Spider-Man Villains Through The Years: Meet The Stars Behind The Biggest Foes Of Spidey

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December 14, 2021 5:43PM EST

Spider-Man has faced some of the superhero world’s fiercest villains through the years. Let’s take a look at the web-slinger’s most menacing bad guys.

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Spider-Man Villains: Jake Gyllenhaal, Willem Dafoe And More Of The Web-Slinger’s Enemies Through The Years

Spider-Man Villains: Jake Gyllenhaal, Willem Dafoe And More Of The Web-Slinger’s Enemies Through The Years
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Eve

Spider-Man has faced some of the superhero world’s fiercest villains since the web-slinger made his debut in the 1962 comic book ‘Amazing Fantasy #15’. Throughout his adventures, he faces off with humans, often victims of scientific accidents or technological meltdowns. Though several TV versions of Spidey happened in the 70s and 80s, he wouldn’t make his big-screen debut until Hollywood’s ‘Spider-Man’ in 2002.

In the first Sam Raimi-directed ‘Spider-Man’ movie, high school student Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire) finds himself fighting crime after waking up with superhuman powers one morning. When a mysterious killer known as the Green Goblin (Pictured) starts to strike, Spider-Man steps up to defend his city against the high-tech foe, who uses advanced technology like hoverboards and stealth explosives to wage war. The baddie turned out to be mad scientist Norman Osborn, played by Willem Dafoe, and at the end of the film is slain by Spider-Man, only for his son to vow revenge.

Click through to see Spider-Man’s most fearsome foes through the years!

December 14, 2021, 3:06PM
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James Franco As Harry Osborn In ‘Spider-Man 3’

James Franco As Harry Osborn In ‘Spider-Man 3’
©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett

James Franco plays Harry Osborn, Peter Parker’s best friend, and Spider-Man’s biggest enemy in ‘Spider-Man 3’. After he deems Spider-Man responsible for killing his father, Harry vows to fight him, not knowing who is under the mask.

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Alfred Molina As Doctor Octopus In ‘Spider-Man 2’

Alfred Molina As Doctor Octopus In ‘Spider-Man 2’
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Eve

Alfred Molina plays the legendary Doctor Octopus in ‘Spider-Man 2’, which came out in 2004. Scientist Dr. Otto Octavius goes mad after he is fused with 4 mechanical tentacles following a botched experiment.

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Michael Keatons As Vulture in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’

Michael Keatons As Vulture in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
©Columbia Pictures/courtesy Eve

Michael Keaton plays Adrian Toomes AKA Vulture in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. He is a salvager-turned-arms trafficker who uses a suit with mechanical wings and has a run-in with Spider-Man after getting run out of business by Tony Stark AKA Iron Man.

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Jake Gyllenhaal As Mysterio in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’

Jake Gyllenhaal As Mysterio in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’
©Columbia Pictures/courtesy Eve

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Quentin Beck AKA Mysterio in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’, a 2019 addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is a former Stark Industries employee and holographic-illusions specialist who pretends to be superhero from Earth-833 in the Multiverse.

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Jamie Foxx As Electro In ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’

Jamie Foxx As Electro In ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Eve

Jamie Foxx played Matt Dillon AKA Electro in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’. The outcast becomes obsessed with Spider-Man and a subsequent accident gives him electrifying powers.

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Dane DeHaan As The Green Goblin In ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’

Dane DeHaan As The Green Goblin In ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Eve

Dane DeHaan plays his own version of Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’, 2014. Like James Franco’s version, he goes cuckoo after injecting a special serum of spider-venom into his body.

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Thomas Haden Church As Sandman In ‘Spider-Man 3’

Thomas Haden Church As Sandman In ‘Spider-Man 3’
©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett

Thomas Haden Church played Flint Marko AKA Sandman in ‘Spider-Man 3’. The shapeshifting criminal is coming back for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’.

December 14, 2021, 5:37PM
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Topher Grace As Venom in ‘Spider-Man 3’

Topher Grace As Venom in ‘Spider-Man 3’
©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett

Topher Grace plays Eddie Brock in 2007’s ‘Spider-Man 3’. He is Peter Parker’s rival at the Daily Bugle newspaper and turns into the villain Venom when an extraterrestrial decides to meld with him.

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Rhys Ifans As The Lizard In ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’

Rhys Ifans As The Lizard In ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Eve

Rhys Ifans plays Dr. Curt Connors AKA The Lizard in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’, which came out in 2012. He is a brilliant scientist who is transformed into a reptilian monster that wreaks havoc on the city after meddling with lizard DNA.

December 14, 2021, 3:06PM