With the new Spiderman franchise kicking ass at the Box office I thought I'd have a look through Spidey's considerable catalogue of villains and choose the top 5 I'd like to make an appearance in the sequels.
5: Scorpion
Originally a private investigator, Mac Gargan was hired by J. Jonah Jameson to find out how Peter Parker was able to obtain such incredible pictures of Spider-Man. When this failed Jameson then hired Gargan to be the subject of an experiment , endowing him with the characteristics of a scorpion for the purposes of defeating Spiderman once and for all. The Experiment was a success and Scorpion proved to be more than a match for the webbed wall-crawler, defeating him twice. The mutagenic treatment however seriously affected Gargan's mind, driving him insane. Becoming deranged Scorpion turned on his creator forcing Spiderman to intervene, and finally defeat Scorpion in their third battle.
While you may argue there are better Spidey villains out there, the Scorpion would fit into the Oscorp 'Tree of Life' story line already set up in 'The Amazing Spiderman' where cross species genetics has already given us the Lizard and our web slinging protaganist.
4: Rhino
Besides being one of my favorite Spidey enemies the Rhino is one of Spider-Man’s most powerful foes (not to mention dumbest).
Aleksei Sytsevich was just another thug in the Russian Mafia, until empowered by an experimental exoskeleton permanently bonded to his body and given the code name Rhino, he was directed to kidnap Colonel John Jameson. He however had different ideas. Turning on his benefactors he destroyed their headquarters, and attempted to abduct Jameson under his own initiative. He was defeated by Spiderman, who used his lack of intelligence and low maneuverability against him, and was sent to a special state correctional hospital where he was kept under heavy sedation.
Again this is a 'Tree of Life' scenario enemy and much in the same way I'd envision the Scorpion, if Rhino were to make an appearance I'd think it would work best like the Lizard, the result of an experiment gone wrong (or right) rather than just a guy in a suit. Also if you look closely at Oscorp's "tree of life" you can spot a Rhino in there, is it a possible easter egg for Spidey's next villain?
3: Electro
While he was repairing a power line, a freak lightning accident, resulting in a mutagenic change in his nervous system, transformed Maxwell Dillon into a walking, breathing electrical capacitor. Even though his powers were initially weak, (to the extent he would steal electrical equipment from Stark Industries to charge himself.) he was approached by Magneto, who considered him a potential recruit for his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, claiming that Dillon had power even rivaling his own, but Dillon refused. The following day, Dillon was confronted by a thug who he'd been borrowing money from, to pay for the machinery he'd needed. When the thug drew a gun on him because he hadn't paid his debt, Dillon shot a blast of lightning through his chest. This was the first time Dillon ever killed anybody. Soon after he took the name Electro and turned to a life of crime.
*SPOILERS*
If u have seen 'The Amazing Spiderman' you will no doubt have seen the after credits scene where in Doc Conner's, who upon being incarcerated for his crimes, is visited by a mysterious stranger. The stranger it seems, appears and vanishes with a flash of lightening. This has led to wide spread belief that Spidey's next enemy could be no other than Electro himself. Like most, Im a fan of Spiderman's electrifying foe and would enjoy seeing Webb's take on him in a sequel. Also, the fact that Electro could lead to a Sinister Six appearance is something else to hope for.
2: Kingpin
Wilson Fisk or The Kingpin as he is known in New Yorks underworld, while originally a Spiderman villain is one of the most feared and powerful crime lords in the Marvel Universe. Fisk began his life in crime as a common thug in the Bronx until he was noticed by Don Rigoletto, a crime boss who admired Fisk's sheer brutality so much, he hired him as his primary enforcer. Fisk eventually murdered his benefactor and took control over his mob empire, becoming the Kingpin. Though bereft of superhuman powers, the majority of his 400-plus pound bulk is solid muscle and he has been shown to be strong enough to hurl people across a room, rip off limbs and crush a mans skull with his bare hands.
Though we have already seen The Kingpin on the big screen, portrayed by Michael Clark Duncan in the 2003 film
Daredevil, he was never done justice and I for one would love to see him brought back to his Spidey-roots, this time possibly being made more intimidating by the use of CG enhancement in much the same way the frost giants were in THOR.
1: Carnage
Cletus Kasady led a very troubled childhood (thats putting it mildly). He killed his grandmother by pushing her down a flight of stairs, tortured his mother's dog and his own mother tried to kill him. His adult life is not much better. After coming to the conclusion that "laws are only words" he became a serial killer, believing that the spread of chaos was "the ultimate freedom." When he was captured and sent to Ryker's Island prison, Kasady shared a cell with Eddie Brock (who had lost the Venom Symbiote). When Brock's Symbiote returns and bonds with him he unknowingly leaves behind the Symbiote's offspring. ( the Symbiotes reproduce asexually and care nothing for their offspring) The orphaned Symbiote enters Kasady's bloodstream through a cut and bonds with him, transforming him into Carnage.
If Venom is a bad mother****er, the Carnage is truly off the charts. The fact that he is stronger than Spider-Man and also more powerful than Venom make him the most terrifying of all Spiderman's enemies and one who without a doubt deserves to be brought to the big screen.
Conclusion:
Though our favorite web-slinging superhero probably doesn't appreciate it, he has one of the most formidable array enemies of any superhero. As a result everyone will of course have different preferences on who they'd like to see brought in on the new franchise. While this makes it difficult to please everyone with an article like this, I think that even considering the plethora of spider-villains to chose from there should be a few in here we can all agree on.
I have intentionally left out all villains used in previous incarnations of the masked web slinger, if not repetitions sake, then just because with a new franchise should come new villains. This being said I still believe Venom, who in my opinion (and probably yours to) didnt get the portrayal he deserved in Raimi's third Spiderman film and most definitely deserves another outing.
Regardless of who we do see in future Spidey films, after seeing 'The Amazing Spiderman' we can be confident they will be handled right.