This Marvel Hero Would Make an Absolutely Terrifying Villain

As terrible as it can be, there are moments in the Marvel Universe where even the most valiant and stout-hearted hero can suffer a change of heart. Scarlet Witch once became corrupted by Mephisto; the X-Men’s Beast became the Dark Beast in the Age of Apocalypse reality; and even Iron Man became a villainous version of himself in the Superior Iron Man arc. Oddly enough, of all of Marvel’s superheroes who have taken the plunge into the dark side, Spider-Man has had a mercifully rare number of times when he took a moral fall.

Sure, Spider-Man has had moments that have challenged his ability to be a superhero. The discovery of his classic black suit resulted in him being controlled while he slept and also having his negative emotions amplified. During the Superior Spider-Man event, Doctor Octopus took over Peter Parker’s mind and body, resulting in a vastly different take on Spider-Man. On Earth-11638, a Spider-Man kidnapped other Spider-Men from across the multiverse and drained their life forces into his own. Most recently, Spider-Man became consumed by the sins of Norman Osborn and became the evil Spider-Goblin. When considered in its totality, the idea of Spider-Man becoming a morals-free supervillain is legitimately terrifying. Without a shadow of a doubt, if Spider-Man ever became as evil as Sabretooth or Carnage, the world would become a much darker place.

Spider-Man’s Powers Make Him One of the Most Powerful Beings on Earth

Spider-Man possesses some of the most potent superpowers of any hero on Earth. While he lacks psionic, telepathic, or energy-based powers, his spider reflexes and enhanced physical attributes make him extremely difficult to contend with.

He might not punch as hard as Luke Cage or She-Hulk, but Spider-Man definitely hits harder than Captain America, Daredevil, or Moon Knight. Spider-Man has proven himself capable of not only going toe-to-toe with villains much more powerful than himself, such as Morlun, Carnage, the Rhino, and the Spider Slayers. Facing superpowered heroes like Doctor Strange, Invisible Woman, and Iron Man would take a large amount of effort on his part, but an evil Spider-Man would be a nightmare to face.

Physical attributes aside, Spider-Man’s ability to manipulate his webbing is a lynchpin in countless battles. Spider-Man has always maintained control over his webs, ensuring that those he webs up can breathe. He also makes sure not to critically hurt people with his webs, such as not snapping limbs when constricting someone or slamming their heads into walls. An evil Spider-Man wouldn’t think twice about using his webs to suffocate his foes. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where Spider-Man would web one attacker with another, pulling as hard as he could and pulling them apart like a wishbone. It’s grim and grisly, but completely on par for a supervillain.

Spider-Man’s Amazing Intellect Would Elevate Him Above Common Street-Level Villains

When the question of ranking the smartest individuals on Earth arises, a handful of names always make the cut. Reed Richards, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, T’Challa, and Hank Pym are always listed among Earth’s greatest minds. But it’s easy to forget that Peter Parker is also exceptionally intelligent. Due to his double life as Spider-Man, Peter Parker has always had issues with completing his education, which has hampered his ability to achieve great academic success. This doesn’t mean that Peter Parker isn’t already brilliant; he has proven himself to be a genius in engineering, applied physics, and chemistry.

If Spider-Man were to apply his brilliance in science to evil pursuits, he would be a force to be reckoned with. He developed his web shooters when he was just an inexperienced teenager. As a fully educated adult, it’s plausible that he could modify his webbing to include poisons, caustic fluids, or any other type of hazard. Being webbed up is bad enough; getting caught in webbing that would slowly corrode away metal and flesh would be hellish. The amount of lethal devices he could create and how he could augment his webbing to be even more dangerous are almost terrifying to imagine. The different and ultra-powerful suits Spider-Man could wear would be dastardly icing on the evil cake.

Spider-Man would easily elevate himself to the ranks of villainy like Green Goblin or Baron Zemo. His powers and feats alone would make him too powerful for the average street-level hero. With every fiber of his being dedicated to evil, Spider-Man would be a Fantastic Four or Avengers-level threat. With such power at his disposal, there would be few things he wouldn’t try to achieve. Money, rare goods, and powerful weaponry are all things he would strive for.

It could be possible that he would amass his legion of followers and underlings. His organization of criminals all working to further his diabolical plans could rival even Oscorp or AIM. An evil scientist version of Spider-Man would have zero qualms with creating a spider-based toxin or weapon that would turn people into rabid spider monsters. Or worse yet, a device that would cause real spiders to attack people en masse. The options are endless.

Spider-Man would certainly be the type of villain who would love to pull the strings, rarely ever engaging in direct battle himself. Orchestrating heists, terrorist attacks, and bids for domination would all be on the table for him. Few beings could land a hit on him, and those that did would have to hope they incapacitate him long enough for them to bind him. Anyone with a projectile would have to prey that he wouldn’t web it and redirect it back at them. Spider-Man would be smart enough to pull a building down on a hero with psy or energy powers. There are few match-ups where Spider-Man could find himself at a distinct disadvantage, and that’s very scary.

In Zeb Wells’ 2023 Amazing Spider-Man run, Peter became struck by a mystical spear that transferred the essence of Norman Osborn’s sins directly to him. This resulted in Spider-Man becoming as evil and maniacal as the Green Goblin, even going so far as to don a Green Goblin-style suit, dubbing himself Spider-Goblin. This change of character was terrifying but, luckily, rather short-lived. As Spider-Goblin, Peter spent much of his time attacking other supervillains such as Kraven the Hunter, Tombstone, and the Sinister Six.

His identity crisis ended when the inherent purity of Peter’s soul overwhelmed Norman’s sins, reverting to his true self. This moment gave the world a brief taste of what Spider-Man could be like if he ever had a total change of heart. Fortunately, the Spider-Goblin persona didn’t last very long. It was simply an extension of Green Goblin’s influence rather than a true commitment to evil on Peter Parker’s part, which let New Yorkers breathe a deep sigh of relief.

The Entire World Should be Thankful Spider-Man is One of the Good Guys

Of course, there would always be a tier of heroes that would make short work of him should he ever choose the path of the supervillain. Even with reflexes and gadgets, there’s not a whole lot Spider-Man could do to Hulk, Thor, or Silver Surfer that would permanently put them down. But for the standard rank and file superhero, Spider-Man would be a villain that no one would want to fight.

He wouldn’t be as powerful as Magneto or Doctor Doom, but an evil Spider-Man is the stuff of nightmares. The Earth-11638 version of Spider-Man was so evil that his soul went to Hell, where he would later be resurrected with a Spirit of Vengeance to become the entity known as Ghost Spider. The sheer power Spider-Man would have imbued with the Spirit of Vengeance is mind-boggling, but that version of Spider-Man was never explored very much, so it remains to be seen just what he could accomplish.

Interestingly, Spider-Man hasn’t had a dedicated arc where he’s gone full rogue. He’s had moments where he’s strayed off his initial path as a hero, but he’s never gone fully evil. Even most of his multiversal counterparts have existed as various incarnations of himself, applying different quirks and possibilities to the classic Spider-Man formula, with only a few becoming truly evil. It wouldn’t exactly work in mainstream Earth-616 continuity for Spider-Man to become fully villainous, but as the multiverse has proven quite definitively, there’s a world for everything.

Luckily for everyone on Earth, Spider-Man has never been forced off the path of good. Every time an evil version of Spider-Man appears from the multiverse, it’s a terrible reminder of how much power Spider-Man actually wields. Here’s hoping nothing ever happens to him that would permanently change his moral compass.