Greetings friends, I am here today to tell you who my 5 favorite Spider-Man rogues are and why I like them. Now, before I say anything else this article is not (I repeat IS NOT) objective in the least, and is subjective to my personal tastes and preferences.
Now, I am of the opinion that Spider-Man's rogues gallery is the greatest rogues gallery of all time. Out of all the other superheroes, Batman's rogues are the only ones who even come close. I am going to list my 5 favorite Spider-Man rogues and then write a brief paragraph about why I like them. But, before I do that I would like to honor 2 characters that didn't make the list. Those being: Electro and Kraven the Hunter.
I am a big fan of Electro, and even though his look was a bit...well...odd, I liked him a lot and found him very interesting and cool. He would be my sixth favorite. On a side note, regardless of my outspoken bad feelings toward the Amazing Spider-Man movie, I am overjoyed by the fact that Electro will appear in the sequel and and am excited to see what they will do with the character.
My seventh favorite would have been Kraven the Hunter, I was always a fan of his. I really like the concept and character.
Now, with those two out of the way I will move on to my top 5 Spider-Man rogues, enjoy!
5. The Lizard
The Lizard, Lizard is what happened after Doctor Curt Conners injected himself with a serum using Lizard DNA in order to cure himself of a missing limb. The side effects of that serum have turned him into the feral beast known as The Lizard. Regardless of my outspoken dis-taste of the Amazing Spider-Man movie, I do like The Lizard as a villain very much. He is a very interesting villain, he lost his arm. He seeks to cure himself and the world as a whole, after he makes the Lizard serum in order to regrow his arm. The side effect was turning into a massive Lizard beast. Now, there have been two major versions of the Lizard, the original one who was snout less. As well as the far cooler, McFarlane Lizard with an Alligator-like snout. Personally I greatly prefer the McFarlane one just because he looks cooler. Moving on, Lizard is interesting because he's two people, two different characters. There is Dr. Conners who is a good guy, and a friend and ally of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Then there is Lizard, who is a bad guy and a longtime enemy of Spider-Man/Peter Parker. The fight within is an interesting tale. Plus, I always thought he was just cool. I know that sounds cheesy, but look at him. He's a giant alligator dude, that's pretty cool. Overall, I love The Lizard. He's an interesting villain, one of Spider-Man's best. He's got a cool look and cool powers. So I feel that justifies him making it on my list.
4. Sandman
Sandman, oh Sandman. Sandman is the result of mixing radiation and....well...sand. Sandman is a villain, who you think and feel is a good guy. But has fallen down the wrong path...you know, made too many wrong turns and ended up on the wrong side of the law. Flint Marko is his real name, I like Sandman quite a bit. Bet you can't guess what his powers are? Yup, that's right. He controls and is made out of sand. Granted, his name may not be the most creative. But we can put that aside, because in my opinion. Sandman is one of the best character concepts of all time, I mean he's got the coolest powers of any of the Spider-Man villains. That aside, Sandman was a wonderful creation and one of Spider-Man's earliest enemies. I've seen the original Sandman art by Steve Ditko, and it's just beautiful. Sandman was an amazing concept. I also like him in the way that he seems like he should be a good guy, he is conflicted and it's an interesting dynamic. We want him to do the right thing, and sometimes it feels like he will. Other times that seems impossible. He is an interesting character, he was one of the best concepts of all time, he has beautiful artwork, cool powers. Those four things are my reasons for having Sandman as my fourth favorite Spider-Man villain.
3. Rhino
Rhino, the unstoppable raging Rhino! Rhino is a Russian immigrant named Alex O'Hirn. He's really just trying to do what's best to provide for his family. But, he's not very smart or well educated. Now, don't attack or judge me for having this lovable hulking bruiser in my top 3. Ever since I was just a little kid, Rhino was always one of my favorite villains. Period. As I have grown older, I realize that most folks either hate him, dislike him, or just pass him off as a stupid character. In all honesty, I love Rhino a ton. I don't care that he jobs to whichever character Marvel is trying to make look tough. (Well, I do care but what I mean is that it doesn't hurt my love for the character) I don't care that people think he looks stupid, I don't care that people think he's a moron. (He isn't, he was always moderate intelligence, and then at some times writers make him a complete idiot and other times he's just average) Ever since I was young, I have had a soft spot for Rhino. The guy is just adorable, you love him but you want to hate him at the same time but you just can't. I always found him interesting and cool. And if you don't, than good for you! By the way, I think the casting of Paul Giamatti is spot on, and I am excited to see how they handle Rhino in the new Spider-Man movie coming out next summer.
2. Venom (Brock)
Venom, oh boy this dude is sick. I mean that in a good way (Sick=Cool), Eddie Brock was a reporter for the Daily Bugle and a competitor with Peter Parker. The story changes depending on the adaptation, but the idea is that Spider-Man does something to make Eddie Brock lose his job at the Daily Bugle. Which results in losing his girlfriend and his father's approval. Then after Spider-Man rids himself of the black symbiote, the symbiote locks onto Eddie's vengeance craving emotions and Venom was born. I love Venom, everything about him is just amazing. I mean the story, the story is just great. His backstory is deep, emotional and interesting. The character design and powers are sick! I also find it interesting, that Eddie is really a good guy (yeah, roll your eyes another sympathetic villain or anti-hero for Spidey) he does good things, he saves lives, protects people, defends the innocent, hunts down nasty serial killers and administers vengeance for what they did. He really is a good guy, but when Spidey is around WATCH OUT!! That is Brock's greatest flaw as a character, he tries to be a good guy. To do right, but Spidey just gets in the way and ruins things. He hates Spider-Man, but Brock even proves he is a good guy when he puts aside his personal feelings against Spidey and works with him as a partner to take out Carnage. Through and through, Venom is easily one of the best Spider-Man rogues ever created and that's why he's number 2.
1. Green Goblin
The Green Goblin, also known as Norman Osborn. The Green Goblin is really the insane scientist and businessman Norman Osborn, who took the Goblin serum and became Spider-Man's most fearsome enemy to date. The Green Goblin is a fantastic villain, he was always the best in the animated series and also in the comics. The Green Goblin is also a real breath of fresh air concerning Spider-Man villains, seeing as the majority of them are sympathetic villains (Lizard, Rhino, Electro, etc.) or good guys who seem bad (Venom, Sandman, etc.) but The Green Goblin is the best of them all in my humble opinion. He is evil, he is twisted, he is scary, he's a really bad guy. That's not to say Norman has no good in him at all. But unlike the majority of the Spider-Man villains, The Green Goblin's intentions are decidedly evil. Now, you might be thinking about Carnage. Because he fits the same bill, but the difference between The Green Goblin and Carnage is that Green Goblin has a motive and a purpose. It is still an evil purpose and motivation, but Carnage is bad because....well....just because. Even though both of them are admittedly a breath of fresh air seeing as most of Spidey's villains are good guys at heart. But Green Goblin is a far better villain in my opinion, because he actually has a backstory and a purpose. Whereas Carnage attacks because...just because. Moving on, the final reason is that the Green Goblin is just really cool. Again, I know that sounds corny. But that's part of what I look for in a villain. His costume design, abilities, the goblin glider, the pumpkin bombs. Man, I just love the whole get-up. It's like if Halloween was made manifest into one person, that person would be the Green Goblin. Out of all the sympathetic villains and anti-heroes in Spidey's rogues. There is one who rises above and is undeniably evil. (sure you could argue Carnage, but he was always sort of a gimmick) To me, no Spidey villain will ever top the Green Goblin and he is and always will be my favorite.
Well, that is all. I left out a popular villain of his and with reason. I left out Kingpin. I am a huge fan of the Kingpin, I like him better than Lizard and Sandman for sure but Kingpin to me is better suited as a villain for Daredevil. I love Kingpin, but I don't like him as a Spider-Man villain. I also like Hobgoblin, I would have listed at him at eighth, if I went that far. As far as Dr. Octopus goes, outside of Spider-Man 2 I never found him interesting. The rest, including Shocker, Mysterio, Scorpion, Tombstone, etc. and others I just don't care for.
That's all folks, remember this is purely subjective and go ahead and tell me your own favorite Spider-Man rogues. Thanks a lot for reading!