The 10 Strongest Spider-Man Villains Co-Created by Stan Lee, Ranked

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Stan Lee is one of the most popular writers in fiction. He co-created some of the most popular and profitable modern film, television, comic, and game characters ever made. Thanks to him, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the largest film franchises of all time, with one of its movies being the second highest-grossing of all time (fighting with Avatar for top spot) and Spider-Man being among the most profitable fictional characters.

There’s no doubt that Spider-Man is Stan Lee’s most popular and successful co-creation. Thus, for the many years that he wrote the book, he co-created some of Spidey’s most iconic villains alongside titanous artists like Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr. But which are the strongest? It’s a tough match-up, but there are clear contenders for the top spot. This list will rank the strongest Spider-Man villains co-created by Stan Lee based on their sheer strength and abilities, many of whom rival the friendly neighrborhood’s prowess.

10

The Vulture (Adrian Toomes)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #2 (1963)

Most well-known for his role as the antagonist in Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Vulture was one of the first villains Spider-Man faced off against in his debut comic run. Appearing in the second-ever issue of the original Amazing Spider-Man (1963) book, The Vulture gave Peter Parker a run for his money. This high-flying foe may not seem like much on the outside, but he is quite troublesome.

It took Peter inventing a whole new gadget to take him down: an anti-magnetic converter to disrupt his flight machine. The Vulture has talons and sharp wings that can shred Spider-Man up like sliced ham, and also owns the sky. He can maneuver far more easily in the sky than the Web Slinger can, thanks to his full control over direction, unlike Spider-Man, who has to rely on momentum and can’t just stop on a dime.

9

Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #15 (1964)

His recent cinematic solo debut, Kraven the Hunter, was horrendous, but this Spider-Man villain is actually one of his deadliest. He also (in most of his appearances, at least) does not have powers and hunts Spidey on sheer skill and deadliness alone. Sometimes portrayed with powers, Kraven is usually powerless but can still manage to be one of the most dangerous Spider-Man villains.

This wild hunter even managed to “kill” Spider-Man (or so readers thought) and go on to bury him alive, taking on his persona and trying to ruin it in the iconic comic storyline “Kraven’s Last Hunt.” Not many can say that they literally buried one of Marvel’s greatest heroes alive. While he doesn’t have superhuman strength, Kraven the Hunter is profoundly skilled, and sometimes skill trumps raw power.

8

The Kingpin (Wilson Fisk)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #50 (1967)

While Wilson Fisk is typically seen as a primarily Daredevil villain, Fisk actually first appeared not just in a Spider-Man book, but in one of the most important Spidey stories of all time. The Kingpin’s triumphant debut in the iconic “Spider-Man: No More” issue was a threatening one.

He may seem like a normal man who’s a crime lord in New York City, but this Spider-Man villain is far more powerful than he looks. Physically, the Kingpin is incredibly buff, despite looking obese. This look fools many, as it’s not fat that makes up that large figure; it’s primarily muscle, making him a genuine physical threat. But even more dangerous is the amount of social power he holds: The Kingpin has almost all of New York City in his pocket and rarely gets thrown in jail. Spider-Man and Daredevil consistently fight a logistical war trying to get Fisk put away big time, but it never seems to stick. He’s borderline untouchable, and he knows it.

7

Scorpion (Mac Gargan)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #20 (1964)

This green-clad villain is not only one of the deadliest, but also a criminally underrated Spider-Man villain. Funny enough, Scorpion was made to be a massive antagonist for the Web Slinger, because in real life, scorpions are predators of spiders. Physically, Scorpion has a lot of power over Peter, consistently whooping the hero’s butt across New York City.

Spider-Man has almost died multiple times at the hands of Scorpion, because not only is he stronger (most of the time) than Spider-Man, but he’s absolutely unhinged. If there’s anything Mac Gargan is not, it’s psychologically sound. He’s been on many fans’ minds for the last few years, ever since he was teased at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming and never followed up on again. Give the fans what they want, Marvel Studios!

6

The Lizard (Doctor Curt Connors)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #6 (1963)

What makes The Lizard so much fun is his deep connection to Peter Parker’s civilian life. The monstrous creature was unlike anything Spider-Man had ever faced before when he was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #6 (1963) because he wasn’t some man with mechanical arms or sand powers. The Lizard was a gigantic, genetically engineered monster; how was Spidey ever going to defeat something like this? The conflict was thrilling.

Over the years, The Lizard has actually become even more formidable, losing most motor function he originally had in the form and becoming an animalistic beast that can not be stopped. The best media adaption of The Lizard can easily be found in The Spectacular Spider-Man. The film treats him as a genuine monster, long before characters like Venom or Morbius got big-screen adaptations.

5

Sandman (Flint Marko)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #4 (1963)

Of all of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, Sandman easily has some of the most unique powers. His abilities make him extremely difficult for the Wall-Crawler to face. Sandman is so hard to get around because he can adapt to so much and become so much bigger and powerful than one would think, so long as there’s sand. He even grew to be the biggest he’s ever been in the “Ends of the Earth” comic storyline, where he took control over an entire desert.

Sandman is incredibly compelling because he’s actually not a terrible dude, and has even gone good and joined the Avengers before. At the end of the day, Sandman can almost never be destroyed, unless someone can get their hands on his one grain of sand that holds his soul. Outside of that, he’s pretty tough to put down and can easily drown someone in sand (which he almost does to Tobey Maguire‘s Spider-Man in Spider-Man: No Way Home).

4

Electro (Maxwell Dillon)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #9 (1964)

When it comes to power, it’s hard to beat sheer electricity. Pretty much any person knows that electricity is one of the most dangerous things for humans on the planet. Thus, a villain that can radiate, control, and blast electricity is astoundingly deadly. In fact, in Electro’s first appearance, Spider-Man almost died from just trying to punch him, getting electrocuted by mere contact with the villain’s body.

If he gets his hands on him, Electro could shock Spider-Man to death with ease. The only reason Spider-Man hasn’t already died ten times over is because, thanks to his spider strength, he can take more electric shocks than the average human. With his connection to electricity, Electro can and has taken over New York City through its electrical systems, best depicted in the third act of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Even with that, he’s somehow even stronger in the comic books.

3

Green Goblin (Norman Osborn)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #14 (1964)

There’s absolutely no doubt that the Green Goblin is Spider-Man’s greatest foe (only one other character comes close). The Goblin killed the love of Peter Parker’s life, Gwen Stacy, and has consistently tried to ruin his life. Not only is Green Goblin physically strong, but he has a plethora of gadgets to make Spidey’s life harder, too. The Goblin has pumpkin bombs, a flying glider, flying razors, gases, and many more gadgets to face off with Spidey.

His power can be best seen during the final battle in Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man, one of the most brutal and thrilling fights in a superhero film. Peter Parker gets absolutely rocked, a bomb blows up in his face, and he gets smashed around the warehouse. Almost no fight in any Spider-Man film is as hard-hitting as this one, and that’s because the Green Goblin never holds back.

2

Doctor Octopus (Doctor Otto Octavius)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #3 (1963)

The one other foe tied with Green Goblin as the greatest Spider-Man villain is Doctor Octopus. While Otto Octavius may be just a man, his tentacles make him very deadly. When facing Doc Ock, the Web Slinger doesn’t just have to fight Otto; he has to fight four tentacles that are absurdly strong and have minds of their own. Furthermore, Otto is remarkably clever and unfraid to use that to his advantage.

While he’s created many machines and monsters to fight Spider-Man, most of his strength stems from his genius-level intellect. Doc Ock has thought his way out of so many things and used his smarts to come up with some of the greatest plots and outthink everyone around him.He even used his intellect to take over Spider-Man’s body in the “Dying Wish” story arc, killing Peter in the process. He’s one of the few villains who can say they’ve killed the hero.

1

Rhino (Aleksei Sytsevich)

First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #41 (1966)

As smart as others may be, as many gadgets as some may have, absolutely no Spider-Man villain co-created by Stan Lee is as abundantly strong as the Rhino. He is the unstoppable force just looking for an immovable object. The Rhino is so incredibly strong, he often can’t be beaten by just trading blows with Peter; instead, the hero must find a way to either overheat the titan (as seen in The Spectacular Spider-Man) or the surrounding environment, or simply tire him out.

The Rhino bashed his way into the Marvel Comics universe in Amazing Spider-Man #41 (1966), and readers saw that he was bulletproof and borderline unstoppable. Spidey was only able to put a stop to him by tripping him and flipping him onto his head. But before that, he caused so much destruction and more than made his mark on the Spider-Man mythology.

NEXT: 6 Reasons ‘Spider-Man 3’ Is Much Better Than You Think

“}]] Stan Lee co-created some of Spider-Man’s strongest villains, with the mightiest including the Vulture, the Rhino, and Doctor Octopus.  Read More