just "fry 'em up!" It doesn't help that this guy can just aborb all the power in a given area to "charge up" while you have to sit in a house with no electricity. Spider-Man has fought Electro many times throughout the years and each time, he's always been a handfull. One time, he even made Spider-Man beg for mercy so he wouldn't kill him.
7. Kraven: Kraven the Hunter! Here's ANOTHER dude who just will not give up. For years, he has been obsessed with defeating the wall crawler and hanging his mask up with the heads of every wild beast he has killed. No matter how many times Spider-Man would defeat him, he kept coming back for more. Kraven finally got his way and tranquelized Spider-Man long enough for the web slinger to get buried alive and laid in the ground for two weeks. When Spidey finally woke up from his "nap", Kraven gloated about how he had finally won. Kraven then did not believe there were any challenges left for him, so dumbass shot himself in the head.
6. Vulture: He may be old, but this cranky bird has been one of the biggest threats over Spider-Man's crime fighting career. The 2nd villain Spider-Man ever faced and the first one that actually tested his abilities. Adrian Toomes developed a suit that granted him the power of flight and also boosted his strength. He later went on a killing rampage when he found out he was dying from cancer and decided to "off" everyone that ever wronged him. He was responsible for killing Aunt May's fiance, absorbing Spider-Man's life force temporarily to make himself young again, and then absorbing Peter's android "Mom's" energy to make himself really messed up.
5. Carnage: The spawn of Venom. Cletus Kasidy was one sick, twisted serial killer when he was just human. Combine that with Venom's symbiote "kid" and he became 100 times worse. Carnage is stronger than Spider-Man or Venom, can block his Spider-Sense and can use his symbiote to turn this hands into whatever deadly weapon he feels like. His worst killing spree was the famous "Maximum Carnage" which took 14 comics to tell, where Carnage filled entire graveyards worth of bodies before Spider-Man and Venom finally took him down.
4. Hobgoblin: Roderick Kingsly may be the smartest and most manipulative foe Spider-Man has ever faced. First, he steals Norman Osborn's inventions and uses them for himself. He even found a way to give himself the same superhuman strength Osborn had WITHOUT the insanity. You can't plead criminally insane with Kingsley, this guy's just evil. He even faked his own death by allowing the Foreigner to believe he was really Bugle reporter, Ned Leeds. Leeds was murdered and Kingsley retired from his criminal career as the Hobgoblin. Jason Macendale (Jack O Lantern) took the mantle for himself until he was finally arrested and convicted. Kingsley, being the narcissist that he is, decided to murder Macendale in his own prison cell and become Hobgoblin once again. After a few more murders, it proved to be his downfall, when he was defeated again by Spider-Man, unmasked and imprisoned.
3. Dr Octopus: Doc Ock! Anything Spider-Man could throw at this guy, Ock could counter. Four metal tentacles were accidently mounted to his spine allowing him to control them just as easily as his own appendages. Every time Spidey has gone against Ock, he's never walked away with an easy vicory; often it was the wall crawler who was defeated. Ock's criminal genius and lust for power allowed him to take control of tentacles made out of adamantium, which enabled him to even defeat the Hulk in a fight.
2. Venom: the dark Spider-Man. Spider-Man first got the black alien costume from the Beyonder's world during the Secret Wars. Little did he realize that the black ooze that became his costume would also become one of his greatest nightmares. The costume turned out to be a living symbiote that tried to bond with Parker's dna. Spider-Man was finally able to get it off thanks to its weakness for intense sound, only to have it later bond with Eddie Brock, a former reporter from the Daily Globe who was fired for a story he ran on Spider-Man and the Sin Eater. He blamed Spider-Man for everything that went wrong in his life and only lived for revenge. Venom has all of Spider-Man's powers, is immune to his Spider Sense and worst of all, knows Spider-Man and Peter Parker are the same.
1. Green Goblin: Norman or Harry, they're both just as deadly. Norman Osborn developed a serum that increased his strengh, but also drove him insane. He then became obsessed with destroying Spider-Man to gain favor in the eyes of the criminal underworld. Osborn was the first villain to ever learn Spider-Man's secret identity and nearly killed him on several occassions. The Green Goblin has probably put more stress on Parker's life than any other person, even the burglar that killed Uncle Ben. Norman Osborn is solely responsible for murdering Gwen Stacey and was also responsible for Mary Jane having a miscarriage. Osborn was stabbed in the heart with is own glider but didn't die. His son, Harry, Peter's best friend, also became the Goblin and ended up dying from the very formula that gave Norman his power. In his insanity, Norman blamed Parker and sought revenge, manipulating Miles Warren (the Jackal) during the clone saga. He has continued to plague Spider-Man's life and their hatred will never be finished until one of them is dead for good.
So there you have it. Let me know what you think. I made this for supervillains only, not "the burglar" being the greatest, which I think is a BS answer anyway. I thought about including Kingpin, but couldn't quite decide where to fit him in because he's pretty much Daredevil's number one foe. It took me a long time to write, but I hope you like it.