Marvel Studios has gone through a lot of Spider-Man's villains very quickly. Homecoming used The Vulture and Shocker, while Far From Home put Mysterio front and centre alongside "Elementals" clearly based on the likes of Hydro-Man and Molten Man.
Then, in No Way Home, Tom Holland's web-slinger battled Variants of the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Lizard, and Sandman. Where does this leave Spider-Man 4? Well, if recent rumours are to be believed, Peter Parker will team up with Venom to battle Knull, God of the Symbiotes.
However, Spidey still has plenty of bad guys we'd like to see on screen and this feature singles out six villains we'd rather have showcased in filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton's addition to the popular MCU franchise. We also explore the types of stories which can be told with the characters.
To check them out, all you need to do is click on the "Next"/"View List" buttons below...
6. Tombstone
If Marvel Studios plans to embrace the street-level nature of Spider-Man's comic book adventures, Tombstone isn't a bad place to start. With Wilson Fisk in the Mayor's office, someone needs to step up to take charge of the streets so who better than Lonnie Lincoln?
Zeb Wells' recent Amazing Spider-Man run did a splendid job of giving Tombstone "big bad" status and Spider-Man 4 could surround him with a healthy number of superpowered criminal underlings pulled from the comics.
Sure, he's not as big a name as the Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus, but with a strong enough story, that won't matter. Heck, you could even throw in Tombstone's old boss, Silvermane, for good measure (that's doubtful with him set for Spider-Noir, unfortunately).
5. Spider-Slayers
While we'd have liked a little more J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the movie still succeeded in turning him into an antagonist. Now, he can step up into full-blown villain mode similar to the Jonah seen in Spidey's earliest comic book adventures.
Desperate to unmask the vigilante, Jonah can enlist Spencer Smythe to create an army of Spider-Slayers. Keeping things street-level, the program could even be funded by Mayor Fisk as he looks to remove another of New York's pesky vigilantes (the comic book Jonah was once Mayor as well so these two being in cahoots as he eyes that position isn't a stretch).
The thought of J.K. Simmons' grinning face chasing down Spidey in the body of one of these robots makes us giddy. A story like this can even tie into the Department of Damage Control and its acquisition of Stark Industries technology.
4. Scorpion
Sticking with JJJ for a moment, we'd also love Spider-Man 4 to finally bring Scorpion to the big screen. One of the web-slinger's most underrated baddies, he was a P.I. assigned by Jonah to uncover Spider-Man's secret identity.
When that failed, The Daily Bugle's Editor-in-Chief paid for a procedure which would make Mac Gargan powerful enough to defeat the hero in combat. However, it went wrong and Scorpion was not only trapped in his suit but became completely unhinged.
Michael Mando played Mac in Spider-Man: Homecoming and given his criminal status, a few changes might be required. Still, we think he'd do well in the role and the stage can even be set for Scorpion to eventually become the MCU's Venom.
3. The Kingpin
We've mentioned Fisk a few times here and he remains the most logical choice of villain for Spider-Man 4. However, he should only be the movie's main bad guy if Charlie Cox has a major role as Daredevil alongside Tom Holland's wall-crawler.
Having the Kingpin of Crime rise to power in Daredevil: Born Again, only for Spidey to be the one to take him down feels like a betrayal when it comes to the Man Without Fear's arc. Yes, he and Fisk have already clashed on screen, but he needs to be there when the villain gets what's coming to him.
This is the street-level story the vast majority of fans want and Marvel Studios should give it to them (well, us). Still, with rumours swirling about the Multiverse coming into play, there's still a better choice than Tom Hardy's Venom...
2. Mysterio
Spider-Man: Far From Home's big twist was undeniably clever. Sure, we all knew Mysterio would be a villain, but him posing as a Multiversal "hero" and using stolen Stark Industries tech to create his "illusions"? It was a fantastic take on the character.
What's weird about it now is that Quentin Beck used that Multiverse story right before what we saw happen in Loki. Plus, how did he just guess that the Sacred Timeline is designated Earth-616? These are questions that a return in Spider-Man 4 can address.
If it's revealed that Mysterio is a reality-hopping baddie - who faked his death - then Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men can easily be added back to the mix, especially if he showed up in their worlds and similarly fooled them. Perhaps he serves Doom...
1. Hobgoblin
A lot of Spider-Man: No Way Home's story took place off-screen, including the Green Goblin using Stark Industries tech acquired by the DODC to upgrade his suit and glider. With his weaponry still on Earth-616, what if someone else discovers them?
Peter Parker being haunted by a new Goblin - the Hobgoblin, in this instance - after his Aunt May's death feels like a fitting next chapter. Heck, the man beneath the mask could even discover some of Norman Osborn's video diaries (a somewhat similar approach to the comics), learning Spidey's biggest secrets in the process.
Oh, and make no mistake about it: we absolutely do not want Ned Leeds to be the MCU's Hobgoblin. This should be Roderick Kingsley or, failing that, Jason Macendale or Phil Urich. The Ned stuff is just way too on the nose, though the character can still be incorporated somehow.